Inner Demons
WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Some people mountain bike, others cook... Coast staffer Jessica Peralta, well, she prefers being a monster. Check her out on video and in photos at this year's Knott's Scary Farm.
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Most of the time I feel like a bit of a social outcast.
It's nothing that's obvious from the surface either. On the outside, I'm fairly normal. Average height (5 feet, 5 inches); average build (not very thin or very large); brown eyes and hair... I'm Hispanic, but I'm not real dark – or light. My clothes are a mixture of denim, slacks, dresses, skirts, and I wear all colors. I'm fairly easy to get along with... Getting the picture?
My exterior normalcy is why I so often see that funny look in people's eyes after revealing to them my most inner passion: monsters. Especially zombies. Anything having to do with gore or horror, really. It started at a very young age and has never left me. In fact, it's blossomed in the last several years.
A lot of the time, I'm the friend in the group whose face lights up at any topic related to the macabre. Most of my friends find it an entertaining quality, but don't really share my level of passion. Which is why when I started visiting Knott's Berry Farm a few years back to report and write about the annual Halloween Haunt event (aka Knott's Scary Farm), I almost immediately felt like I rarely feel: I belonged.
I returned this year for my third night as a monster at one of the mazes. And once again, the experience of meeting the monster talent, getting makeup done and being in the maze was the highlight of my year. Fortunately, now that I have found a large group of other people who feel the same way, I don't feel so lame for saying that.
Whether it's the 19-year-old Orange County girl dressed as a cute-but-dangerous nymph or the 56-year-old well-camouflaged green witch that hides in the bougainvillea and scares the daylights out of people, the reasons they do it are the same as mine.
Why do they do it?
The people: It's like a family. Everyone shares the same love of blood and guts. They sit, stand and walk together in various levels of monster prep – full makeup, street clothes; fully masked; costume on, no makeup; etc. – outside the giant warehouse that serves as their home base in the back lot area of Knott's Berry Farm. They wait for their time in the makeup chair, talking, joking, meandering. It's a scene I yearn to be a part of every time I'm there. Even as a relative outsider, all the monsters are very gracious to me. They are courteous and eager to talk, both on and off camera, and are extremely well spoken about what they do. They understand it well.
The scares: Being in the Knott's Scary Farm mazes and on the streets scaring people is the biggest rush ever. It's addictive. In ordinary life, I'm a rather quiet person, a little on the shy side. I like to blend into the background. But there's a part of me that does crave to be the center of attention. And that part has a field day when in a maze, in some kind of creepy costume, wearing makeup that makes me look dead. There's something about being able to make an ordinary adult scream and run way from me just by tilting my head to one side and staring that's incredibly empowering. I never stop being amazed at who I can scare – especially when it's the big, tall, 30 or 40-something men. People who could ordinarily kick my ass scurry away squealing. I don't get it, but I love it.
The longer I stay in the maze, the better I get. The more I use tips suggested by other monsters: jump out of a hiding place at them; pretend you're a mannequin and then jump; follow them with your eyes; and my personal favorite, pick out one guest and simply stare and follow him or her... like stalking your prey. Works like a charm.
Many of you probably still don't understand what the big deal is. And that's OK. If we were all monsters, there wouldn't be anyone left to scare.
For more on Halloween Haunt: haunt.knotts.com
