Guts and Gore Galore: Behind the Screams at Bat City Scaregrounds
Every October, aficianacos of fear take over a park just east of downtown Buda, Texas, and turn it into acres of anxious fun. There’s a traditional haunted house but also jump scares behind every tree. Below, you’ll find a look, and listen, of what to expect at Bat City Scaregrounds.
Article by Sydni Brault
As Halloween approaches, 15 acres of terrifying endeavors from Bat City Scaregrounds is brought from the dead. Located in Buda, Texas, this haunted attraction sends shivers down visitors’ spines with the help of their cast and crew. Behind the scenes, the preparation of chilling roles and the tireless passion of scare acting is unveiled, as told by the very people who bring such nightmares to life.
Scare acting, also known as haunt acting, is the eerie form of performance art that entails the improvisation of creepy characters and interactions to create an immersive experience for event visitors. Operating from Sept. 28 until Nov. 2, this seasonal but spooky job is displayed throughout Bat City Scaregrounds’ atmosphere. This year’s crop of performers ranges from seasoned professionals and theater aficionados to unfamiliar newcomers, unified by their ever- growing love for all things Halloween and horror.
Bat City Scaregrounds is a haunted house park located right outside of Austin in Buda, Texas. 
The outer walls of the Scaregrounds are covered in all kinds of spooky street art. 
Some characters, like Bubbles, roam the grounds outside of the haunted houses, so they must be ready in costume and makeup by 6:30, an hour before opening. 
The main grounds contain photo ops, scare actors, food, vendors, and often live performances. 
The band Daughters of Evil get ready to perform. 
Visitors must enter a coffin-shaped doorway to reach the restrooms. 
Ollo Ibarra, a high school sophomore, is a scare actor who just started at Bat City Scaregrounds this season. 
Visitors line up to enter Castle Orlock, one of the three haunted houses. 
Scare actor Libby waits for visitors to walk by. 
Libby’s neighbor also waits.
Photos by Trae Solis
Wardrobe manager, midway performer and actor trainer Conner Underwood details the diverse backgrounds of his fellow crew members, including the theater and film knowledge he possesses himself. “We have actors that have done film acting and people that have never acted before. We also have people that have been doing only haunt acting for numerous years,” Underwood said. “I’ve done stage acting and film acting, but I’ve also done this since I was 12, so it’s been going on almost 10 years now.” Scare Actor Poet Nickell describes the origins of her horror-related interests. Her ghoulish spirit extends far beyond Bat City Scaregrounds – it is a lifestyle she embraces in all sincerity. “I always just have had a very intense love of horror, horror movies, haunted houses, really anything to do with scary stuff,” Nickell said. “I’ll dress all goth, and I’ll go out and scare people… It’s always been a huge thing.” Newcomer Ollo Ibarra shares his lengthy past of acting since childhood. “It all started in elementary and middle school… Now I’m here as a junior in high school,” Ibarra said. Although acting since his formative years, this is Ibarra’s first time at Bat City Scaregrounds as a scare actor. “I got into scare acting this year. I heard a bit from a friend and saw some things online, so I was pretty interested,” Ibarra said. “This is the thing… I like acting, I’m very energetic and I can do a lot of stuff like this. So, I finally gave it a shot.”
Bat City Scaregrounds reports nights having an upwards of 1,000 visitors. Predictions suggest Saturday, Oct. 26 to be the busiest night of the season. Because of this, training day for the cast and crew is an important step in preparation for their past-paced schedules as well as busy weekend admissions. In one particularly engaging exercise, actors are given the task of portraying animal-zombie hybrids to challenge their improvisational skills. Another technique utilized is called “string theory,” where actors practice unsettling movements by imagining an invisible string that guides their body. Nickell’s advice on practicing vocalization is noted as well…
Her mantra? “Act as if you’re being murdered all the time.”
While training day provides a solid base for building such skills, character development is up to the actors themselves. Once given a designated area and costume from Underwood, actors are responsible for their characters’ personalities. Underwood explains that he “is the first stop that all of our actors make” as wardrobe manager. “It’s pretty much just me going in, making sure the changing rooms are available, and then grabbing whichever costumes the actors need at that moment,” Underwood said. “A lot of our actors just get the base… What they do in a scene is up to them. Being able to say what they want and do adds to the creativity and the freedom of the actor.”
The Slaughter Mall is Bat City Scaregrounds’ latest attraction, where both Nickell and Ibarra’s characters reside. This 2000s-punk attraction isn’t like any other, as it combines the familiarity of a shopping mall with a glow-in-the-dark twist. “You can only have so many vampires and zombies until it gets kind of boring,” Nickell said. “Having a zombie in a mall is a lot more interesting than a zombie in a graveyard, right?” She contributes to Slaughter Mall’s unique design by creating the sweet but deceptive character, Trixie Treats. Dressed head to toe in neon, One would believe she’s just a cute, innocent girl…
Until she chases you for your organs.
Creating Scares, One Actor at a Time
Audio story by Bradley Guilbeau
Skulking through the halls of Slaughter Mall’s Halloween store, Ibarra makes visitors scream in terror portraying as the metalhead-manager John Pack. Angry from his unfulfilled dreams of becoming a “super rock god,” Ibarra’s intimidating stature is used to his benefit. “I have definite size on a scale,” Ibarra said. “My size is my advantage… I stomp really hard and it echoes throughout the attraction.” Another character of Ibarra’s includes a zombie-like creature, forever stuck working in Slaughter Mall. “The lore is that he was manager at one point and ended up working at that store till he died,” Ibarra said. “The power of marketing keeps them alive.”
Alongside the frightening fun of scare acting, certain challenges are brought to light. Most difficulty pertains to the physical exhaustion of performing scenes repeatedly, having only 30-second intervals between rounds of visitors. Nickell agrees, stating “the most difficult part is the physical aspect of running, scaring, screaming, resetting and having to go back and forth. It kind of gives you whiplash.”
Some of the nerve-wracking moments as a scare actor come from the visitors themselves. Unpredictable reactions from visitors can vary from true fear to aggressive behavior. “There are going to be people who come in either agitated or think they will react a certain way, and then they don’t,” Nickell said. “Then there’s the people that will run through and yell at you, or try to scare you…”
Even worse, they try to touch you.
“There have been some situations where we really needed to be careful,” Nickell said. “We just have to know when to step back into our container and hold out for a minute.” While serious incidents can occur, Bat City Scaregrounds employs professional security and law enforcement to assure visitors of a scary but safe time. Overall, scare actors believe that “the outcome is definitely worth any of the strenuous aspects of it.”
Video story by Matthew DeLeon
Fears of the Feeble at Bat City
Video story by Joshua Neves
