Good mourning on this drafty Halloween.
During evenings in October, Angie Hansen can be found dressed in a soiled baby-doll dress and pigtails, screaming for help in a blood-spattered morgue.
Ms. Hansen, a Brooklyn actress who performs at Blood Manor, a haunted house in Lower Manhattan, said she doesn’t do it for the money.
“I enjoy watching people get scared,” she said. “It’s like that first drop on a roller coaster. It’s an adrenaline rush.”
When we stopped by Blood Manor’s backstage last Wednesday, Ms. Hansen and some of the 60 other professional tormentors who haunt the halls there were putting on faded clown costumes and bloodied lab coats, or using makeup brushes and blow dryers to put the final touches on black eyes and latex wounds. They would soon take their places among the house’s torture chambers, 3D maze and zombie strip club.
To get a job there, the actors were evaluated on four qualities: energy, guts, stamina and intensity.
Continue reading the main story“We’re looking for people willing to go all out, hit the floor, crawl, creep and sneak up on somebody,” said Guy DeMatties, 62, the attraction’s director and manager.
If they pass the audition, it’s on to fright training.
Rule No. 1 of fright training: Always go for the easy mark.
“We train our people to look for the person who is scared out of their wits and go for them,” Mr. DeMatties said, “because that person goes right down to the floor and everyone else in the group gets a kick out of their friend who’s being frightened.”
Scaredy cats typically huddle in the middle of groups or are protected by partners, Mr. DeMatties said. They tend to scream, cry, fall, cower and knock down their friends like dominoes.
Though they may pick on the easily spooked, the actors there try to scare everyone — even tough guys — and are trained to use the element of surprise, to improvise and be creative, Mr. DeMatties added.
“I like to threaten to stick a wire hanger in their ear,” said Lillian Newberg, 37, a circus performer from Middle Village, Queens, who plays a deranged clown. “I just think about what would scare me, and wire hanger is better than the standard knife.”
Marlene Diaz, 28, an actor from the Bronx who plays a zombie, eerily sings “Ring Around the Rosie.” Mike Peterson, 25, a medical billing assistant from Jamaica, Queens, who plays a psychopathic killer, whispers gory acts in people’s ears.
Do the actors ever feel bad about scaring people?
Nope.
“I’m brining them the entertainment that they came for,” said Michael DoNascimento, 45, a cook from Bushwick, Brooklyn, who plays a murderous Jack in the Box. “And to see the expression on their face, with their eyes wide open, there’s only one word for it: It’s fun.”
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
° ° °It’s chilly on this All Hallows’ Eve morning.
A shuddersome breeze will caress necks and ankles during the morning commute: It could feel as cold as 41 with the windchill.
The rest of the day should feel decidedly less spooky. We’re expecting lots of sun and a high near 57.
If you plan on heading out for some late trick-or-treating, bundle up: Temperatures could feel in the 40s again by 10 p.m.
In the News
• Though rarely enforced, a nearly century-old law prohibiting dancing in bars and clubs throughout the city is set to be repealed. [New York Times]
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• The city has announced an $8 million plan to prevent bullying, including targeted support and an online portal where families can report instances of bullying. [New York Times]
• A new report detailed abuse at a Pennsylvania special needs center that houses New York residents. [New York Times]
• Mayor Bill de Blasio rode the subway with Senator Bernie Sanders, who endorsed his bid for re-election. [New York Times]
• A former donor to Mayor de Blasio’s campaigns is doubling down on claims that he bought access to city officials, thrusting the mayor back onto the covers of the tabloids just days before the election. [New York Times]
• Two police officers have been charged with sexually assaulting a teenager while she was in their custody. [New York Times]
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• New York City could soon require the Police Department to hand out written warnings about the risks of gun ownership to new applicants for firearm permits. [New York Post]
• Senator Chuck Schumer endorsed Mayor de Blasio for a second term on Monday, saying he’s done an “outstanding job.” [New York Post]
• According to some business leaders, the city’s ban on questions about salary history during the hiring process removes an important tool employers use when looking for the right applicant. [amNewYork]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “Chased Down by a Banana Man at the Marathon”
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• Wear your costume to certain Krispy Kreme locations and get a free doughnut. 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Mommy Poppins put together a list of the best neighborhoods for trick-or-treating and the best Halloween parades for kids.
• Cabaret, live music and drinks at the Halloween Costume Ball at Theater for the New City in the East Village. Beginning at 4 p.m. [$20]
• Bring the family to the live Halloween show Halloween 313, performed on the street at 313 Clinton Ave. in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. 5 to 9 p.m. [Free]
• The Village Halloween parade kicks off at Sixth Avenue at Canal Street in Lower Manhattan. 7 p.m. [Free]
• Rangers host Golden Knights, 7 p.m. (MSG). New York City F.C. at Columbus Crew, 8 p.m. (ESPN).
• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Nov. 1.
• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
And Finally...
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On this day in 1929, the magician Harry Houdini died.
The man — who evaded death by escaping straight jackets, torture chambers and locks and chains — died from injuries sustained from two swift punches to the gut by a student.
Houdini was in Montreal, and had just finished teaching a class on spiritual tricks, when he began bragging that his stomach muscles were so tough that he could withstand hard blows.
A student took this gloating as a challenge, and before the magician could prepare himself, the young man punched him in the torso, likely rupturing the magician’s appendix, reported The Times. He died 12 days later.
Houdini, who lived on the Upper East Side and Harlem, was buried in Machpelah Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Glendale, Queens and left no record of how he preformed his most famous tricks. (On Halloween, his grave has been known to attract pilgrims, vandals and partyers.)
For 10 years after his death, his wife tried to contact him through séances using a code that he whispered to her on his deathbed. She was never successful.
But the tradition continues. Today at 11:30 a.m. you can try to contact Houdini at a séance at his childhood home at 244 East 70th Street on the Upper East Side performed by the caretaker of the residence and several magicians from the Society of American Magicians.
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