The business behind Halloween scares

Marketplace Morning Report’s “What’s That Like?” series is exploring the odd, unusual and downright weird jobs that help prop up our economy.

For many, Halloween is a time for fun, scares and laughter, but for the folks that host your local spooky attractions, it’s also time to get to work. 

At the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor in Long Beach, California, the Halloween season starts in July with Midsummer Scream — a massive Halloween and Horror convention. 

Star Romano, a stage production manager at Dark Harbor and former scare actor, then starts to find all the talent she needs for spooky season. From there, it’s off to the races. Nearly six months of work have gone into all that’s needed to put together 31 days of scares. 

“I always say that my number one tip for scare actors to be safe is to ‘scare and scram,'” said Romano. “So if I’m popping out and I’m scaring you, I’m not gonna linger in your face. I’m gonna pop out with intensity, and then I’m gonna reset back to my hole so that the next people can get scared.”

To learn more about the Halloween economy and the workers that help keep it running, click the audio player above … if you dare.