The Reality of Being a Scare Actor

By Emma Crossan

Gloomy forest setting - Getty Images

With Halloween just around the corner – Kelburn Haunted Forest is currently hosting its 2026 forest trail titled RELIC, this is their 16th annual outdoor trial running until November 1.

Due to the time of year, many people are visiting scare attractions and horror events. Many horror-based events involve the use of scare actors – a form of acting which involves providing scares and creating a more immersive experience for the audience.

However, while these events may provide people with terror, screams and laughter, what is it actually like for the people behind them?

Mason Paterson, 29, is an actor who is currently working in Kelburn Haunted Forest. Despite specialising in live performances, Mason was drawn to scare acting through an advertisement on social media.

He said: “I had no aspirations specifically of being a scare actor. As an actor, I’m more familiar with doing live performances.

“I literally saw an advertisement on Scottish Filmmakers and Actors, which is a Facebook page which basically advertises jobs and I saw Comharra through one of the leads there, Enzo.

“He did a post – this was about 2 years ago – for a zombie scare trail up at Largs and I read it and it sounded [like] a bit of fun. So, I sent in an application and I got it. Simple as that.”

Kelburn Haunted Forest, run by Comharra Solutions, is a forest trail where visitors walk through the trail and are met with different scenes and actors, all dependent on what the storyline is.

For the actors, this can mean being ready to go as frequently as every 60 seconds.

Mason said: “As a scare actor, you’re basically just at your scene or in your position, waiting for people to come by. Depending on how busy it is, you could be jumping out and doing your bit every three minutes, every one minute, every six minutes; it can be groups of four people up to 12 people.

“It’s circumstantial – it depends on how busy and how booked the night is. Your bit can be circumstantial for the show, but mostly you’ll be doing something quite physical, quite screamy, shouty, scary – and you could have lines.”

Scare acting can also involve physical work, such as fight scenes which can be become demanding for the actors. However, Mason believes that while the job can be physically demanding – being a scare actor is actually more mentally demanding than people realise.

Mason said: “You can be on your own as well which doesn’t help, and you’re constantly on the ball for groups coming through. I would honestly say it’s more mentally demanding than physically demanding – again, it’s dependent on what your scene is; some people in their scenes don’t move at all.”

Another aspect to the job of scare acting is the possibility of audience members being drunk and attempting to provoke the scare actors. However, in Mason’s experience this doesn’t happen as often as people would assume.

Though if this happens to the extent of affecting the actor’s ability to perform, they are allowed to break character and handle the situation. However, this can also be done in character – which Mason believes is usually effective.

He said: “Most people clamp it if you tell them to shut it in character. But there has been times where you have to, where someone’s been so obnoxious that you can’t continue the scene – or if they try and touch you and things like that.

“They’re not allowed to touch you. You’re more than welcome to come out of character at that point and tell them not to do things like that, filming with the flash on, things like that. It happens but it doesn’t happen as frequently as you would think.”

While working as a scare actor can come with challenges, Mason has chosen to continue with the job since applying two years ago and still has a love for the job – something he credits to his fellow cast members at Kelburn.

He said: “I love the people I do the job with. There’s a large sense of camaraderie and ensemble and group togetherness. I’ve made very, very good friends from the show, lifelong friends. That’s probably the best part of the social aspect.

“It’s always nice when you do a large job, a large show with a large group of people because you feel like you’ve all come together and achieved it, especially if it’s hard work, like a show like this.”