“The Terrifier movies are works of art,” senior August Yancey said.

Terrifier– and its two sequels –have been cult classic films since their release in the 2010s-2020s. In them, David Howard Thornton takes on the role of Art the Clown, the main antagonist. This past Halloween, he paid a visit to Hillside House of Hell and Bloodrush, two of Omaha’s most mainstream haunts.

“He was very, very different from his Art the Clown persona. He was so sweet,” senior Tristan Mattingly said. “He had a cup of hot cocoa and he was there with his daughter.”

While there, many got the chance to meet him, shake his hand, and get photos with him. He even answered some questions about his career and how he got started acting and scaring.

“I got into acting doing church theater– of all things –as a child, because my mom used to direct a lot of church theater productions, and I was in the children’s choir, so that’s where I started,” Thornton said.

Thornton went on to explain how he and his mother would take turns trying to scare each other around the house, and how he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to pursue it. Many students locally have had the chance to be scare actors.

“I was introduced to scare acting by a friend,” senior AJ Sullivan said. “I thought it would be cool to try something new as an actor,” he said.

Many haunts in Nebraska restrict employment to ages 18 and up, but a select few allow teens as young as 16 to be interns or makeup artists. Namely, the Shadows Edge before they closed, and now the Ranch House of Terror at Bellevue Berry Farm.

“I would love to try it again,” Sullivan said, “It’s such a cool and welcoming environment,” he said.

Thornton wanted to share some advice to those of us that want to pursue this art, and it comes from his personal experience as an actor. He explained that it was hard to find jobs as someone in his field. He spent 13 years doing site acting jobs like what Tristan and AJ have done until he got his big break.

“Be persistent, it’s hard to get into it [acting]. For every 100 no’s, you’ll get one yes,” Thornton said, “So you have to just keep on. Keep on if it’s something you enjoy.”

Overall, scare acting is becoming more popular, and it can require trial and error. As scare acting becomes more popular, many are taking the opportunity to learn from people like Thornton, which is why this became such a popular event.

“We were in line for an hour and a half, but the line was still shorter than I was expecting it to be,” Mattingly said, “But I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”