SALT LAKE CITY — Hidden beneath the masks of haunted house actors are relatable people.

Tucked behind Fear Factory’s multilevel haunted house is a large building where the actors prepare for their night’s work. Roughly three dozen actors, makeup artists and costumers bustle around the space, transforming ordinary-looking people into nightmarish creatures. It’s not a simple process. More than 100 actors must get into costume every night before they bring the factory to life with their scares.

“It’s kind of like a big live production play for like 35, 40 nights,” Robert Dunfield, a co-owner of The Fear Factory, told the Deseret News. “It’s a balancing act all night.”

Pulling it off requires a costume closet packed with hundreds of spooky ensembles, masks and other accessories, airbrushed makeup, wigs and actors willing to commit to the bit — which is easily the most important part of the process.

Beneath the guise of a deranged clown, zombie or some other grotesque lunatic, actors can surrender to the sort of impulses humans resist everyday. Like screaming in public.

“I think the best part (of working in a haunted house) is the release,” said Lucas Richards, an actor who has been working at Fear Factory since 2021. He begins every night in the factory unleashing “the biggest, most ferocious shriek” he can conjure up.

“We spend so much time in our daily lives just fitting in with what society wants from us. You know, the pleases and the thank-yous, and when somebody’s being a jerk, sometimes you have to just kind of stand down. … It’s nice to be able to to let it out, but do it in a positive fashion.”

Audrey Landheim, an actor who has worked at Fear Factory since 2019, echoed Richards’ sentiment. “I just love the fact that this is such a safe space for me to come and just be like the weirdest version of myself,” she told the Deseret News.

Freeing energy in the form of jumping out, screeching and creating other loud noises is the kind of therapeutic release humans crave and haunted house actors get to satisfy. But not everyone is hired to take on the role.

Each actor is required to audition — sometimes twice — before they are officially cast as a Fear Factory actor.

“Some of them are hired on the spot. Some of them get the email saying, ‘Yes, you’re hired.’ … And others say, ‘No, you’re not (hired), but try again next year,'” Dunfield said.

If selected, they are assigned to one of 12 zones within the haunted house, which range from green swamp to scrap yard. Actors are provided costumes and makeup based on the zone they are assigned to. At this point, they can begin developing the character they play with names, backstories, tendencies and other traits.

“My character is a caretaker. She died in the haunted house, and now she roams the different zones, making sure that everything is well kept,” Landheim said. “She doesn’t talk a whole lot. Every once in a while she will, but most of the time she does a lot of noises. She’s very zombie-like, very much kind of a goblin, almost.”

Richards’ character is named Scully, and “he’s been around since the American Civil War.”

“He’s everybody thinks he’s a soldier. He’s not a soldier. No, he’s more of a ghoul. He follows armies, and he goes around battlefields, and he picks up their gear because soldiers usually get the best gear, and he has some snacks while he’s at it,” Richards said.

For every guest who walks through the haunted house, different character traits are emphasized to create a scare that will be effective and fun for them. For goers who are “borderline traumatized,” Richards will “dial back” his scare to ensure they still “have a great experience.” For those who act macho, Richards employs his best work.

“Working here, I’ve learned a lot about people,” Richards said. “I’ve learned a lot about myself, and just based off of the way that people move and the way they talk to their friends, you can tell what kind of scare is going affect them.”

Sometimes, rooms within the haunted house guide what type of scare tactics actors use.

“I change my performance based on guests. Mostly I change my performance, though, based on the room that I’m in,” Landheim said. “Every room, because it’s a different theme, I do change my acting just a bit. So it depends on the room that I’m in, where I’ll be kind of more of a … soft scare, not as in your face and aggressive, but more lurky and creepy. And then in other zones it’ll be more aggressive.”

When Fear Factory actors aren’t lurking in dark corners of the haunted house, they live rich daily lives. According to Richards, some of the “biggest, biggest misconceptions” about haunted house actors are that they “don’t have day jobs” and “are all kids.” During the day and offseason, Richards said he “works with wood floors, mostly.”

As for Landheim, she works at a national investment company during the day and is “really into fitness and yoga” and enjoys “art.”

“We all come from different walks of life,” Richards said. “We all have different professions, and we just have a passion for this season, and we have a passion for (creating) laughter and just being part of the biggest Halloween celebration in the state.”