By Jared Purcell

You/Local Editor

Photo credit: Mary Bonser

Most people use Saturday evenings to escape the clutches of work or stress from the prior week. Many choose to hit the bar scene or maybe catch a movie with a group of friends.

However, I spent my Saturday night in a crude, dimly lit room wearing a black robe and a ton of makeup while screaming for people to die. Yes, ladies, I am single.

At Erebus haunted house, I was just one of 85 people on staff that Saturday night, working to make the Guinness Book of World Records largest indoor walk through haunted house a success.

The Ambition

So, how and why did I get myself into such a position?

Well, I’ve always enjoyed the Halloween season. The decorations, the candy, the costumes, the scaring — all of it makes for a great holiday.

This year, I wanted to take my scare tactics to a new level. That is when Erebus came into the picture. Four stories high, proclaimed as the largest haunted house in the world — there aren’t many other places with better credentials for me to try, right?

The Arrival

From my house, Woodward gives me a straight shot to my destination. When I was five miles away, I noticed the bright spotlight at Erebus shining in the sky. I felt like the three wise men following the Christmas star — except my destination was far less peaceful.

When I arrived at Erebus, the line to get in was five people wide and wrapping around the exterior of the building and beyond. Luckily, I wasn’t waiting in line.

I met up with fellow Oakland Post staff member Rory McCarty and Mary Bonser. They volunteered to assist me in documenting the evening and to get a chance to walk through Erebus — and hopefully make it out alive.

We walked in through the back doors and met a security worker who radioed Ed Terebus, one of the founders of Erebus.

Terebus, a 28-year veteran of the haunt business, took me upstairs to the staff break room where actors and workers go to relax or get ready to head into the house. On the way up the stairs, screams echoed through the dim stairwell as people walking through the house became victims to one of the many scares Erebus has to offer.

The Big Daddy

While I was waiting on my turn in the makeup chair, Terebus shared some of the history of his business with me.

Terebus and his brother, James, founded Erebus in 2000. In fact, Ed said that they got more than they bargained for.

“We looked for a building for 10 years and we finally found this one in downtown Pontiac,” Terebus said. “It didn’t have to be Pontiac but we wanted two stories and plenty of parking. This one is four stories — three up, one down — and we have a 3,000 car parking garage across the street.”

When it was time to get in the chair, Terebus gave me a preview of what I was going to be doing and a bit of advice.

“We are going to put you in a spot — it’s going to be relatively easy. We’re going to give you some props to work with, some things to do and buttons to push.”

Props! I thought I’d just be standing in a corner and jumping out at people. Things had gotten even better.

The Transformation

I was introduced to Lee Hagedorin, the makeup artist. Hagedorin is also a prop and set designer and helps out with other things around the house.

Painting 45-50 faces a night, Hagedorin has his work cut out for him.

“This time of year, it’s pretty much 24/7,” Hagedorin said about the workload. “There is just so much to do.”

Luckily, he is fast at what he does. He said it usually takes six to 12 minutes to get someone made-up depending on how visible they will be in the house.

Hagedorin began dabbing a base layer of blue paint on my face and it actually felt pretty nice. I told him that it felt pretty relaxing and he said that was a common thing.

“A lot of people say that actually,” Hagedorin said. “I’ve had a couple kids start to fall asleep in my chair. They literally just mellow out and almost nod off.”

In less than 15 minutes, I was painterd and ready to dress up.

He left to go get me a robe and I leaned closer to the mirror for a better look.The reflection I saw was so unfamiliar that I practically scared myself.

He came back with a big, black, ratty looking robe that I accidentally put on backwards at first and then tore a bit when trying to turn it around.

“It’s OK,” Hagedorin said about the tear, “It happens.”

The Mission

The fact that I can hardly see without my glasses and it being pretty dark in the house made it extremely difficult to see.

Still, I had to play my role. I was a dungeon master who gets to pull a lever that releases a bed of spikes right up to the noses of innocent people. Awesome.

I found a voice I never knew I was capable of producing to help lure unsuspecting people into my death trap. The pure adrenaline rush I got from the screams of terrified strangers felt strangley incredible.

Girlfriends grasping boyfriends; boyfriends grasping girlfriends. I was racking up scares like I invented them.

After 30 minutes, I was sweating bullets, my makeup was running and my vocal chords were screaming uncle.

Lee came to retrieve me from the house and complimented me on my last scare of the night. I felt like a million bucks.

I met up with Terebus again and thanked him for the experience. But his generosity didn’t end there. I got a free walk-through of the haunted house.

After walking through the house, I realized how much of a rookie I was. Actors were popping out at every turn from all different directions.

I hopped into my car and headed towards home — with my makeup still on. I caught one driver off guard at a stoplight and then they laughed it off.

With my adrenaline finally lowering, and my throat hurting, I felt like I had gotten the full experience of what it was to spend a day in the life of an Erebus actor.