The left side of her face is pure and innocent, radiating nothing but beauty while the right side of her face is covered with blood and bruises while her eye barely hangs from its socket. Her lips are as red as a poison apple, and her beautiful blonde hair is pulled back to clearly show what she once was, and what she has become.
She comes out of hiding Wednesday through Sunday and only during the month of October. During this time, she walks the streets of Ghost Town, scaring anyone and everyone who crosses her path. She is a monster. Although this monster sounds fictional, she is not, and there are plenty of others just like her all around us. These creatures scare for fun and as a way to make a living. You may even be in the same room as one as you read this.
How might you ask do I know this? Because that monster I just described is no ordinary monster…she is my sister. During the day, my sister is a normal citizen who works a normal job and lives a normal life. But after sundown on those five days during the month of October, she transforms into a creature of unnatural and extreme ugliness, deformity and wickedness.
For those of you who are still a little confused, please allow me to explain…my sister is a monster at Knott’s Scary Farm.
This is her fourth year as a monster, and she absolutely loves it. When we used to go to Knott’s Scary Farm, she was always intrigued by the monster’s makeup and costumes. One year, she decided to apply for a monster position and was hired. Her first year, she was Bulimic Betty in a maze called the Asylum. She wore a disfigured face mask covered in fake vomit. When Haunt, as the monsters call it, was done that year, she received a rehire card that offered her a next year position. For her second year as a monster, my sister was one of two dead twins in the maze 13 Axe Murder Manor. That year, she was freed from her mask and was assigned a makeup artist to make her look as terrifying as possible.
She received another rehire card and the next year was a clown cheerleader in the Killer Clown Kollege maze. That year, she wore a neon orange uniform with a bright red wig and was painted up to look like an evil clown. This year, my sister has moved up in the monster ranks and has received a position on the streets of Ghost Town, which allows her to roam around about one third of the park as she desires. Her character this year is a dead prostitute, which has some of the best makeup and prosthetics that Knott’s has to offer.
I have gone to see her every year and thoroughly enjoy having the inside scoop on the park and all the monsters. For the most part, it seems like a very fun job, and I myself have been tempted to hop on the monster bandwagon a time or two. But it does have its downfalls. Not only do these monsters work extremely late nights, but sometimes the crowds are far from nice to the monsters who are just doing their job. The monsters are often harassed, mocked and even harmed during their shifts. I just do not understand why people pay to see them if they are just going to get mad at them for doing their job.
If you have never been to Knott’s Scary Farm—I recommend going—it will be an unforgettable experience. But remember—monsters are people like you and me so be kind; monsters have feelings too.
Madison Steff, a senior communications major, is editorial director of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at madison.steff@laverne.edu.
