By: unknown writer
I'd gotten the job there after I'd graduated high school three years ago. It was just supposed to be a way to make a little extra cash, but I slowly grew to love the place. The owners were incredibly nice, my coworkers were awesome, and I even managed to get a couple of phone numbers from pretty girls that went through. Although the season only lasted from late September until early November, I still gained close bonds with the people I worked with, some of whom are still good friends to this day. In my second year, I agreed to help set up the layout before we opened and got paid pretty good money for the work. I helped design the hallways connecting each exhibit, along with some of the "scare rooms" themselves. It was during this time that I came up with an awesome idea to get people freaked out when going from one room to the other. I noticed that there was an area that was big enough to hold an entire group but not quite large enough to be its own room. So instead I suggested that we create a fake stop for guests and throw in a hidden monster. I'd always been a big fan of the creature from the black lagoon, so I said we should design it to resemble an overgrown wooded area, and use a collection of trees to hide a person dressed up as the monster and let them jump out and scare the guests.
My bosses really seemed to like the idea and even offered the role of the monster to me. I said yes immediately and set out on getting everything I needed to make the place look great. I used dark green paint to cover the plywood sheets we'd build fake walls with and covered it with vines. I also put water in a plastic bag and covered a light with it to give off the impression of water being reflected onto the trees. Finally, I made one corner of the room to be completely covered with bushes and foliage so that I could hide in it unseen. After we were done building we let our owners' kids do a walkthrough. I stood still for a few minutes before pushing through the leaves and reaching for them, the screams I got were enough to convince me it would work perfectly. We decided that the tour guides should act like the room was meant to let groups in front get a little further down so not to overcrowd, and right before they'd continue I'd emerge from the growth and chase them down the hall. The first few weeks were a big hit and everyone thought my room had the best scare. I'd get excited every time a new group would come through and would try my best to switch up my roars and voices between each one.
That year we had gotten more guests than we were expecting so the owners decided to extend our business hours later into the night. I was totally fine with it at first considering we were already closing past eleven. But after a few more weeks I started to get a little too sleep-deprived. I'd still give it my best with every group that came through but it got harder and harder to stay in character each time. All this to say that by the time the season was coming to an end I was really starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep. There were times I'd even start to doze off while standing in the corner. But my last night there was by far the worst in terms of exhaustion. I'd already been working on a heavy load from classes and I knew if I didn't pace myself it was all gonna come crashing down. I decided to not jump out during some of my groups in the hopes that I wouldn't be as tired at the end. It was fine for the first couple of hours, just jumping out for every other group. But pretty soon I started to notice something odd.
There was a man who seemed to be taking the tour over and over again. At first, I thought my sleep deprivation had finally got to me, but after the third time I'd seen him, I knew something was off. He was wearing a dark hoodie with some kind of mask underneath it. It shouldn't have been so noticeable, a lot of people showed up in costume, but this one was uncanny. It had a torn smile across its face with wide bloodshot eyes staring intently forward. His pants were ripped at the knee and his shoes were covered in mud. Every time I'd seen him in a group I wouldn't jump out. Thinking back on it, I realize just how unsettling he was. He wouldn't talk to anyone, didn't scream when the others did as they came from the last room, and stood in the back away from the crowd. I thought about telling my boss but right after he'd leave another group would come in. I figured he was just a loner who liked scary places like this and who was I to stop this guy from his fun.
After his fifth consecutive walkthrough, I didn't see him for a couple of hours. I thought he'd just gotten bored and gone home. Towards the end of the night, the groups got smaller and further apart, and while waiting for them I started to drift off again. Until I heard an odd noise coming from the hallway before me. There was an emergency exit that sat in the middle of the hallway, and I saw the hooded man enter from it. It was hard to see at first but I could tell he had something in his hands. I focused harder and realized it was some kind of blade. My body tensed up as he walked into the room, looking around like he was trying to find something. I held my breath as best as I could and stared straight ahead, trying not to move. He looked forward and examined the trees around me. For a moment I thought he knew I was there, that something had given me away. I was beginning to wonder if charging him was the best thing to do when I heard a group scream from further up the hall.
He frantically backed away and looked around before seeing a door that led to a workers' area in the back. He walked over and stepped inside, leaving a crack open in order to see outside. I knew I had to do something before the people got there, worried he might hurt someone. Slowly craning my neck and looking to my right, I could see a fire alarm they'd installed next to me. Without thinking I quickly reached over and pulled it down, sprinting forward and towards the hall. The alarm blared overhead and through it, I could hear the employee door open behind me. Without looking back I ran towards the next group and screamed that there was a fire.
Everyone evacuated outside through the emergency exit and we made our way to the parking lot. We took a headcount while waiting for emergency services to arrive. When they got there I explained to a couple of cops and my bosses what had happened and who I saw. They told me to wait with the others and led a team to sweep the building. After several minutes they came out and told us they didn't find anyone inside but that a knife was found lying in the ground next to the employee door. They pulled me aside and took my statement, asking me about his description, and if I saw anyone with him. We had to close our doors early after that and I decided not to reapply when they emailed me the following fall. It's been a while since I've thought about what I saw that night, but something happened recently that brought it back to my mind. I was scrolling through an online marketplace when I came across a familiar mask on my feed. The account was named John Smith and had no profile picture, but it posted a caption along with the item for sale.
"Custom made mask for sale, designed it myself. Contact me for more details."
The location listed for meet and pick up was a local grocery store just a few miles from my house. The hideous design was almost exactly how I remembered it looking except for one thing, I don't remember seeing so much blood splatter on the cheeks.
