Like a murderer coming back to the scene of the crime, the “Nightmare” haunted house has returned to the Lower East Side. Now in its 10th year, the Nightmare franchise has had a different theme each Halloween season. But last year’s edition, dedicated to serial killers, was so successful that co-directors Timothy Haskell and John Harlacher brought back the concept — with new fiends added.We talked to a few actors who delight in scaring crowds senseless.
“Nightmare: Killers 2” is at the Clemente Soto Velez Center, 107 Suffolk St.; call 855-235-2867 for tickets ($20-$60). Through Nov. 2.
ERIC MACIEROWSKI
Role: Charles Manson
Scare tactics: “A girl playing Squeaky Fromme leads people
into my room. There’s a bloody dead body. The idea is that Manson thinks he’s a director and he’s telling the audience what to do, like, ‘Dip this towel in blood and write on the walls.’ They’re not doing it right and I get mad. When you get close to [people], some of them fall down or start to cry.”
Fright résumé: “When I [played body snatcher and murderer] Ed Gein last year, I was at the laundromat one day and the dryer wasn’t working. All of a sudden, I slipped into Gein’s voice and started throwing my wet laundry at the guy working there.”
EMMANUEL ELPENORD
Role: Harrison Graham
Scare tactics: “Graham lured women, drugged them and strangled them while having sex. My room is a hovel with crude nude drawings on the wall, like the ones found in his apartment. A female actor plays one of the victims who was found inside his wall. Graham was obsessed with Cookie Monster and that’s a factor in the room, too.”
Fright résumé: “At Coney Island, I played Satan at the front gate, enticing people to come to the park. I chased around anyone who looked at me funny. I probably wouldn’t go to [Nightmare] if I didn’t work here — I never watch scary movies.”
KRISTEN SEAVEY
Role: Aileen Wuornos
Scare tactics: “People will see Aileen in prison. My scene takes place the night before she was executed. There might or might not be other actors [laughs]. I have to wear a lot of makeup — she had greasy, nasty hair and awful teeth.
“Some people get so overwhelmed that they have panic attacks — they’re the ones we usually go toward. I have to be aware because people do stupid things when they’re scared. They run around, they flail, they start crying or calling me names. It’s very interactive.”
Fright résumé: “I’ve been in ‘Nightmare’ as Bloody Mary and Lizzie Borden. I usually had a giant bucket of blood dumped over my head. Three years ago, I did my final monologue at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy about Aileen. At the risk of sounding crazy, I kinda fell in love with her. She’s a passion project of mine.”
ELIZA NANA DELOS SANTOS
Role: Dead peasant girl
Scare tactics: “I hide in a corner, behind skeletons [and jump out]. Since [mine] is the last room, the audience is freaked out by the time they get to me. Then I freak them out even more. Once they get to John Wayne Gacy’s room, they’ve pretty much lost control of their bowels. Last year, someone literally pooped themselves.”
Fright résumé: “This is my fourth year. In ‘Superstitions,’ I was a crazy cat lady.”