The making of Six Flags’ Fright FestDate: 10/25/2022 AGAWAM – Fright Fest has returned to Six Flags New England for Halloween, and there are limited days left to enjoy the spooky season. Reminder Publishing was given a peek into the day-to-day work of some of the people that make Fright Fest happen.
To host Fright Fest every day takes a lot of work behind the scenes for both the park’s many “zombies” and the makeup artists who put them together.
Schuyler Brigges and Melissa Wassell are two of the many team members who make Fright Fest happen almost every day. Wassell has been with Six Flags New England since 2005 as a scare actor at Fright Fest and worked there for 11 consecutive years. She then took a five-year hiatus and returned last year as the head of the makeup room with nine other artists.
“I always really liked Halloween and wanted to do makeup, but I was only 16 at the time so they hired me as a scare actor,” said Wassell.
Brigges has been with Six Flags since 2012, where he first worked as a Midway Monster for Fright Fest. In 2016 he began doing performances in the summers as well, and by 2019 had taken a leadership position guiding team members and monsters every day. He writes and produces music and scripts for each show, and still performs as a monster during Fright Fest.
Each night of Fright Fest begins at 6 p.m., and is preceded by Boo Fest, which is oriented for children. For Brigges and Wassell, their days each begin at 10:45 a.m. when they arrive at the park, where they then spend hours preparing for that evening’s festivities.
Wassell begins her day by making new prosthetics for the monsters to wear that day. By mid-afternoon the actors begin to come in, and makeup is applied to them right up until 5:45 p.m. At the same time, Brigges is working out the logistics of which team members will be sent to which spots and shows, himself included.
“Our zombies and talent are not in the same positions every night. We try to give them some rest from the more intensive positions,” said Brigges.
Fright Fest, of course, requires significant preparation annually. Planning for the event begins in July, Brigges said, when they start the hiring process for any of the open positions and begin developing their list of shows and talent requirements.
After what ends up being the busiest time of the year for Six Flags, it takes two to three weeks for the sets and props to be torn down.
One aspect to Fright Fest Wassell thinks would surprise people is how quickly the makeup and prosthetic sessions can be done for each individual actor.
“We typically only take 15 minutes per face,” said Wassell. “Airbrushing helps, it makes it quick and efficient.”
For Brigges, he said that people can find it surprising how much the job can help build a resume and gain different skills. For what many think of as a place young people work during the summer, Brigges said Six Flags has helped him develop skills that can be applied to many facets of the entertainment industry.
“Music producing was a skill I didn’t even know I had until I got into the leadership position,” said Brigges. “Now I just have this long resume of skills just from working at this park.”
Fright Fest runs every weekend at Six Flags until Nov. 6. New to the festival this year is ScreamPunk, which is a “steampunk” style village that has gone awry. There is also the Holiday Horror, which brings Christmas a little early, but with scarier twists.
Six Flags New England Public Relations Manager Jennifer McGrath said that Fright Fest is not just the largest Halloween event in New England, but the safest. Even in the haunted houses of Fright Fest, the monsters and zombies are not permitted to touch any of the guests.
“Safety is our cornerstone. It is the largest and safest scary place in New England,” said McGrath. “The zombies will not touch or harm the guests. It is a contact-free environment.”
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