Sweeties lead me into the narrow building. On the right side, the floor was filled with props ranging from creepy dolls to dusty old furniture. The aisle way was dark, dimmly lit by the light flooding from the two rooms on the left side of the trail. The air smelt like a wet basement with hints of a rubbery scent that must be liquid latex.
"When you first arrive, you need to sign in here. This room doubles as the sign in area and makeup room" Lizzie explained as we entered the first room. In front of me, stood a tall whiteboard full of roles and the actors who filled them. The board was divided into five parts each one with a senior clown's name at the top indicating which area was which. I scribbled my name into the notebook in front of the white board and put Doodles under which area I worked in.
I looked to the back of the room where dozens of crew members bustled in and out. Some were getting their face painted brilliant colors while others were applying fake blood and prosthetics.
While Lizzie and Sweeties signed in, I took a moment to admire the work of others. There were clowns with pointy teeth, clowns with blood splattered faces, clowns with torn costumes, and clowns with props. This was a huge production and no one was going to skip out on the details.
Sweeties wrote my name on the board next to a spot called "Doorway Clown".
"Looks like you're in Doodles' area! Best area in the joint, I'll lead you there when it's time for places." Sweeties stated as she guided Lizzie and I to the second room.
The room overflowed with costumes lazily hung from coat racks or strewn about the floor. Sweeties immediently buzzed about the room throwing me different pieces for a costume. By the end of her rampage, I held a long red tutu, a red and white polka dot dress that was ripped in multiple areas, and a vest decorated with an obnoxious circle print.
I smiled at the weird combination and quickly changed into the absured costume. I wore the red tutu as I normally would, followed by the polka dot dress on top, with the vest tied on top of that. When I emerged from the small dressing room, Sweeties and Lizzie erupted into applause and whistles.
"You look amazing!" Lizzie gushed as she ruffled the tutu. I laughed and gave her a twirl.
"Why thank you!" I replied in a high pitched voice. Lizzie cackled and lead me back to the first room.
"Costume, check. Sign in, check. Now, it's time for makeup! Sweeties' will take care of that while I get into costume."
Then it was just me, Sweeties, and some other crew members doing their makeup. I sat still as Sweeties drew on my face with black eyeliner. She laid out a variety of neon paints and brushes.
"So, can you tell me a bit about Doodles' area?" I asked trying to make conversation. Sweeties nodded before grabbing one the paints.
"We're one of the cooler areas since the area is 3d. Our guests get 3D glasses when they enter and with the help of a bunch of blacklights, we appear to be 3D. You're on doorway, so you lead guests through a dark hallway and distract them with a fake broken floorboard. Then, you slam the door in their faces and keep them trapped there while other clowns come to ambush them."
Sweeties chuckled to herself as she reached for a different brush. " When we're done, you let them go and they continue through to Lulu's spot."
I smiled and figeted growing more excited the more I heard about what I was going to be doing. Sweeties applied a bright yellow to my right eye before lightly blowing on my face and telling me to check it in the mirror.
The makeup was simple but creepy. My left eye was a pink circle while my right eye was a yellow diamond, I had a blue nose and a smile that stretched the entire length of my face. Complete with jagged teeth and fake blood.
I squealed excitedly and thanked Sweeties as she touched up her own makeup. I caught up with Lizzie who now had on a fluffy polka dot dress with a Shakesperian-like collar and a rainbow wig.
Lizzie smirked as she watched me admire my makeup. "I told you, you'd love it."
I rolled my eyes and attempted to hide my smile.
"Shut up."