Wanted: Ghouls And Zombies

Friday, August 10th 2007, 9:01 pm

By: News On 6

It may be August in Oklahoma, but one man is already thinking about Halloween. Victor Marquez is getting ready for the third year of Psycho Path, a haunted attraction he created near Collinsville. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports Marquez is looking to hire some scary people.

Victor Marquez first got bitten by the special effects bug after watching the sci-fi classic â€œPlanet of the Apes.â€

"That's right, the first one was â€œPlanet of the Apes,â€ and I was kind of curious. How do they do the makeup and all of that? That's when I got introduced to the foam rubber and stuff like that," haunted attraction creator Victor Marquez said.

For the past 30 years he's dabbled in creating creepy characters. He helped people with independent films, and he worked with other haunted house, but then, like all good mad scientists, he had an idea.

"I had a lot of ideas I wanted to use and I'd tell other people, hey this would be cool, and they wouldn't listen to me, so that's when you think, well I'll just do my own," said Marquez.

Psycho Path started two years ago, and the scariest part for Victor was low attendance, but things took off the next year.

"The first year was like 500 people came. Last year we probably got 5,000 people," he said. "We had to close the gate actually because we ran out of parking."

Friday and Saturday he's taking applications for performers. He says physically distinctive people are good, but heâ€™ll hire anyone who can provide a good scare.

Marquez and his crew have put a lot of work into each site at Psycho Path with impressive lighting effects and a projection screen. They even built a replica of the Sleepy Hollow Bridge, and he says they fine tune the haunted attraction each year. It might be the horror genre, but it's a labor of love.

"Right now it's just fun, because I haven't made any money," said Marquez.

Marquez wants to hire about 25 people. He pays his performers, which he says not many haunted houses do. The Psycho Path casting call continues Saturday, August 11th in Collinsville, starting at 7 p.m.

For more information on Psycho Path, click here.

Watch the video: Haunted House Casting Call