Scary Women Making A Good Life
Posted on 04/30/20
Donna Wohlgemuth (Spookywoods), Amber Arnett-Bequeaith (Beast), Anne Bates (Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride), and Nancy Jubie (Headless Horseman) together at a NETHERWORLD hosted event.
Call a woman a witch, scary or someone’s worst nightmare and you might find yourself knocked on the floor.
But for a special group of women in the haunted house business, those names or descriptions are music to their ears. These are women who are part of the “haunted house industry.” And, yes, there is an association for haunted house industry professionals, America Haunts, that notes scaring people is just the point for these haunted house proprietors.
Commercial haunted houses boomed in the 1970s and ‘80s. At that time, few women pulled the strings. Today there are over 1200 haunted attractions charging admission fees to their events. Some of these attractions have lasted for decades, an achievement that isn’t for the faint of heart according to Amber Arnett-Bequeaith, better known as the Queen of Haunts and spokesperson for America Haunts.
Pulling the haunt show curtain back, there are a number of leading women, ranging in ages from 40 to 60, in the business. All of them love what they do and maintain a zest for life. Despite their share of stresses navigating a seasonal business, they are believers that a healthy lifestyle should include large doses of fun and laughter which they get witnessing the joy brought to the tens of thousands of visitors every Halloween season.
