What Halloween Means To Me Day 25: Roy Wooley

On season 3 of Syfy’s hit show Face-Off, the world found out what me and everyone else who works at the Netherworld haunted house has known for years; Roy Wooley is one amazing makeup and effects artist.  The resident makeup wizard of one of the consistently highest rated haunts in the nation; Roy has done horrible things to my visage and made this handsome horror blogger hideous beyond words more times than I could count.  Hell, just sitting in the guy’s makeup chair is an education.  I think the coolest thing about Roy, however, is that after being on a hit TV show and amassing quite a following (just look at how the Face-Off Facebook page EXPLODED when he was eliminated for proof), he’s the same easy going dude I’ve known for years.  The Face-Off season finale is Wednesday, with the voting taking place after Tuesday’s episode.  I know, I know, the obvious winner isn’t in the finals for some unfathomable reason, but Roy will be on the show regardless, so watch it.  Also watch for an interview with Roy coming up in November here on Son of Celluloid.  He’s here on the countdown today representing both makeup artists and the haunt industry, so lets hear what Halloween means to him…

 “I always remember loving Halloween as a child, even though at the time I couldn’t tell you when it was. I just always knew that is was soon after school started, when you started getting those first frosts of the year. They say that smell is one of the strongest triggers for memories, and I think they’re right. Any crisp fall morning reminds me of Halloween when I was younger and brings back memories of going house-to-house, hoping for the big candy bars and not the piece of bubble gum. Of course, there was always candy corn and the occasional homemade cookie, popcorn ball, and candy apple. No wonder I got diabetes!

Aside from all the wonderful treats, you have probably my favorite part of the season; monsters, costumes, and make-up. I remember one of my store bought costumes. It was a little devil costume complete with a thin little plastic mask and the non-fire-retardant suit. I also remember years of homemade costumes and really bad make-ups, but that didn’t matter because it was Halloween. I think that’s one of the reasons why it has always been my favorite holiday. Halloween is that one day out of the year when you get to totally change yourself and be somebody or something else. I always enjoyed that aspect more than the scare for personal reasons. As long as I can remember I have always had a problem with stuttering, but for some reason when I would put on a mask it would go away. When I started working at Netherworld Haunted House, we would always do “live” shows for different T.V. stations. Now, if you’ve ever had a speech impediment you can understand how terrifying that can be. But over the years it got easier, and it rarely happens now. That’s a good thing too, because otherwise I never could or would have done Face Off.

After I started working in the haunted house industry, I became a lot more interested in the scare. There is nothing more fun than seeing a grown man fall to his knees in fear over a piece of latex.  

 These days I’m almost always working on some kind of monster or creature for films or haunted houses and trying to design and build that next great scare. So what does Halloween mean to me? Well, if Christmas teaches us that it’s the one day a year when there is suppose to peace on earth and good will towards men (which I try to practice daily); then Halloween is the day where I’ll be kind and friendly, then scare the crap out of you!”

2 more days ‘til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.  2 more days ‘til Halloween.  Silver Shamrock!