Three years at Netherworld may have desensitized John Metzdorf to the scare factor of haunted houses, but that doesn’t mean the scare-your-pants-off fun is lost on him.
His interest in horror started from as far back as he can remember with shows like “Are You Afraid of the Dark”, “Tales from the Crypt” and movies like “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” At amusement parks, he gravitated toward the spooky rides, like Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
“I’ve always liked horror stuff,” Metzdorf said. “Let’s say that not much has changed since I was a kid watching scary movies and going on rides with animatronic ghosts. That’s still who I am.”
So when he saw friends having a fun time working for Netherworld, Metzdorf had to get into the business.
“The interview was pretty straightforward,” he said. “You don’t have to have very many qualifications; you just have to have a passion for doing it.”
And passion is what keeps Metzdorf from quitting when the big bulky costumes he is made to wear tire him out.
“They put me in things like gargoyles or big costumes with shoulder pads because I’m a taller guy,” he said. “And they have us do all sorts of things. I jump out at people usually, but they also have me work outside chasing people with chainsaws and stuff like that.
Metzdorf’s childlike nature comes out when the props do—a favorite pastime of his is to shoot off house-goer’s hats with a machine gun that spurts out air, leaving the owners to scramble for their hats before rushing out the door to the next set of monsters and trouble makers.
“Some people like to do the same thing every night, but I prefer them to give me whatever they want because I like more variety.”
Chainsaws are probably Metzdorf’s favorite prop of the job.
“You just chase everybody out with real chainsaws, so you can smell the gas and everything, but it doesn’t have a chain on it. It gets a good reaction.”
Working in a haunted house can be a hazardous business- knee-jerk reactions from haunted house-goers have given Metzdorf a bloody nose before.
“One time I got elbowed in the face. I guess he was just so scared by me—it was a total accident—but I just kept going with it.”
Now that he’s had a first-hand look behind the scenes of a haunted house, there’s not much about them that scares him anymore. He’s found other things to entertain him in the scary manors and mansions.
“I think I’m desensitized to being scared. I mostly go for the production and set design stuff,” he said. “I think Universal Orlando does it better than anyone else. I go there every year for their Halloween Horror Night and they have eight haunted houses there.”
One particular haunted house centering around realistic looking werewolf puppets caught his attention in Orlando. “Netherworld is probably the best single haunted house I’ve been to,” he added loyally.
Among Metzdorf’s other hobbies is another goose-bump inducing pastime: murder.
In film, that is.
In 2012, Metzdorf starred in the TV docudrama ‘”The Family that Slays Together.” The show tells real stories of family members who conspired and carried out murder together. Metzdorf took on the role of Damon, a father who plotted his wife’s murder with his own mother and carried it out in plain view of his children.
Metzdorf has found ways to develop even an obscure a passion as haunted houses into a fun time and a money-maker all in one.
“I did Netherworld for the fun of it!” he said.
