There are two types of people in this world: people who like to be scared, and those who do not.  Yet, ironically, both these groups can be found congregating in the same place – Knott’s Scary Farm. What initially began as a one-night spectacle has transformed into 51 years of unforgettable screams. Knotts Scary Farm isn’t just about frights and terrors, it’s also about entertainment. From its chilling mazes, to fascinating shows, guests can find themselves submerged in an eerie atmosphere. But, the experience remains incomplete without its finishing touch – the scare actors. 

The diversity among the monsters is quite compelling, but have you noticed how certain monsters don’t just walk towards you, but rather slide at frightful speeds? Guests wandering through one of Scary Farm’s themed zones, can come across a monster sliding on the ground while igniting a trail of sparks behind them. This unique movement technique was invented at Knott’s by the park’s scare actors themselves. Now, many theme parks have taken inspiration, incorporating sliding into their scare tactics. Through the use of metal plates strapped to their knees, toes and hands, they are able to achieve this unearthly, sliding motion. These talented sliders behind the masks undergo rigorous training to master the art of sliding, one of whom is a former YLHS student, Zachary Shoup. 

“Learning how to slide was a process,” says Zachary, “Luckily, I’m good friends with one of the original sliders from when it was invented. I paid him to train me for 10 straight days to learn correct form, conditioning, tricks, and safety.” During his time at YLHS, Zachary was involved in soccer and track, allowing him to already be very athletic. “One thing that’s hard for me is a tactic called roll outs. A roll out is when you step out of a slide and roll away from your target, avoiding contact. That’s the number one thing new sliders fail to understand – you cannot at any cost hit your target.” He adds, “You have to strategically slide in a direction at a certain speed to get close enough to your target to where you can stop before contact, while also being visible to the person. It’s a lot of real time math that you have to calculate, but you fall into a groove after the first 2 weeks of doing it.” 

Scare actors will receive what’s called a haunt name which serves as a nickname the haunt community knows them by. Zachary has two: Triple B and Peter Parkour. “I received Triple B my rookie year in 2023 because I wore through 6 pairs of shoes in one season; 4 of them were boots, so Triple B stands for Broke Boot Boy. Peter Parkour is my current haunt name because I perform tricks in my venue like flips, vaults, jumps, and crawling. It relates to my admiration for the superhero Spider-Man,” the 20 year old gushes. 

When it isn’t haunt season, Zachary also does entertainment at the Disneyland Parks! And just like Disney, Knotts also requires their performers to audition. “My first audition was very similar to auditions for theatre and TV/movies, with a small group of people on a time slot being seen at the same time. They brought me on a stage and asked me to act as certain movie monsters, make monster sounds, and walk across the room pretending to scare a group of people.” Zachary was very fortunate to be casted in a Knotts street zone his rookie year from that audition, which is rare and hard to do, especially since he was 19 with no scarring experience. He continues to say that “Monsters have to re-audition every year, however. It’s a way to show improvement to the casting team or to showcase interest in a different venue. My re-audition this year was a slider test to become a Scary Farm slider – a very coveted position. That audition was a mix of showing off scarring capabilities and safe sliding without hurting yourself and/or others. I passed that test, so now I’m one of few new certified sliders this season at Scary Farm.” 

For it only being his 2nd year, Zachary has learned so much and is very grateful for his fellow scare actors. His most memorable moment was when he did his first flip his rookie year and crawled out of it at a bunch of guests. Zachary then won “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Creative” at the Scary Farm Banquet that year because of it! Getting to see a YLHS alumni succeeding and having fun is really mind-blowing! And make sure to stop by the Forsaken Lake on your next trip to Knotts Scary Farm, because you might just come across Zach!