BUENA PARK : Perfecting the Monster Inside Them

Picking up his Halloween mask he fashioned out of clay, rubber and plastic, Brad Lewis talked about why he enjoys being a corpse.

“I like to take advantage of people’s fears,” he said.

For 11 days out of the year, the 39-year-old truck driver leaves his 18-wheeler in the driveway and becomes the living dead. He is one of about 400 ministers of the dark who roam Knott’s Berry Farm during its annual Halloween Haunt and try to scare everyone who has the misfortune of crossing their path.

On Friday some of them gathered to bone up on their screaming, slithering and spooking in preparation for the event, which begins Friday.

With the tune “Monster Mash” playing in the background, the class of 15 ghouls-to-be practiced their best haunting techniques. Professional acting coach Dick Monday guided them through the tricky maneuvers.

“When we are monsters we need focus,” Monday told the group before sending them into their best scary stance, followed by bouts of hysteria, high-pitched screeching and floor slithering.

But being a monster is not just fun and games.

Each potential ghoul must first audition for the part. About 600 people competed for a spot this year, but only about 400 were picked. Once selected, a monster must go through eight hours of training, which includes everything from clocking in to protecting yourself from excited teens.

Amanda McTigue, the park’s manager of show development, helps teach the monsters safety. “People who work the rides . . . have to be careful that they are safe and obviously we don’t want to scare people out of their seats,” said McTigue.

Many of the hired monsters are seasoned, such as Jason Beghtol, 22, of Placentia. It is his fifth year being a scar-faced thing.

“It’s fun, an excellent way to release all your tensions from the day,” said Beghtol, who works as a theater technician.

Beghtol has one of the more coveted spots as a “street ghoul,” instead of being cooped up in one of the many mazes and rides, such as the Bates Motel. He is free to roam around the park and scare guests. Many of the people who get to work the streets return several years in a row for the haunt.

As “Pomp and Circumstance” played in the background Friday, the group of 15 men and women became certified phantoms, “wolfwomen” and ax-sliced corpses and received their MBA-that’s Monsters, Beasts and Apparitions--degree.

While other graduates chatted about the big haunt, Lewis the said he now will return to truck driving for a week, a relatively normal job, until his Halloween duties beckon. “But,” he said laughing and pointing to his corpse mask, “this is normal.”