For more than a decade, Betty Feniak has had a hand in perfecting the gruesome costumes at the heart of Deadmonton, the haunted house experience that’s been scaring Edmontonians for twelve years running.
As the haunted house has grown (Deadmonton now employs around 130 actors), her role has morphed into a year-round, jack-of-all trades position — from making curtains to staining floors. But it all started with her talent for sewing.
With Deadmonton kicking off its 12th season, we chatted with Feniak, who is also a production designer at Edify, about the event’s exponential growth, the importance of detail and making vampires look good.
Edify: How many costumes did you work on this year?
Betty Feniak: That’s a really hard question because even when we use costumes from previous years we are always creating pieces to go along with them. If we have a character, say a vampire outside, and we have a suit jacket for him, we might add tails. It’s not just creating one costume because there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes.
Edify: How much creativity goes into the costumes?
Feniak: A lot. We have to try and figure out what kind of costume works best in which area. We have to be creative. What do you put on a vampire to make them look good? What can you use that we have? Sometimes we get direction for a character and we go, No, no, no, that doesn’t seem right. We have to change it up. I get directions to fulfill whatever their needs are.
Edify: How have costumes evolved?
Feniak: If you look back at photos from the first year, I think there were maybe 10 to 15 actors. It was thrown together the first year. A lot of work went into making it happen, but it was just a small warehouse behind MacEwan. We’ve definitely gone above and beyond. I go to thrift stores all year long. Ryan Kozar (founder) gets us full latex costumes. We have incredible costumes that we purchase that can be used year after year.
Edify: Did you have any interest in the horror world?
Feniak: No, not me, nope. Three years ago we had (the theme) Icons of Darkness and I had to watch horror movies because I didn’t know who any of the characters were. I didn’t know who Jason (Friday the 13th) was. I didn’t know who Pennywise (It) was.
Edify: Are you able to walk through and enjoy the experience?
Feniak: I work year-round inside the haunts. I’ve stained the floors, I’ve done the curtains, I’ve made the beds, I’ve helped set up the kitchen. I know a lot of the stuff that goes into the haunts, but once the actors get in there, they just set another tone. Ryan is such a stickler for detail, and that’s what I really like. The plates have eyeballs on them, or a costume is distressed and torn and ragged. When the actors bring it to life and you get the smells and the lighting — I see it when all the lights are on, but when it’s dark and spooky, and the music’s going, and there are actors in the space, and you can hear other people screaming, and the floor is creaking — it’s cool.
Deadmonton runs through Nov. 8. Tickets and more information are available at deadmontonhouse.com.
This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.
