The profession of this Belarusian is to scare people. He told us what you need to do and how much they pay for it
Horror quests are places where people voluntarily pay money to be scared, locked in the dark, and chased through basements. But who hides behind the masks of maniacs and ghosts? Maxim has been working in this field for five years now. He has gone from a regular actor to deputy director of the Questroom company, worked on more than 12 projects in Minsk, and knows this industry from the inside, writes Myfin.by.
— Quests are a seasonal story. The peak starts in mid-summer, when students return to the city, and lasts until the end of October. After that – it's a matter of luck. Earnings are not fixed; we get paid for each specific game. This is more of a side job or even a hobby. For a main job, the salary here is too variable.
— And how much does it cost to scare someone?
— From my observations, on average in Minsk, an actor receives from 10 to 15 BYN per quest played. But generally, it all depends on the employer and your responsibilities. Personally, I've worked for 12.5 BYN, 15 BYN, and 25 BYN. Where they pay 25, you have significantly more functions. I won't name specific organizers, but there are very good, complex quests where actors are paid only 7 BYN. To earn more, they offer bonuses for some self-initiative: invent an original character appearance, steal, for example, a player's sneaker – you get a 3 BYN bonus. For the first two or three games per shift, you can still be creative, but by the seventh or eighth time, you won't be able to come up with anything new.
According to Maxim, the quest industry in Minsk has been gaining momentum and expanding over the past few years. In strong competition, there aren't enough games for everyone.
As Maxim says, if you work at one location, you get about 600 rubles a month. To increase his earnings, he runs back and forth between two quests. At this pace, he can earn about 1,200 BYN a month.
— My responsibilities include: setting up the location before the start, applying makeup, changing costumes, getting into character, and maintaining the atmosphere until the end. If the quest is a performance, meaning it's based on a book or movie, you need to thoroughly study the character's manner of speech and plasticity. Plus, you need to feel the audience. If children come – we play carefully. If students – you can let loose completely; they respond well to jokes and jump scares. For older players – an individual approach is needed.
On average, a game lasts 1 hour, so a payment of 15 BYN might sound good for a young person. But in reality, the unpredictability of the schedule ruins everything. On your shift, you can't work anywhere else, but there might be no games on your day. So you end up sitting without money, even though it's supposedly a workday.
Maxim at work
— We see the schedule the day before, but a booking can "arrive" an hour and a half before the game starts. You always have to be ready to drop everything and go. Some are lucky: they live in the next courtyard, it takes them 10 minutes to get to work. But if you live on the other side of the city, for one game you spend an hour there, an hour back, an hour running the quest — and all this for 15 BYN.
How much does it cost to launch your own quest?
Opening your own quest is always a risk. Maxim is convinced that if people don't like it, they will write mediocre reviews, which strongly affect attendance, and people will only come to you after they've completed all other quests in the city. And you've invested huge money in rent, renovations, decorations, wiring, cameras.
— What is the entry threshold for this business?
— Previously, everyone did it simply: they covered the walls with drywall, threw in a couple of decorations, sprayed some paint — and there you had a maniac's lair. Now the industry has grown, people are more meticulous. There are great people in Minsk, for example, the company "Claustrophobia." They create quests where you're simply afraid to touch anything because it looks like real artifacts, like "The Da Vinci Code."
Creating a classic, high-quality quest can cost around $30,000. Prices can be significantly lower. Our new quest "Therapy," which we worked on for almost three years, cost roughly $5,000 – 7,000 offhand. But the cost of a quest doesn't speak to its quality. We, for example, had huge savings because we carried out the construction work ourselves.
— And how long does it take for it to pay off?
— The secret to profitability is the number of quests in one location. The average cost of a game for a team in Minsk is 100-120 BYN. If you have one quest, you can only run one game per hour. We have four quests at one location. This means four games can run simultaneously per hour. The main thing is to properly set up sound insulation so that teams don't overlap and don't hear each other's screams through the wall.
At the same time, quests very often fall into the landlord's trap. If your premises are taken away, your quest will simply have to be destroyed. You can't take painted walls, decorated floors, and laid wiring with you. Therefore, they try to conclude long-term lease agreements.
Fines, injuries, and $100 tips
All work is dependent on two people, so fines in the industry are a common method of discipline. If an actor is 20 minutes late and people have to wait for him, he runs that game for free. If he doesn't show up for work at all without a valid reason, he pays a fine equal to the cost of the game itself.
Of course, if a person is genuinely ill, with a fever, nothing will happen. However, it's important to have a replacement who can cover for you. If there's no replacement – you'll have to work without days off.
— Contact horrors are popular now. Does it happen that an actor overdoes it with force and injures players?
— Thankfully, this hasn't happened to us, but it's a common story in the industry. It all depends on the actor: if they don't feel the line, when a person is really in pain, problems occur. People can end up with hematomas, bruises, and even cuts.
If a person chose "light" or "medium" mode, and the actor overdid it and caused a couple of bruises, the organization apologizes. However, if a player sustained a serious injury due to the actor's actions — tore a muscle, broke a bone — the treatment is fully paid for by the actor themselves.
— Do you receive tips after scary games?
— Tips depend on how you communicate with people after the quest. If you come out with a sour face – you'll get nothing. If you smile, answer their questions, discuss the experience – they might thank you. I've been left 1 kopeck for tea, and even 100 dollars! Though most often, of course, nothing is left.
Despite the difficulties, Maxim loves his job very much and even thinks about opening his own quest, although, as the guy admits, that is still a long way off.