a day in my life: october 31st - hallowe'en edition!
So I've sort of disappeared from LJ a little (much. A little much.) but Halloween being Halloween and me being myself I just got this intense itch in my fingers to do a DIML - especially since this very particular Halloween was absolutely wild and intense! You're in for an absolutely wild ride.
Avi, 30, Vienna/Austria. Actress, Musical Theatre Performer & Creature Of The Night. ♥
Good... morning? I honestly didn't quite plan to sleep this long but looking at how I only managed to fall asleep after 5am and knew my day was going to be insane that extra time was very much needed
...Well. It's a morning.
Queen of the time is ready to go! I did almost oversleep and had to catch a train at 12:58 so no routine pictures because... Well... No routine today, oops.
Off we go! Also, I love that I finally own a red coat again.
Also, those Docs are the comfiest thing ever but don't get me started about the break-in phase. Yikes. And those are the super soft leather ones.
Setting the mood.
I live just one minute by bus (five when you walk) away from Vienna's major shopping street which comes in VERY handy when you're in a hurry and have a couple of urgent errands to run! And since I didn't do time-check screenshots this time around, there will be stamps in the descriptions judging from when the photos were taken!
12:10pm
Super quick first stop! Some of you might remember my intense adoration for LUSH and I can assure you that it hasn't changed a bit. In fact, it's taken a step further and just two weeks ago I celebrated my one-year anniversary as an employee! Best part-time job ever. But yeah, obviously forgot to get some things I needed and therefore had to drop in really quick.
12:20pm
The next two stations on my hurried trip: Bookstore and pâtisserie (directly next to each other)! Had to pick up a pre-ordered book and some Halloween breakfast, of course.
12:29pm
Both acquired!
You will meet those babies soon.
12:33pm
Train station in sight! By that point, I knew I was safe to make it perfectly on time.
12:52pm
Mission accomplished, train caught! Why a train, though? Well, not only do I work at LUSH but also as an actress at a horror-themed Live Theatre Escape Game in this beautiful Horror Villa a little outside of Vienna (which is literally the most amazing thing in the entire world honestly, I auditioned in June, started in August, and don't ever want to leave again) that I will show you quite soon in the pictures. Halloween is our most important day of the year, so of course, there was a massive event planned that was about to begin! SO EXCITING!
Breakfast time! Even made it to Starbucks for an Iced Pumpkin Spice Chai because yep, I'm 100% basic and 0% coffee drinker.
1:29pm
Welcome to the middle of nowhere, aka the place where, thanks to construction work, the journey would continue by car. Thankfully my colleagues are the best and we help each other wherever we can so I was picked up shortly after arriving!
Quite rural, and quite pretty.
1:41pm
HELLO, VILLA! ♥ There will of course be a lot of scenery pictures there, just because it is the perfect place to celebrate Halloween, especially with that gorgeous decor put up!
Settling in first, though.
Small glimpse by light.
2:46pm
Remember my face the way it is now, you won't recognise me much longer. (Usually we do our own make-up and I actually did a colleague's that day but on special event days we have two - three, actually - amazing make-up artists that get to have fun with some of us for some extra-special make-up. I was lucky to be one of those!
3:22pm
Getting started.
3:45pm
The Nun has risen. Definitely not that nun but probably her cooler little sister or something, hehe. (I wear that blind contact for two other roles I play as well - another nun with a half-burnt face and a very creepy nurse - so I'm used to it thankfully because you actually do have slightly restricted vision! It's like looking through a semi-sheer veil, but the more and longer you wear it the less you notice.)
In love with this. And yes, I definitely scared myself looking in the mirror. Several times.
You see, the veil does A LOT. Also yes, I was totally aware that my nose was still pink, had that touched up right on time, though!
4:05pm
55 minutes to go until starting time! Plenty of time to take the coolest, spookiest pictures ever - we generally took a lot (and I mean... a lot) of pics throughout the day, the best of which I will obviously share with you! Particularly in love with that one tbh,
While we have some delicious red velvet brain cake, let me explain the event to you: Some of us were positioned as walking acts outside (where you had super fun activities to do like head-throwing, having your future read by Mme Roswitha or could just chill with hot punch and snacks), and some of us were part of a staged walkthrough inside the Villa. We have two regular games, each taking place in several rooms, one being on the first and one on the ground floor, so there is a lot to discover - especially if you've never been here. I was in the walkthrough, and our incredible boss wouldn't be our incredible boss if he hadn't thought out a small plot and storyline for that too! Our groups were scheduled from 5pm to 11pm in a ten-minute interval, which made the whole thing super intense but we had some breaks where we could go outside and have a little fun with the visitors, take pictures with them, or get something to drink and eat for ourselves. Basically, we got to enjoy the best of both worlds which was AMAZING!
Almost time!
Everything normal here, of course.
5:22pm
IT HAS BEGUN!
Why I'm chilling on the toilet, you ask? Well, that was basically my starting position and in a way my hideout. To get a perfect first jump scare moment I had to barge into the gravedigger's shack from behind, and so no one would see me until then I spent the time the group took to get down from the staircase at our cast toilet, haha. Believe it or not, but I was actually the good guy in this whole story! I urge the group to leave and to save themselves because it's not safe here before getting pulled into the underworld very violently, begging them for help. After a couple of rooms and uncomfortable encounters, I then meet them again at the cemetery once again yelling at them to leave and fighting off an evil monk who wants to lure them into the darkness. They leave (...or not), and the monk ends up chasing them, I beg them for forgiveness and go back to my starting position, rinse and repeat. Incredibly fun, and incredibly exhausting physically and vocally since it's a LOT of screaming and crying in mortal fear.
Super hard at work.
5:51pm
After some obligatory starting hiccups, she-monk and I have found our perfect system! We will not mention that we ruined a lantern during one of our fights - oops! But hey, that's going all in with everything we have. And some fighting scenes took a long, long time because there were groups who just wouldn't move...
7:11pm
Right in the middle of it, and just chilling in the cemetery! I couldn't take pictures of the outside area until the end but by then already found myself in lots of visitor-taken pictures, was mistaken for a movie actress, complimented by a girl that I was very pretty and brought some terror to a couple faces, hehe.
8:21pm
Time for a snack! Where else but on the toilet of course. One of the best bratwursts I've ever had, even though apparently the sight of a Demon Nun holding a plate full of that is rather unusual, I did get laughed at by a couple of guests. No regrets, though, 10/10 would do again.
8:25pm
We're just over half-time! Also, Demon Nun + candle = perfection for Halloween.
Which one of the three is your favourite?
8:45pm
Following one of my favourite Halloween traditions in between! Never missing a year of HP Halloween & Trick or Treat, and this review I got on one of my HP Halloween ficlets was pure delight. ♥
9:02pm
Hey, even Demon Nuns need to hydrate! Just enjoying some Witches' Brew. AKA alcohol-free punch from our Little Shop of Horrors that was so delicious that I, spoiler, had five cups over the course of the night. No regrets.
9:11pm
More pictures! Not necessarily the most glorious one but we always had to keep an ear out on the group coming to the cemetery!
Part of the gravedigger's shack.
10:44pm
Already entirely out of strength (my voice thankfully only left me briefly for a couple minutes while I was outside but held up very nicely) but two more groups to go!
11:18pm
Me when they tell me that the walkthrough is over. I really wanted to take a picture of the scene where I'm being dragged back into the underworld, and... yep, received what I asked for. I kind of love it, what do you guys think?
FAMILY PHOTO!
11:20pm
Slowly turning into myself again...
...but keeping the make-up!
11:44pm
Some incredibly atmospheric scenery ahead!
Majestic Villa
I mean... Honestly, wouldn't you just love to spend your Halloween here?
12:17am
On our way back to Vienna
1:04am
BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT GOING HOME YET! My Villa bestie and I were considering whether we should still hit the town as we were exhausted but totally wanted to make a little more use of our make-up (the one time you don't have to take it off when you leave the Villa!). Clubs were more of a meh option (I hate them anyway and try to avoid them where I can but somehow that night I almost considered going to one) so we decided on a cocktail bar in the town centre!
Turned out to be very cosy, not too loud, and amazing cocktail-wise. Mocktail for me, house special for her! We were definitely complimented on our make-up but... were also the only ones in Halloween style in there, haha.
2:57am
After three failed attempts to call an Uber we ended up taking the tube and I got the enjoy the amazing atmosphere of the night a little more.
3:05am
Safe in my elevator!
...do I like Halloween? I'm not quite sure.
HOME!
3:12am
Bye bye, make-up...
Tried to take a fancy half/half picture and failed delightfully.
3:15am
And here's me again. Got that off way faster than I thought.
3:23am
Gotta run a quick bath despite the time thanks to a sinister premonition of terribly sore muscles.
Good thing my little LUSH Halloween pumpkin contains a lot of cinnamon leaf oil which is amazing for muscles and blood flow! Pro-tip, if you ever get sore muscles or feel a lot of tension, cinnamon oil does help a lot.
Enjoying my last remaining pastry.
And reading my own received gifts at last!
4:06am
Out of the bath and already discovering my first bruise! There are quite a few more that have developed overnight because we definitely weren't very gentle to each other, my arms do look quite interesting now I gotta say!
Getting all bed-ready.
Just have to prepare one final thing for rehearsal tomorrow...
4:17am
BED! AT LAST! Mr Oogie Boogie looks overjoyed to see me.
Just playing this day of my pizza game's Halloween event.
4:28am
And, no matter what happens, it's not Halloween without at least starting Hocus Pocus. Come what may. Needless to say, I was fast asleep before the Sanderson sisters were brought back to life, probably even before Max and Dani went Trick-or-Treating, so... GOOD NIGHT, AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ♥
Avi, 30, Vienna/Austria. Actress, Musical Theatre Performer & Creature Of The Night. ♥
Good... morning? I honestly didn't quite plan to sleep this long but looking at how I only managed to fall asleep after 5am and knew my day was going to be insane that extra time was very much needed
...Well. It's a morning.
Queen of the time is ready to go! I did almost oversleep and had to catch a train at 12:58 so no routine pictures because... Well... No routine today, oops.
Off we go! Also, I love that I finally own a red coat again.
Also, those Docs are the comfiest thing ever but don't get me started about the break-in phase. Yikes. And those are the super soft leather ones.
Setting the mood.
I live just one minute by bus (five when you walk) away from Vienna's major shopping street which comes in VERY handy when you're in a hurry and have a couple of urgent errands to run! And since I didn't do time-check screenshots this time around, there will be stamps in the descriptions judging from when the photos were taken!
12:10pm
Super quick first stop! Some of you might remember my intense adoration for LUSH and I can assure you that it hasn't changed a bit. In fact, it's taken a step further and just two weeks ago I celebrated my one-year anniversary as an employee! Best part-time job ever. But yeah, obviously forgot to get some things I needed and therefore had to drop in really quick.
12:20pm
The next two stations on my hurried trip: Bookstore and pâtisserie (directly next to each other)! Had to pick up a pre-ordered book and some Halloween breakfast, of course.
12:29pm
Both acquired!
You will meet those babies soon.
12:33pm
Train station in sight! By that point, I knew I was safe to make it perfectly on time.
12:52pm
Mission accomplished, train caught! Why a train, though? Well, not only do I work at LUSH but also as an actress at a horror-themed Live Theatre Escape Game in this beautiful Horror Villa a little outside of Vienna (which is literally the most amazing thing in the entire world honestly, I auditioned in June, started in August, and don't ever want to leave again) that I will show you quite soon in the pictures. Halloween is our most important day of the year, so of course, there was a massive event planned that was about to begin! SO EXCITING!
Breakfast time! Even made it to Starbucks for an Iced Pumpkin Spice Chai because yep, I'm 100% basic and 0% coffee drinker.
1:29pm
Welcome to the middle of nowhere, aka the place where, thanks to construction work, the journey would continue by car. Thankfully my colleagues are the best and we help each other wherever we can so I was picked up shortly after arriving!
Quite rural, and quite pretty.
1:41pm
HELLO, VILLA! ♥ There will of course be a lot of scenery pictures there, just because it is the perfect place to celebrate Halloween, especially with that gorgeous decor put up!
Settling in first, though.
Small glimpse by light.
2:46pm
Remember my face the way it is now, you won't recognise me much longer. (Usually we do our own make-up and I actually did a colleague's that day but on special event days we have two - three, actually - amazing make-up artists that get to have fun with some of us for some extra-special make-up. I was lucky to be one of those!
3:22pm
Getting started.
3:45pm
The Nun has risen. Definitely not that nun but probably her cooler little sister or something, hehe. (I wear that blind contact for two other roles I play as well - another nun with a half-burnt face and a very creepy nurse - so I'm used to it thankfully because you actually do have slightly restricted vision! It's like looking through a semi-sheer veil, but the more and longer you wear it the less you notice.)
In love with this. And yes, I definitely scared myself looking in the mirror. Several times.
You see, the veil does A LOT. Also yes, I was totally aware that my nose was still pink, had that touched up right on time, though!
4:05pm
55 minutes to go until starting time! Plenty of time to take the coolest, spookiest pictures ever - we generally took a lot (and I mean... a lot) of pics throughout the day, the best of which I will obviously share with you! Particularly in love with that one tbh,
While we have some delicious red velvet brain cake, let me explain the event to you: Some of us were positioned as walking acts outside (where you had super fun activities to do like head-throwing, having your future read by Mme Roswitha or could just chill with hot punch and snacks), and some of us were part of a staged walkthrough inside the Villa. We have two regular games, each taking place in several rooms, one being on the first and one on the ground floor, so there is a lot to discover - especially if you've never been here. I was in the walkthrough, and our incredible boss wouldn't be our incredible boss if he hadn't thought out a small plot and storyline for that too! Our groups were scheduled from 5pm to 11pm in a ten-minute interval, which made the whole thing super intense but we had some breaks where we could go outside and have a little fun with the visitors, take pictures with them, or get something to drink and eat for ourselves. Basically, we got to enjoy the best of both worlds which was AMAZING!
Almost time!
Everything normal here, of course.
5:22pm
IT HAS BEGUN!
Why I'm chilling on the toilet, you ask? Well, that was basically my starting position and in a way my hideout. To get a perfect first jump scare moment I had to barge into the gravedigger's shack from behind, and so no one would see me until then I spent the time the group took to get down from the staircase at our cast toilet, haha. Believe it or not, but I was actually the good guy in this whole story! I urge the group to leave and to save themselves because it's not safe here before getting pulled into the underworld very violently, begging them for help. After a couple of rooms and uncomfortable encounters, I then meet them again at the cemetery once again yelling at them to leave and fighting off an evil monk who wants to lure them into the darkness. They leave (...or not), and the monk ends up chasing them, I beg them for forgiveness and go back to my starting position, rinse and repeat. Incredibly fun, and incredibly exhausting physically and vocally since it's a LOT of screaming and crying in mortal fear.
Super hard at work.
5:51pm
After some obligatory starting hiccups, she-monk and I have found our perfect system! We will not mention that we ruined a lantern during one of our fights - oops! But hey, that's going all in with everything we have. And some fighting scenes took a long, long time because there were groups who just wouldn't move...
7:11pm
Right in the middle of it, and just chilling in the cemetery! I couldn't take pictures of the outside area until the end but by then already found myself in lots of visitor-taken pictures, was mistaken for a movie actress, complimented by a girl that I was very pretty and brought some terror to a couple faces, hehe.
8:21pm
Time for a snack! Where else but on the toilet of course. One of the best bratwursts I've ever had, even though apparently the sight of a Demon Nun holding a plate full of that is rather unusual, I did get laughed at by a couple of guests. No regrets, though, 10/10 would do again.
8:25pm
We're just over half-time! Also, Demon Nun + candle = perfection for Halloween.
Which one of the three is your favourite?
8:45pm
Following one of my favourite Halloween traditions in between! Never missing a year of HP Halloween & Trick or Treat, and this review I got on one of my HP Halloween ficlets was pure delight. ♥
9:02pm
Hey, even Demon Nuns need to hydrate! Just enjoying some Witches' Brew. AKA alcohol-free punch from our Little Shop of Horrors that was so delicious that I, spoiler, had five cups over the course of the night. No regrets.
9:11pm
More pictures! Not necessarily the most glorious one but we always had to keep an ear out on the group coming to the cemetery!
Part of the gravedigger's shack.
10:44pm
Already entirely out of strength (my voice thankfully only left me briefly for a couple minutes while I was outside but held up very nicely) but two more groups to go!
11:18pm
Me when they tell me that the walkthrough is over. I really wanted to take a picture of the scene where I'm being dragged back into the underworld, and... yep, received what I asked for. I kind of love it, what do you guys think?
FAMILY PHOTO!
11:20pm
Slowly turning into myself again...
...but keeping the make-up!
11:44pm
Some incredibly atmospheric scenery ahead!
Majestic Villa
I mean... Honestly, wouldn't you just love to spend your Halloween here?
12:17am
On our way back to Vienna
1:04am
BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT GOING HOME YET! My Villa bestie and I were considering whether we should still hit the town as we were exhausted but totally wanted to make a little more use of our make-up (the one time you don't have to take it off when you leave the Villa!). Clubs were more of a meh option (I hate them anyway and try to avoid them where I can but somehow that night I almost considered going to one) so we decided on a cocktail bar in the town centre!
Turned out to be very cosy, not too loud, and amazing cocktail-wise. Mocktail for me, house special for her! We were definitely complimented on our make-up but... were also the only ones in Halloween style in there, haha.
2:57am
After three failed attempts to call an Uber we ended up taking the tube and I got the enjoy the amazing atmosphere of the night a little more.
3:05am
Safe in my elevator!
...do I like Halloween? I'm not quite sure.
HOME!
3:12am
Bye bye, make-up...
Tried to take a fancy half/half picture and failed delightfully.
3:15am
And here's me again. Got that off way faster than I thought.
3:23am
Gotta run a quick bath despite the time thanks to a sinister premonition of terribly sore muscles.
Good thing my little LUSH Halloween pumpkin contains a lot of cinnamon leaf oil which is amazing for muscles and blood flow! Pro-tip, if you ever get sore muscles or feel a lot of tension, cinnamon oil does help a lot.
Enjoying my last remaining pastry.
And reading my own received gifts at last!
4:06am
Out of the bath and already discovering my first bruise! There are quite a few more that have developed overnight because we definitely weren't very gentle to each other, my arms do look quite interesting now I gotta say!
Getting all bed-ready.
Just have to prepare one final thing for rehearsal tomorrow...
4:17am
BED! AT LAST! Mr Oogie Boogie looks overjoyed to see me.
Just playing this day of my pizza game's Halloween event.
4:28am
And, no matter what happens, it's not Halloween without at least starting Hocus Pocus. Come what may. Needless to say, I was fast asleep before the Sanderson sisters were brought back to life, probably even before Max and Dani went Trick-or-Treating, so... GOOD NIGHT, AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ♥