It’s almost that time of year again—the high holy holiday for our community, Halloween! It’s when we let our freak flags fly and stretch our creative wings. And you don’t have to wait until All Hallows’ Eve to get your spook on. Philadelphia is a great place to celebrate all month long.
Catch the second installment of Drag Brunch with the Haus of Lickher & Attic Brewing on Oct. 19, or enjoy bottomless mimosas during a Philadelphia Halloween Drag Brunch Bottomless Mimosa Cruise on the Delaware River on Oct. 20, featuring Philadelphia’s Queen of Comedy, Bev, along with special guest performers.
Head to Uptown Beer Garden for a Halloween-themed Our Night Out on Oct. 10, or enjoy burlesque, libations, audience games and more with Philadelphia favorite HoneyTree EvilEye and friends at Silk City Diner on Oct. 23.
For something different, you should catch Gunnar Montana’s bone-chilling “BLACK WOOD: WINTERBORN.” The Fringe show has been extended to run through the end of October, with a special performance on Halloween night.
And of course, no Halloween in Philadelphia would be complete without Henri David’s Halloween ball on Oct. 31, which will be held at the Kimmel Center, celebrating more than 50 years of tradition.
You can find detailed info for all of these events at phillygaycalendar.com.
But for me, my favorite tradition is a visit to Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary. If you’ve never been, it is a massive Halloween festival that contains five haunted houses, themed bars, live entertainment and more, and occupies all ten acres of Eastern State Penitentiary’s abandoned cell blocks and yards. The night can be as intense or mild as you want. Last year, I took a few friends who were terrified at the spookiness of the place. For them, the best part was the cabaret and bar (which gave them a chance to slow down their heart rates). But for those more adventurous, you can up the fear factor by wearing a glow necklace that signifies that you’re up for being grabbed, sent into hidden passageways, and even temporarily separated from your group! I was the only one brave enough to do it with my peeps but I highly recommend doing it to get the whole experience. This week, I had a chance to speak to Anthony Salas, the Senior Haunted House Specialist for Halloween Nights. Some responses have been edited for length or clarity.
Hello! I’m so excited to hear what’s new at Halloween Nights, but let’s learn a little about you first. I read that you were born in Puerto Rico.
Yep, I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico back in 1998. That is where I am from. I came here at a very young age, I want to say 2 years old. I still have family there. Actually, most of them are there and so we visit every couple of years.
I love Puerto Rico. Do you have any memories of it? Though if you moved at 2, I wouldn’t imagine so.
Believe it or not, I actually have a few. I’ll tell my parents and they’ll ask, “How do you remember that?!?” They’re sort of vague, random memories, like a butterfly flying around in our kitchen when I was about a year-and-a-half, but my mother remembers it too. And of course, I have plenty of fond memories of going back to visit after we’d moved here.
Did the family move straight to Philadelphia?
No, we first moved to Newark, N.J. and were there for a couple of years and that’s where my mother met my stepfather, who I call my father since he was the one who raised me. After a couple of years, we moved over to Philly.
What was your first impression of Philly?
We first moved to Olney and it was really different. It was nicer here than in Newark, a real change of pace and a better direction for the family from our perspective. But it was also a huge culture shift. I started school the day after we moved here and that was a lot to take in at 6 years old.
I guess so. What did the folks do?
When we first moved here, my father ran a bodega, he actually had a couple of them. He doesn’t do that anymore.
That must have been a dream as a kid, being able to walk in, “I’ll take two licorice and a pack of Starbursts…” You’re literally a kid in a candy store!
Yeah! It was like that sometimes.
Do you have any siblings?
I do. I have two immediate siblings and I’m the eldest.
How would your mother have described you as a kid?
She would say that I was definitely creative, but also a little hyperactive, and very applied.
[Laughing] I’ve never heard that word ascribed to a child before but it seems apropos. What kinds of things were you into?
I developed a curious interest in the arts from a very young age, though from an unconventional angle. I originally wanted to be a magician. A lot of my interests were about creating illusions and that sort of thing.
Do you still do magic, outside of what you create at Halloween Nights?
Not really. I can still do a few things but a lot of the materials I would need to pull off anything have been lost to time. Like many kids, I was also into anime, and I collected Pokémon cards, that type of stuff.
So moving forward, I know you’re a Temple alum. What did you study?
Yes, I went to the school of theater, film and media arts from 2016 to 2020.
Who was your favorite teacher?
I’d say one of my favorite teachers was Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon. She’s very prolific in her community and always had the most interesting things to say. I really enjoyed having classes with her because she would always provide a fascinating perspective on things. To be quite frank, my college experience was different then most because college was not something I originally had in my peripheral growing up. It wasn’t something I was particularly interested in. [Laughing] I kept trying to drop out but my parents insisted I continue. So I grudgingly graduated and got my degree. And the one good takeaway was the classes I had with her.
What did you do after graduation? Did you jump into the workforce?
I actually started working at Eastern State seasonally my first year of college and I’ve been there in different capacities over the years.
What was your first job at Halloween Nights?
I was an actor and my first role was at a drop window scare. It’s when an actor is hidden behind a concealed window, sometimes disguised as a painting or window, or something, and you flip a switch and the window drops with a loud bang and you pop up and scare people. It’s a very effective scare! That was in 2016 and halfway through the season, my manager Caron Lee, told me that she felt my talents were being wasted behind the window and she put me in the finale room. It was in an attraction called “Infirmary” and they had all these old bed frames and bunk beds and hanging sheets and you had to be really agile to jump through and around everything to scare the guests. Not quite parkour but close, and we had some lines too.
And tell me about the job that you do there now?
I’m the Senior Haunted House Specialist. I’m in charge of managing all five of the haunted houses at the prison. I do staff training and coaching. I do the quality assurance and make sure that everything is running smoothly. I work with the managers of each separate house to make sure the quality of the show is up to our expectations. And safety is always paramount for us — for both the actors and the guests. The scaring part is secondary to that. So we go through vigorous training for the actors.
What’s an example of a tip you give them?
Never lead with your face. People often react, understandably, by raising their hands when you jump at or scare them and you want to keep your face safe. It’s better to lead with an expressive noise or other parts of your body.
What are some of the new things we can expect this year?
We have a new way for people to engage called Beyond the Veil. We’re having an overarching storyline that unites the attractions and delves into the backstories of some of the new signature characters. It’s something we haven’t done in a while, that’s very interactive. It’s an immersive-theater-style experience where guests get hints and puzzles to solve.
Oh, yay! I remember when they did that years ago for the VIP tickets and it was a lot of fun. Though one of my friends got soaked because there was an escape-room-style challenge and we were too stupid to figure it out before the zombie dripped water on her from over the chair she was strapped into!
I remember those challenges. That was years ago. So yeah, once again, we have the key characters engaging with guests, and putting them on paths to make decisions and unravel additional storylines and challenges as they go.
I look forward to it. So I see you’re wearing skeletons on your outfit and I looked at your Instagram account and saw it seems to be a theme for you.
I’ve always been intrigued and fascinated by skeletons. There’s something about them that reminds me of eternal life and the idea of always existing, that even when people “die,” there’s still something left of them. I’ve always been a little of a “spooky” person.
How so?
I’ve been into horror films since middle school. I’ve always liked the creepy documentaries where they’re looking for Bigfoot or ghosts. I was into true crime before it became so popular!
One of the best pics of you had two rainbow skeletons embracing. What was your coming out like? Spooky or tame?
I wore that T-shirt to Pride. I saw it online and I had to have it. It was so me! I came out halfway through high school and I was pretty supported by all my family and friends right from the start, which is sadly not the case for a lot of people but I was very lucky.
Do you remember your first crush?
I don’t. I just remember that most of my friend groups were mostly girls, not because I had any interest in them but because I had an interest in the topics that they talked about.
What’s a fun family memory?
Our trips to Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, where my stepfather is from, were exciting. Going to the beaches and the old towns and visiting the rainforest was memorable. There’s a big tower that you can climb and when you’re at the top, you can see everything below you in all directions. You get a 360 perspective of the rainforest. Also, we took a trip to Canada, which was really fun. We actually went to a few haunted houses while we were there! We were near the Niagara Falls area which is very touristy, but there was lots of good food and a lot to do and we had a great time. I think that was our last trip together.
What was your best birthday?
It was the year I turned 21. My friend took me for my first legal drink. It was a cosmopolitan and then we went to a different bar for my second drink, which was a Moscow mule. It was a very low-key and intimate experience and it was just perfect. I got birthday wishes and calls, etc. throughout the day but I loved just keeping it simple and fun.
Sounds nice!
It was, not that I would mind having a big party. I don’t think I’ve had one since I was 6! So it’s been 20 years since I’ve had a birthday party.
[Mock shouting] OK, FOAs, friends of Anthony! You need to throw him a big surprise party next year! When is your birthday?
[Laughing] I appreciate the shout out! It’s in January. I’m a Capricorn.
Ah, I don’t know much about that. What are the traits and do you live up to them?
We’re supposed to be very work-minded, like I said earlier, very applied, I’m always thinking about work. And some say we’re stubborn. But I like to think it’s not in a bad way.
I’m a Taurus, so we get that rap too, and I also choose to think it’s more that we stick to our values than stubborn! I noticed that you’re a bit of a fashionista. What’s your favorite outfit?
After the show is wrapped for the season, we have a party for the staff and it always has a theme. One year, the theme was “Your favorite album cover.” I had overalls with a skeleton print on them, and a long-sleeve shirt with black and purple stripes and bunny ears. It sounds really random but it was actually inspired by one of my favorite bands, “The Birthday Massacre.” Their running theme is skeletons and bunnies. So it was perfect!
What do you do when you get nervous?
I like to talk to my friends. I like to write. Sometimes, I paint, or I like to play video games. Those are the things I do when I get nervous.
Would you prefer a sporty or nerdy date?
Nerdy. For sure.
If you could create a fantasy land, what is one thing it would have in it? Outside of skeletons!
The sun would never rise in my fantasy land, but the plus side would be that the sky would always be full of stars. So in effect, more suns than we could count, but just not the ones that rise and fall over the earth. It’s nice but doesn’t compare to the millions and millions above us that we can only see at night.
Nighttime is the right time!
Halloween Nights runs through Nov. 9 at Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit easternstate.org/halloween.