A scare actor shines a light on the shadows inside her haunted house.
At Hell Harvest Haunted House near Potosi, there’s more to the characters than meets the eye; each creepy figure lurking in the shadows has a story to tell. Jeannie Sengheiser, who owns and operates this seasonal attraction in Potosi with her husband Jeff, details her experience of being a scare actor for Hell Harvest and portraying the characters Beans and Mopal.
Q | How did you get into the horror scene?
A | We have always loved Halloween and would host a large Halloween party and display at our house. I’ve also acted at a few haunts through the past two decades here and there, and I enjoy it a lot. When our kids left the nest, we decided to pursue our dream of opening a haunted house.
Q | How involved are you in the day-to-day operations?
A | I build and set the scenes with Jeff and do costumes and makeup for the staff. I act too. I’ve been a scare actor at our haunt since it opened. I can’t imagine putting my actors out in scenes and not being part of it.
Q | How did you develop your scare characters?
A | My aunts called me Jeannie Beanie when I was young, inspiring me to name my character Beans. She works by our diner, warning passersby not to anger her grandma Shirley. As for Mopal, she’s a mopey and moody motel owner inspired by Opal’s Motel, an old landmark in Hillsboro. We actually own the original Opal’s Motel sign. When motel customers arrive and catch Mopal sitting on the pot, drinking beer, and reading a magazine, instead of cleaning like she’s supposed to, she gets mad.
Q | Do people make it a Halloween tradition to visit you?
A | Actually, Beans has a little fan club. I have people that return not just season to season but weekend to weekend. They’ll come back and go, ‘Hey, here’s my girl, Beans.’ They’ll bring their friend from work and school, or they’ll bring their family because they want to come out and see.
Q | How do the other actors develop their personas?
A | We teach our actors to develop their character by thinking about why their character is there, where they work at, what they do, what their beat is, and how they make their money. How do they talk and move? We try to draw from people we know to make it more believable.
Q | How do the actors get ready for a night of scaring?
A | Each night, about 30 actors either wear masks or makeup done by our makeup artists. We do latex, airbrushes, and different appliances, taking anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes per face. A lot of costumes are thrifted, but we also own Graveyard Ghoul Productions, where we manufacture props and make costumes not just for us but for other haunts as well.
Q | Is your goal to get the biggest scare possible every time?
A | We read the customers and try to gauge their reactions. Sometimes people are already crying within one or two scenes, so I don’t want to keep hammering the scare out of them because I would hate to ruin Halloween for them. But those that are really into it and having a great time, we do a roller coaster of scares. We have jump scares, gore scares, and more.
This article was originally published in the October 2025 issue of Missouri Life.
