GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) — Performers at Terror on the Coast say the haunted attraction has become a place where they feel like they belong, according to TJ O’Brien, head of the effects department and one of the attraction’s icon scare actors.
O’Brien said his interest in horror began as a child after watching “Friday the 13th” with his grandmother.
“I am normally the first person in the building,” O’Brien said. “I used to be terrified of scary movies, right? And my grandmother, I remember her distinctly saying, we were watching a scary movie and I couldn’t go to sleep. It was Friday the 13th. She looked at me and she goes, do me a favor, go knock on the TV. I went over and I knocked on the TV screen. She goes, it’s just glass, ain’t nothing coming through it.”
“That’s really what did it for me,” O’Brien said. “And I said, you know what? I’m going to make this stuff one day.”
The character of JD
O’Brien said he also performs as one of the attraction’s icon characters, JD.
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“My name’s TJ and I am the head of the effects team here for Terror on the Coast,” O’Brien said. “And I’m also one of their icon scare actors.”
O’Brien said JD’s look has changed over time. The character originally wore a solid foam prosthetic piece as a face.
“JD’s original face when he was here was this,” O’Brien said. “This was his original face. Like a solid piece, foam prosthetic.”
O’Brien said performing as JD affects him personally.
“JD helps me believe what I have a hard time believing day to day,” O’Brien said. “JD has a way of coming out and going, no, no, no, no. You’re epic and you’re awesome. And you know that. And I’m going to show you that you are.”
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Why performers return
O’Brien said the attraction’s performers each bring something different to their roles.
“Oh, the performers that we work with are incredible,” O’Brien said. “Every single one of them brings something so unique to the table. Why, why do we come back? That’s the question. And people always want to know why. And people come back because this is a place where they don’t feel like they have to be pressured to fit in.”
Rory Meeks, who works alongside O’Brien, said the attraction also relies on volunteers.
“We also have about nine volunteers that come in and just do this because they love it,” Meeks said. “Which is really cool.”
O’Brien said Meeks makes her own costumes by hand.
“Rory actually does all of her costumes,” O’Brien said.
“I go in and change all of my designs,” Meeks said.
“She hand makes all of them and hand sews them,” O’Brien said.
Meeks said she also handles JD’s costume.
“Rory is responsible for making JD’s costume,” O’Brien said. “Her and I get together at about February or March and we talk about our plans that we have for this year.”
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“TJ manages the haunt, I manage TJ,” Meeks said. “As soon as TJ has his life together.”
O’Brien described his working relationship with Meeks.
“Rory is like my little sister,” O’Brien said. “We’re always chatting, we’re always talking. When we get into makeup together, we’re just, we’re laughing.”
Finding purpose through recovery
O’Brien said he understands why some people question the appeal of horror.
“I can understand why people would be like, why?” O’Brien said. “Like, why do you wanna watch like a guy with razor hands attacking people? Every horror movie is different. You see people going through things. How many people though in their life aren’t going through some sort of pain?”
O’Brien said he became sober in 2020 and uses his creative work in recovery.
“Back in 2020 is when I got sober,” O’Brien said. “What does creating do for you? It keeps my mind busy because as an individual who is, you know, in recovery for addiction, I was always so used to numbing with a substance that now I get it out. I get it out in clay and makeup.”
O’Brien said he incorporated personal items from people who supported him during his recovery into JD’s wig.
“To everybody who was there for me, who had to deal with me and who never gave up on me, I have something that is theirs, that is hand sewn into this wig, that is personal to them,” O’Brien said. “But that way, if JD ever travels, the individuals who have stuck by me through thick and thin are traveling with me. They’re always with me. And that is my way of me saying thank you to them for not giving up.”
O’Brien said the wig includes a ring with eyeballs, goggles from Scotland, and a hair clip belonging to Meeks.
“I got little eyeballs that’s on a ring,” O’Brien said. “The goggles are from Scotland. 4,000 miles. That’s how far. This is Rory, by the way. That’s her hair clip. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s her hair clip. She gave it to me. I was like, what I told her about the idea, she was kind of like, love it! And she took it right out of the hair, she gave it to me, she clipped it right into the hair. That’s the symbolization to what’s inside of the wig. And you’re the first person I’ve told about that.”
A sense of family
O’Brien said the group at Terror on the Coast considers itself a family.
“A lot of people hear that word in family,” O’Brien said. “And they’re like, really? But to be honest with you, yeah.”
Meeks said she wants performers to feel comfortable returning.
“Yeah, I would like her to come back because I miss her,” Meeks said.
O’Brien said the attraction welcomes everyone.
“And I think so many people finally feel accepted,” O’Brien said. “No matter who they choose to be or who they are, we welcome everybody. We want the individuals that feel that they don’t belong. You do belong. And we want you here with us. And the best thing about it is: we’re going to make you look so cool.”
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