93-Year-Old Spooks Visitors in Hometown Haunted House
Mary-Lou Williams uses her salary on Christmas presents for her family.
— -- One 93-year-old loves spooking the neighborhood as an actress at her hometown haunted house.
For the past five years, Mary-Lou Williams has been acting in various creepy roles at the Warehouse of Fear in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, she told ABC News.
"Some just run through the room, and then some of them get so scared they back out," Mary-Lou said, laughing. "I think sometimes they're kind of goofy. Some of them will say, 'Oh, there's grandma!' I enjoy it and I enjoy the people I work with."
Mary-Lou's son Kevin Williams, 52, is the manager at the Warehouse of Fear. He told ABC News he had approached his mom to be an actor in the haunted house when he and his crew were searching for an elderly person to play a specific part.
Since she joined the production, Mary-Lou has been the only actor never to miss a performance in all five years, Williams said.
"She likes the people, she likes the camaraderie of the Halloween family," he said. "At 93, she just likes talking to people and seeing [their] reactions."
Like the other actors, Williams said his mom Mary-Lou makes a minimum wage salary that she uses on Christmas presents for her family each year.
Mary-Lou has five sons and 10 grandchildren.
She is retired now, but she worked in the factory business most of her life, Williams said.
Now, Mary-Lou enjoys making some extra cash every Friday, Saturday and Halloween nights every October performing for thousands of visitors.
The Warehouse of Fear features 24 rooms with elaborate sets full of props and decorations.
This year, for the house's phobia theme, Mary-Lou will play a patient in a nursing home who has bludgeoned the nurse for feeding her too many peas and carrots.
"We try and hit on different things that people are afraid of," Williams said. "There are a lot of people afraid of nursing homes and old people. There are some people that are not afraid of her and some that are terrified."
"They love her," he added. "They are entertained by her many stories of her 93 years of life. She's like 'grandma' to everybody here -- except [to] me, she's still mom."
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live