Guest Makeup Artist and the Power of CVS-Grade Creativity

Pearl working with students on simple effects. Student face is blurred for privacy.

This week, our classroom transformed into something closer to a backstage haunt. Pearl Holdeman, costume and makeup designer, haunt industry professional, and full-on creative powerhouse, spent time with our students as a guest artist. What did she make? A little Halloween magic.

Pearl brought not just brushes and latex, but a whole philosophy: you don’t need a million dollars to create something convincing, you just need intention, technique, and maybe a CVS run.

Who Is Pearl Holdeman?

Pearl is what happens when you combine an artist's eye with a monster maker's imagination. A Bradford grad from a few years back, she now works in the haunt industry where everything from blood to prosthetics must be believable and fast. She knows what it takes to get a look together on a tight budget and tighter timeline and she generously shared that wisdom with our students.

What Students Saw

Pearl visited each of our tech theater classes this week, offering bite-sized demos that packed a big punch. She created gashes and wounds, zombies, old age, and one deeply disturbing prosthetic that had several trypophobes in the group (who knew?) squirming.

Real tools, real talk, and a real connection to an industry most students had never considered before.

Why This Matters

Makeup can feel intimidating, especially when you’re staring down a show with no budget and a cast of thirty. Pearl showed us that it doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. With just a few tools from a drugstore and a solid understanding of where shadows fall on the face, a student can tell a whole story with makeup.

She also pulled back the curtain on the professional haunt industry, a billion-dollar world that thrives on innovation, excitement, and fast turnarounds. And she made it feel accessible. Our students saw that their artistic instincts could translate into real careers, not just Halloween fun.

Haunt Industry: A Billion-Dollar Backstage

When we think of theater, we think of plays and musicals. But the haunt industry—the world of haunted houses, immersive horror events, escape rooms, and seasonal attractions—is theater too. It’s just theater designed to terrify.

And it’s big business.

“Industry estimates place the U.S. haunted‑attraction/haunt event sector at over $300 million to $500 million in ticket sales annually — and broader Halloween‑event revenue perhaps hitting $1 billion or more when you include theme‑parks, attractions and ancillary services, employing tens of thousands of artists, builders, actors, techs, and designers. These attractions don’t just pop up in October; many take a full year of planning, building, testing, and rehearsing to pull off. From sound design to scare zones, from prosthetics to prop builds, every haunt is a massive team effort—exactly like a live show.

So where do theater students fit in? Everywhere.

• Set designers and scenic carpenters build the eerie halls and trap doors.
  

• Lighting designers create suspense with every flicker.
  

• Makeup artists and costumers bring monsters to life.
  

• Actors learn timing, character work, and audience interaction.
  

• Stage managers keep everything running smoothly behind the screams.
  

For students who love live storytelling, crave creativity, and don’t mind fake blood, the haunt industry is more than a spooky seasonal job, it’s a gateway to a thriving career.

By the end of the day, several students stuck around to ask her about training, how she started at the local haunts, and how they could get involved. That’s the kind of learning that sticks.

What’s Next?

We’re already brainstorming how to keep building on what Pearl started. More guest artists, more real-world connections, and more ways for students to see themselves as capable artists right now, not just someday.

And yes, we're probably buying out half the Halloween aisle at CVS this weekend.

Check out what your former students are doing this time of year. As prolific as the haunt industry has become, you probably have a resource in your pocket you weren’t even aware of! And if you're in the SE WI/ Northern IL area, look Pearl up. She is great with students!

Find more amazing people at Backstage AIC!