As Halloween comes to a close and haunted house season ceases to scare, the #1 voted
haunted house in Florida, via thescarefactor.com, Enigma Haunt, hosts an array of characters which brings fans back year after year. Among the heart and soul of each character and actor lies Damian Conti who plays Dr. Grant and brings an extraordinary imagination to life each night. Damian’s decision to join Enigma Haunt started when he was working at a debt consolidation company. He stated, “They wanted to host a commercial called ‘Night of the Living Debt’ with debt zombies killed by bills.” Damian was chosen to be the lead zombie. As fate would have it, Enigma Haunt’s lead makeup artist at the time was working on the debt commercial and invited Damian to join the Enigma Haunt family. Damian was hesitant at first but his now wife convinced him to give it a shot and the rest is history.
In his second year at the haunt, Damian was approached by Enigma’s actor trainer to take on a different type of role, an Intro Actor (an actor positioned to give the other actors a que). While discussions took place, decisions were made to make Damian the intro actor in The Realms of Terror, one of Enigma’s house names, with their very first theme being Egypt. The theme consisted of dressing Damian as an archeologist; “I chose Dr. Grant because of Jurassic Park,” Conti says “and it is also our owner’s maiden name which I thought would be a cute nod.” Fans of Dr. Grant are surprised each year by his different backstories and adventures to keep them entertained and coming back, much like Enigma Haunt’s very own “Indiana Jones.”
While Damian continues bringing Dr. Grant to life, he is also involved in the haunt as an event coordinator. As the event coordinator, Damian says his “primary responsibilities include setting up external field marketing events, coordinating actor teams, setting up tables in the community, and promoting the haunt.” Damian is also busy managing the haunt’s Twitter account and has just recently set up a “mentorship program that connects veteran actors with new actors,” Conti says.
As if Damian isn’t keeping busy enough, he and his wife Stephania, who is also an actor at the haunt, have recently welcomed a son named Jacob. Not only is Jacob an October baby, but he “already has a TON of haunt and horror themed onesies and clothes,” Damian says. Guests should make way for a future baby Grant. While Damian doesn’t know the future of Dr. Grant, he reassures us that “Dr. Grant will still appear in some capacity.” This will make Dr. Grant’s fans happy knowing a familiar face will continue to entertain them for years to come.
Enigma Haunt is open select weekend in October, via www.enigmahaunt.com