A day in the life of an Edinburgh Dungeons actor: 'Fear is a universal emotion'

“Fear is a universal emotion, it doesn’t matter where in the world you come from, what language you speak, everyone has the same reaction when something - or someone - jumps out at them.”

Lori Flannigan is one of the main cast members at Edinburgh Dungeons.

Edinburgh Dungeons performance team leader Lori Flannigan, 33, takes the Edinburgh Evening News through a day of Cannibalism, scaring kids and laughing at the English at the tourist attraction.

“As one of the cast at Edinburgh Dungeons, we get a measure on how well we are doing our jobs by the reactions we get from people. There is something quite fun about giving people a fright, especially if they are kids, or these big burly men, if you can make them scream, you know you are doing your job properly.

“That being said, I don’t really like the feeling of being scared myself. I can’t stand horror movies, I just can’t watch them, especially on my own, even some of the darker parts of this building, I’m very nervous of being there by myself.

Lori said getting fully made up into the characters takes around 15 minutes.

"I love being a cannibal"

“My day starts at around nine in the morning, our first performance is not until 10, but all of the actors need to know where they need to be and when - it can sometimes be difficult to shuffle everyone around for the different slots.

“We can play up to six of our characters every shift and terrify around a thousand people from all over the world on a weekly basis, but getting completely into character doesn’t take as long as people might think.

“Everyone has one or two characters that they enjoy playing more than others. All of our characters are inspired by the history of Edinburgh in some way, but there are some that really stand out for me.

Cast members at the Dungeons can play up to six characters per day.

“I always enjoyed the torturer, that one is so interactive that you always get some kind of reaction from the audience, but my favourite is the cannibal. It is inspired by Sawney Bean, but because it is so far from human, you can really go all out with it.

“The cannibal room has all these little cubby holes that you can contort yourself into and leap out and the makeup is probably the most dramatic of any of the characters we play, it is a proper horror look. The way you are hunched over is kind of similar to Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

“If you are rushing from one character to another, it can make it a little bit more difficult, the look for the judge for example is wildly different from the cannibal, but once you have mastered most of the makeup techniques, it only takes around 15 minutes to fully apply it.

"I can't stand horror movies"

Around a thousand people visit the Dungeons every week.

“Part of my job involves teaching basic horror movie makeup; things like cuts, bloody noses, baggy eyes - little elements that are going to make everything look a little bit more real.

“I studied art and design in London for four years, but my first love was always acting. I was 29 when I started and I was lucky enough to get in to the masters programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

“I’ve worked at the Dungeons since I started on the masters as a way of getting some experience in what is a completely immersive environment and I absolutely love it - even though I can’t stand horror movies.

“Shortly after I graduated, I had the chance to go and tour Southern Italy with the Oscar Wilde play ‘The Canterville Ghost,’ playing around 40 different towns and cities - but that was a completely different dynamic to being a cast member at the Dungeons.”

"We always try to have a bit of banter with the English"

“The immersiveness is something I really enjoy, but if someone doesn’t want to be involved, then you can’t force them to do it. You have to turn your attention to someone else. You don’t want to make them feel stupid, you want to make everyone have a good time.

“That being said, it is quite fun to make children scream in a way and you can weave a bit of humour into everything you do.

“When we had the William Wallace show a couple of years ago, we banned English tourists for a day and we do tend to give them a bit of a harder time, but it is all tongue in cheek, it is just a bit of banter.

“People probably do think this is a fun job and it is, but I like to think there is some kind of serious side to it. We are exploring Edinburgh’s past, its history, there is always something to be learned, but it is important to enjoy it. Fun and fear are at the heart of everything we do. We can make you scream, but we might make you learn something in the process.”