Autumn Blacksmith lives with anxiety, but she has long enjoyed haunted houses, where the fear is something she can anticipate.
“I knew what I was getting into,” she told DiscoverAirdrie.
She said those controlled scares gave her anxiety an outlet. Now, she’s the one frightening visitors.
Blacksmith says she performs at Haunted Calgary as Shilo Vane, an original horror character with red-and-black pigtails, a muzzle and unsettling movements.
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Creating Shilo Vane
Blacksmith said she has been an Airdrie local for almost 11 years and has been acting since childhood.
She said this is her first year performing at Haunted Calgary, although she previously worked as a scare actor at Scream Fest about nine years ago.
Her interest in scare acting grew out of a lifelong love of Halloween and horror movies.
“So when I found out that scare acting was a thing, there’s nothing that could have kept me away from it,” she said.
Her favourite horror film is Child’s Play, particularly because of Chucky, the murderous doll at the centre of the franchise.
“He’s vulgar, but at the same time, he’s funny about it,” Blacksmith said.
Blacksmith said the scare actors and horror enthusiasts she’d spoken with often favoured ghosts, zombies and other supernatural creatures. She wanted Shilo to be different.
“I wanted to create a character that was very much alive,” she said.
In an Oct. 28 email to DiscoverAirdrie, Blacksmith described creating Shilo from scratch, inspired by her fascination with psychological fear and her personal experiences with mental health.
“I didn’t just want to play a nightmare. I wanted to create one that meant something,” she wrote.
During a subsequent phone interview, Blacksmith spoke openly about living with borderline personality disorder, bipolar I disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety.
“I don’t mind sharing my mental health issues at all. It brings awareness,” she said.
Blacksmith said her personal experiences helped shape Shilo, but emphasized that the character’s unusual appearance and behaviour don’t necessarily make her bad.
“She’s just different,” she said.
In her original email, Blacksmith described Shilo as a “haunting asylum character,” while stressing that she did not intend to portray people living with mental illness as monsters.
“She’s not a monster because she’s mentally ill,” Blacksmith said during the interview.
Asked how she navigates that distinction, Blacksmith said her portrayal depends on the audience and setting.
At Haunted Calgary, she described Shilo as nonviolent, although the character may stare at visitors, make jokes or behave in ways that leave them uncomfortable.
Blacksmith said an adult-oriented portrayal could involve violence, depending on the setting.
A different side of Halloween
Blacksmith said she’s also competing in Face of Halloween 2026, a competition she entered partly because of her lifelong love of the holiday.
The competition’s website identifies Colossal as its operator and says AIT, a public charity, will grant donations to the U.S.-based Starlight Children’s Foundation.
She also wanted to encourage her children to pursue their interests, even if they might not succeed.
“No matter what, just try,” she said.
For Halloween, Blacksmith plans to dress as Starfire from Teen Titans rather than Shilo.
She said she attended her first cosplay event when she was about 10 years old, dressed as Raven, another Teen Titans character.
For Blacksmith, returning to Teen Titans for her Halloween costume feels like coming full circle.
Blacksmith said she works as a haunt actor year-round and wanted a change for Halloween.
“I live horror,” she said.
“You can be scary, cute, silly, horrifying, or just simply yourself,” she said.
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