Also see Part One of this story

How many people have wondered, who exactly makes up those hideous looking costume ideas? Have you? Have you ever thought about what it would be like to actually have a conversation with the people who scared you at Knott’s annual haunt?

Well Susan Watanabe’s make up class met with the face behind the scenes in charge of it all.

Her name is Melanie Smith; she is the make-up supervisor for Knott’s Halloween Haunt.

She has been an example and an inspiration for many young and ambitious make-up artists. Her tutelage has helped former Cerritos make-up students expand their creativity.

She used to do great work! It’s always nice to see Cerritos guys here,” Smith said, describing her experience with former Cerritos students who have found their path under her tutelage after leaving Watanabe’s class.

Smith has worked for Knott’s for twenty-two years. According to her she has seen some great work in her time at Knott’s. She has done some pretty great work herself. She has worked with a lot of creative young artists.

“Some times I wonder where it comes from. It’s like wow! I did that! It’s really…it’s really amazing sometimes cause you don’t know what you can do unless you try! I do not give any of my make-up artists a set pattern of what they should do with their people. I hire them because of their talent, because of their attitude, and because of their imagination,” Smith comments.

Smith holds her artists to high standards and for those who aspire to become professional make-up artists, hard work is the road they must travel and positive attitude is the vehicle that will help them cross the bridge to success.

Smith reminds us that in this business having good work ethic and a positive attitude is a must. You also have to be willing to work with people that you may not want to, but it comes with the job.

According to her, the Green Goblin was the most memorable of all! Watch out for the Green Goblin next time you find yourself walking through ghost town streets.

Smith is one of the pioneers at Knott’s. When she began thirty years ago, the haunt only ran for five days, but now they have worked their way to twenty-one in all.

“I think it’s great [The 30th Anniversary of Knott’s Halloween Haunt]. I think it shows the longevity of Knott’s and the product they put out and how much people adore it,” said Smith.

Alicia Morales is Road Kill Kitty formerly known as the “black cat.” Former Falcon, Tony Martinez, did her make-up. She has had make-up applied by Martinez for several years now. According to her, Road Kill Kitty was one of Martinez’s brainstorms.

“This time because it got a little messed up – I think it got squashed in the bag – we decided to go Road Kill Kitty! This has turned out to be the most fun,” Morales said.

“Tony’s one of the best make-up artists here. I want to make sure he comes back, year after year after year! He’s one of my favorites,” says Morales describing her latex mask designed by Martinez.

According to Martinez the mask was messed up to where, when you looked at it there were some lines in it. So since she was already smashed up they ran with the pattern.

“It was either use it or throw it away. So, we saw that she was smashed already so we just said we’ll get you ran over by a car. That’s about it!I have lots of fun. I’ve been doing this for seven years,” said Morales.