There’s something about fall that excites Cheri Collins ʼ26 DMSC — and it’s not the cooler weather or the return of pumpkin spice everything. For Collins, fall means haunted house season.
Since 2018, Collins has been doing seasonal work as a scare actor, a performer who aims to frighten spectators. Previously, she performed at Scarehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and this year, she is performing with another Pittsburgh-based haunted house, Portals of Fear.
“It’s just thrilling,” Collins said. “It’s thrilling to see people’s reactions and [that] they believe your character.”
In her time on the haunted house scene, Collins has played a variety of characters, including, a doll, bird, zombie, demon, and nun. Beyond traditional haunted house setups, she has also participated in zombie runs, a St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and a creepy Christmas attraction.
“I love interacting with people like that, [as] a character that is completely different from who I am,” Collins, who works as a PA in the Pittsburgh area, said. “I love giving them the joy of entertainment [in] that way. It just takes you away from your life, and your world.”
In addition to haunted house scare acting, Collins has appeared on the big screen in minor and background roles. She was a background actor, or extra, in “The Deliverance” and had a minor speaking role in “Aimme and Albert: The Early Years.”
“As a PA, I help people,” she said. “I feel like, in some weird way, this entertainment is taking people away, putting them in a different world that they choose to be in, and giving them an escape.”
Ironically, Collins’ joy in scaring others, doesn’t extend to being scared herself.
“I’m terrified of horror movies and I’m terrified of haunted houses,” she admitted. “I’m the wimp that everybody targets because I’m so terrified and I scream. I’m the blond girl and … and the blond girl always dies first in every horror movie.”
This year, October brought Collins another delight — her doctoral project titled, “Folinic Acid for Impaired Folate Metabolism to Improve Communication Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was published in the Lynchburg Journal of Medical Science.
Initially, Collins intended to study the effects of music on anxiety. However, her research focus shifted after a close friend, whose child with autism spectrum disorder was receiving folinic acid therapy, shared an article on its potential benefits. The topic resonated deeply with Collins, whose own daughter has autism and has experienced challenges with communication.
“I looked at [the article], and something sprung in my head [saying], ‘You need to write about this,’” Collins said.
In her research, Collins notes that communication deficits are one of the core challenges of autism spectrum disorder, and while behavioral therapies are beneficial, they are often time-intensive and do not work equally well for all children.
She focused on a growing body of evidence that suggests some children with autism have trouble processing folate because antibodies block it from entering the brain. This disruption can contribute to communication and language challenges.
Her review highlights folinic acid, a bioactive form of vitamin B9, as a promising supplement that can bypass these metabolic barriers, potentially helping children strengthen communication skills and overall development.
Collins thanked the friend who introduced her to the topic, referring to her as her “muse.”
“Here I am, six months later, 22 references and 10 pages in [this] journal,” Collins said. “It’s pretty exciting. And I told [her] ‘You helped me along the way.’ She was on my board, reading it, and I said ‘If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be doing this.’”
