Check Out Krystina Alfonso’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystina Alfonso

Hi Krystina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a fan of Halloween my entire life. My grandmother opened a costume shop when she first came to America from Cuba and kickstarted my love for everything spooky! She made us costumes and candy bags to go trick or treating. We created a home haunt in our backyard that had everything from a friend dropping from the ceiling to a 5ft grave to a fingerless poker player who lost to a bad hand.

My first real haunt experience was at Knott’s Scary Farm in 2002. I was terrified out of my mind but I was hooked. I went back every single year that I could and would wrangle my friends and family who would join me.

In 2018 I went to my first horror convention and became involved with the horror community. I never knew it would change my life the way it did and I’m forever grateful for that. In 2022 I created Local Haunts because a friend of mine had said he never heard of an event I was talking about. That’s when it clicked for me and I knew I could do something to change that. Fast forward to now and my team consists of contributors from Utah, Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Massachussets. We’re growing at a rapid pace and it’s been a true joy to meet horror fans who are always on the lookout for their next scare…

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being a one woman show for the better half of 2 years was daunting and exhausting. I didn’t know what I was doing and I felt like I was in way over my head because this was something I had tried in the past with other avenues and saw myself giving up quickly again. The difference with Local Haunts is no one else was showcasing local events or haunts like I wanted. They weren’t easily accessible or it strictly horror events.
A big problem I had starting out was finding people who were willing to give me a chance.

Sending out hundreds of DM’s/emails only to be rejected or ghosted by events and haunts it became discouraging after. I started to question whether or not I was cut out for this. My stubborness wouldn’t let me give up though, I had to prove to myself that I could do it. I started showing up to any event I could. Driving 6 hours away for an event, spending hundreds in gas, tickets, hotels, food, etc. My first media badge wasn’t until late 2023 and it was one of the biggest accomplishments I made. I wanted to push myself harder than I ever have. I’m not doing this for the free tickets or recognition, I do this because I love the horror community and I love being at events with my friends and celebrating the best parts about Halloween

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When I started Local Haunts I wasn’t sure how it would be received because I didn’t know what to do with it. I only knew that I wanted to have fun and share my work. Taking photos of cosplayers was the first step and it was terrifying to say the least. I had never done cosplay photography before only concerts and some portraits of friends and family. I’m an introvert so the thought of talking to strangers was scary in it’s own right. Somehow I gathered enough courage to ask people for photos and after a while it became second nature. Once that became easy I moved onto to horror cosplayers and after going to a few events before Local Haunts even became a thought I was excited at the amount of friends I had made and how welcomed I felt in the community.

My first ever media pass was courtesy of Creep IE Con in Ontario, California. I remember cold emailing them and explaining how I had covered a lot of events in the past and attended their first ever con and surprisingly enough they gave me a pass! That was so exciting and it lead to a lot of opportunities that I still haven’t taken for granted. In the past 2 years alone I’ve been to roughly 100+ events. Both in California and out of state. This year I plan to do 2 out of state events which is very exciting and I can’t wait to continue this journey.

My work ethic is insane, I will literally kill myself to make sure that I say hello to every vendor friend, talk to new faces on con floors, showcase cosplayers and ask about their designs, what materials did they use to create their mask or clothes, I’ll even stay and help vendors break down if they need it. I love helping friends in anyway I can and with the amount of love I’ve received in this community I only want to pay it forward

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
A majority of people don’t know that I’m actually a Behavior Interventionist for children on the spectrum. I’ve been in this field for about 7 years now and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else… Except maybe Local Haunts full time 😉 I actually got into this field because of my sister! She told me I should look into it because I was miserable at my previous job and wanted to try something new, I’m very grateful she pushed me out of my comfort zone because I don’t think I’d be as happy as I am now!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://localhaunts.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/localhaunts84/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/localhaunts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBW0LHDtVZh4Y1csEuxNBZA
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@localhaunts