AN OIL worker laid off during lockdown now earns a living scaring people with zombies.

Horror fan Laura Ripley, 33, had to work out a new revenue stream after she was made redundant because of Covid.

She decided to follow her dreams and spent months building a unique zombie escape room.

Now, instead of sitting in a boring office, she sits in the dark and watches confused punters try to solve her puzzles.

Laura, from Aberdeen, said: “I was in my old job for 14 years and I absolutely hated it all that time.

“Horror is my passion and I love escape rooms so I wanted to see if I could do something with that.

“It’s definitely not a normal job and it was a bit of a risk but I absolutely love my new life.”

Laura was a buyer for oil firms but when the pandemic hit she found herself out of a job.

She set herself up as a freelancer doing contract work online but wanted to see if she could create a successful escape room.

It’s set a decade after a zombie apocalypse and players have to work through a series of tricky tasks to try and get access to a vaccine.

Their only light comes from torches and fake candles. Laura sits in an adjoining room and watches the action on her laptop.

She said: “I can’t have the lights on because the players would see it.

“I have to watch in the dark and give them clues or play things like zombie noises to give them a scare. It’s great to see it happening in real time.”

Laura spent months designing the room and building all the props from scratch.

She added: “It was weeks and weeks of work, but it’s nice watching people enjoy it.

Laura took on two jobs in the oil industry but packed them in because she liked working for herself so much.

More info: northernfrights.co.uk

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