Robinson said the creative process took up the most time.
She said some of the actors were professional, but most of them were not, so she had found it was better to rewrite characters to the actors' strengths or experience.
About 50 people volunteer for the event, with actors and a number of behind-the-scenes roles.
Robinson loves everything about horror, and always has.
"It's lots of fun being able to come up with a concept.
"There are always a bunch of challenges along the way, and our biggest challenge this year was that the museum was closed."
She said it took her a little while to get her head out of the museum, but once things started developing she could see how creepy The Arts Village could be.
"I love working with the actors. They are all volunteers, passionate, keen and willing to do anything to make their role better.
"They are very adaptable on the nights. It's lots of fun."
Robinson said having the event at The Arts Village was the inspiration for the concept of the dark arts or black magic.
She was enjoying relating some of the scenes to historical or cultural reality, she said.
"We are covering a bit of the Salem witch trials - it's always interesting to learn about history and factual things.
"We have a bit of medieval torture and there's some religious aspects. There's all sorts of different things that relate to things in real life."
She said the goal was to try and scare people so much they could not continue with the walk.
Robinson said she had also acted every single year, though this time she would be a roving scarer so she could see how each scene was going.
As an actor in the horror walks, it was exhilarating, she said.
"As soon as the first group comes through your heart is racing and you're excited to see how they will react to your scene or character."
She said the actors also adjusted to the different kinds of groups that were coming through the walk.
"It's for people to have a bit of fun with their mates and do something a bit different.
"We put a lot of time and effort into it, and we want people to really enjoy themselves, and end the walk with their hearts racing and wanting to do it again."
The Dark Arts Exhibition 2018 is giving people the chance to be part of the event by creating ghoulish artworks that form part of the walk at night, and remain as an exhibition during the day.
The event is for people 13 and over, and people need to go to the Rotorua Museum website to look through the conditions of entry first.
Nightmare at the Museum began at Rotorua Museum in 2011, where it was run for three years before taking a hiatus and returning in August 2016.
The details
- What: Nightmare at the Museum: The Dark Arts Horror Walk
- Where: The Arts Village
- When: Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8, first walk starts 6.30pm, last walk finishes 10.15pm
- Tickets: $20 at eventfinda.co.nz
