9 Scary Halloween Movie Villains: How Much They Earn From Their 'Day Jobs'

Among scary Halloween movie villains, Freddy Krueger of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series perhaps had the cushiest job: maintaining a boiler at a generating plant on the outskirts of charming Springwood, Ohio. A simple gig, it's an occupation that typically pays well. What's more, it left him plenty of time to pursue his true passion, fashioning the ultimate weapon to torture and kill his victims.

Yes, of course, we're being in tongue-in-cheek. In honor of Halloween, AOL Jobs has compiled a list of famous, murderous movie villains and their supposed professions just to get a sense of what they would make at their day jobs. We've also provided forecasts for job growth in each field, just in case you should feel like following in their bloody footsteps.

We invite you to check out the list, but to also keep a wary eye over your shoulder -- just to be safe. (And if you're looking for Michael Myers from "Halloween," we didn't include him here. It seems he didn't have a job.)

Movie: "Psycho."
Character: Norman Bates.
M.O.: Stabbing victims to death with a kitchen knife while wearing his mother's clothing.
Occupation: Motel manager
Median annual salary* (2010): $46,880
Forecast job growth* (through 2020): 8 percent (slower than average).
Fun fact: Film director Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, Pat, made her third and final appearance in one of her father's films as Marion Crain's co-worker.


Movie: "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein," "Young Frankenstein" and many others.
Character: Dr. Frankenstein.
M.O.: Recreating human life from body parts culled from graveyards and morgues.
Occupation: Scientist (and sometime surgeon).
Median annual salary: $76,700.
Forecast job growth: 36 percent (much faster than average).
Fun fact: Actor John Carradine turned down the part of the monster in the 1931 version of the story because he considered himself too highly trained to be reduced to playing monsters.


Movie: "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
Character: Freddy Krueger.
M.O.: Killing children by invading their nightmares.
Occupation: Boilermaker.
Median annual salary: $54,640.
Forecast job growth: 21 percent (faster than average).
Fun fact: The first film in the franchise, 1984's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," was actor Johnny Depp's first movie.


Movie: "The Silence of the Lambs."
Character: Hannibal Lecter.
M.O.: Killing victims and then eating them.
Occupation: Psychiatrist.
Median annual salary (2010): Equal to or greater than $166,400.
Forecast job growth (through 2020): 24 percent (faster than average).
Fun fact: Actor Anthony Hopkins described his voice for Hannibal Lecter as "a combination of Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn."


Movie: "Friday the 13th."
Character: Jason Vorhees.
M.O.: Killing teenage campers with a machete.
Occupation: Hockey player (or so the mask would suggest).
Median annual salary: $43,740
Forecast job growth: 22 percent (faster than average).
Fun fact: Stuntman and actor Kane Hodder played Jason in four of the "Friday the 13th" films.


Movie: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Character: Leatherface Sawyer
M.O.: Murdering visitors to his family's meat factory with a chainsaw.
Occupation: Butcher.
Median annual salary: $23,950
Forecast job growth: 12 percent (about as fast as average).
Fun fact: Edwin Neal, who played the hitchhiker, said that making the film was more miserable than his service in Vietnam and said that he might kill director Tobe Hooper if he ever saw him again.


Movie: "The Shining."
Character: Jack Torrance.
M.O.: Killing people with an ax while stark-raving mad.
Occupation: Hotel caretaker (and aspiring writer).
Median annual salary: $51,480 or $24.75 an hour.
Forecast job growth: 6 percent (slower than average).
Fun fact: Both Robert De Niro and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson.


Movie: "The Legend of Alfred Packer."
Character: Alfred G. "Alferd" Packer.
M.O.: Getting stranded in a snowstorm and eating his victims.
Occupation: Prospector (and former cabinetmaker).
Median annual salary: $54,020
Forecast job growth: 15 percent (about as fast as average).
Fun fact: Packer isn't a fictional character. He went to his grave denying the charges related to cannibalism for which he was convicted and imprisoned.

Notes: *Salary and job growth data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

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