There will be no need for some US workers to visit a haunted house this Halloween: Nearly one in five (18%) already say their workplace is “scary,” according to  a national survey of 4,000 workers commissioned by CareeerBuilder and conducted by Harris Interactive.

The poll found that the largest percentage of workers (18%) say they need look no further than work for a fright because of the workload.

Other aspects of the job workers find most scary:

• Performance reviews - 9%
• Tight deadlines - 9%
• Hours worked - 8%
• Their boss - 7%
• Sitting through meetings - 6%

Scary Supervisors

Though only 7% of workers report that their boss is the most scary part of their job, responses about which pop-culture Halloween character best described the boss get mixed responses from benevolent to evil to downright bumbling.

The largest percentage of workers likened their bosses to a well-respected and helpful character. However, others called to mind movie monsters out for blood. The top answers:

• Glenda the Good Witch (from the Wizard of Oz), liked and respected by all - 20%
• The Wolf Man, who is fine one minute, howling the next - 11%
• The Invisible Man, never around - 10%
• Casper the Friendly Ghost, eager to help, but often misunderstood - 9%
• Dracula, constantly sucking the life right out of you - 6%
• Wicked Witch of the West (from the Wizard of Oz), always conniving and sending out minions to do his/her dirty work - 5%
• The Mummy, slow-moving with an ancient thought process - 4%
• Grim Reaper, constantly delivering bad news and inspiring fear among workers - 3%
• Frankenstein, green with envy - 1%

About the survey: The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive among 4,285 US workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; and non-government); ages 18+. Fielding took place between August 20 - September 9, 2009.