Haunted Attraction Network

Scott shares his experience at the TransWorld Halloween, Christmas and Escape Room shows in St. Louis. This episode includes interviews with Scott's friends Matt Scott from Von Grimm Productions, Phil Raybourn with Raybourn Creative and Brian Foreman with Scareit Badges (and, of course, Haunt Topic Radio).

Attendee registration is now available for the Midwest Haunters Convention. This event is open to the public. All haunters and Halloween enthusiasts are welcome to attend this annual convention that features classes, haunt tours, exhibitors, and networking opportunities. This year's event will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 25th - 27th, 2021.

Although Le Manoir de Paris had to temporarily close due to government COVID restrictions earlier this year, the Manoir Halloween Festival will make its terrifying return on October 22nd - 31st, 2021. This year's event will have a brand new theme, four haunted houses, five "scream zones", and more. Le Manoir de Paris has been an immersive horror attraction for over ten years with its flagship Legendes de Paris, which features illustrious figures including The Phantom of the Opera, Quasimodo, and the Man in the Iron Mask. For Halloween they double the number of actors and add even more attractions, special effects, lighting effects, and entertainment. Tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary, The Yorkshire Scaregrounds has announced the dates for this year's Halloween event. 10 Years of Fear will take place select nights October 8th - 31st. The event will feature five horror experiences (Factory of Fear, Totally Tropical Terror, The Haunted Hotel, Hospital Hell, and Black Death) and two new scare zones (Forest of Freaks and Undead Central). After a year away due to COVID-19, UK haunt fans are excitedly waiting the event's return this Fall.

Tickets go on sale today (May 14th) for a live-to-film concert experience celebrating Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The event takes place at the Banc of California Stadium on Friday, October 29th, and will feature Danny Elfman reprising his role as Jack Skellington and other special guest stars. Pre-show activities will include a costume contest and trick-or-treating.

Count Chocula and Frankenberry are turning 50 this year! General Mills is celebrating this Golden anniversary with a special Monster Mash cereal. This berry-flavored cereal will combine marshmallows from Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, and even Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute. Be on the lookout for this special edition cereal this fall.

A Halloween Skeleton has changed the life of a family with a special needs daughter. Amelie Talauta was diagnosed with global development delay when she was four years old and her communication skills were minimal. Six years ago her parents bought a skeleton Halloween decoration and Amelie immediately befriended him. Now "Hugo Sebastian Wellington III" and Amelie travel everywhere together - Hugo even has his own wardrobe. Hugo's presence has helped Amelie become more comfortable in social situations and her communication skills have improved. You can learn more about their adventures by following Hugo's Instagram.

This week’s major news is – of course – the CDC announcement that fully vaccinated Americans can stop wearing masks and maintaining social distance in most settings — both indoors and outdoors. While this is great news for attractions, it’s going to take some adjusting with your team. We discuss the Disney/Universal response and how you should open the dialogue at your attraction. Plus – as demand surges at attractions, the support infrastructure of tourism is straining.

We’re past halfway to Halloween and that means many haunts are finished design and entering build. But before you begin, have you avoided the common design flaws? Today Leonard Pickel from Hauntrepreneurs walks you through the top common haunt design flaws. Leonard is a legend in the haunted attraction space, and with his background in architecture has been designing haunts for over 40 years.

This session was presented live to the haunter’s toolbox haunt master members. Haunter’s toolbox hosts a monthly masterclass like this, which you can participate in for a yearly subscription of $99/month. Thank you haunter’s toolbox for letting us broadcast this session.

More about Leonard: https://hauntrepreneurs.com/
More about Haunter’s Toolbox: https://www.haunterstoolbox.com/main-pages/haunters-toolbox-membership/

Seasonal events have always been used to encourage FOMO and drive attendance – and they work. Despite the staffing concerns we discussed last week, attractions are pushing Fall 2021 for all they’re worth. Attractions, restaurants, and streaming services are jumping on the Halfway to Halloween bandwagon – and you should too! This is the perfect time to begin pre-sales and get audiences a preview of the Fall. Clearly they’re ready for it.

Stories: Disney After Hours BOO BASH to Replace Halloween Party in 2021; Disney conjures up recipes for a ‘Halfway to Halloween’ celebration; The Muppets take The Haunted Mansion with new interactive YouTube world tour and Disney+ show; Inferno Lodge: People Living in the Red Forest; The forbidden Wedding.

Florida's Orange Country announced "all settings" - including theme parks - are allowed to move forward with reducing the required social distancing from six feet to three feet. This new guideline will allow for increased capacities in parks and attractions.

Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Cedar Fair parks have released updated COVID-19 protocols as they prepare to reopen this month. Many of the parks will not require temperature checks prior to entry or the wearing of masks in outdoor (unless social distancing cannot be maintained).

Universal Studios Orlando is now accepting video audition submissions for Halloween Horror Nights. The submission deadline for Scareactors and Big Foot & Hybrid Stilt Walkers is Sunday, May 9th.

Disney celebrated Halfway to Halloween this week with two fun announcements. Walt Disney World will host a new separately ticketed Halloween event this year: Disney After Hours Boo Bash. The event will take place August 10th - October 31st and include Halloween-themed cavalcades, special performances by the Cadaver Dans, decor, lighting, music, treat stops, and more.

Disney+ announced that The Muppets will host their first-ever Halloween special, Muppets Haunted Mansion. The Muppets will visit the historic Disneyland attraction, The Haunted Mansion, for a special airing on the streaming service this Fall.

The Lakeville Haunted House (Lakeville, MA) is scheduled for demolition after it has sat abandoned after closing in 2019. The haunted attraction had operated for 27 years before the closure. At the upcoming May 10th town meeting, voters will be asked to approve spending for the demolition & removal.

After a one-year hiatus, the Portsmouth Halloween Parade (Portsmouth, NH) will return this Halloween after the City Council unanimously approved their permit request this week. The parade typically draws thousands of people to the downtown area and is described as a "grassroots, all-inclusive celebration of community, creativity, and free expression".

Today we’re highlighting a show in the Dallas region. The Texas Haunters Convention is coming July 17th - 18th to the Mesquite Convention Center. Culley & Brandon join the show to discuss the offerings. Find out more about the show here: https://www.texashauntersconvention.com/
Support for the haunted attraction network comes from Gantom Lighting and Controls. Gantom Illuminates attractions worldwide with the world’s smallest intelligent spotlights. Curious to see what Gantom is all about or even catch up on new products? Zoom with Gantom’s design team for free – signup at www.gantom.com/demo

Fall is coming and as attractions ramp up, some are scrambling to find employees. We discuss why that is, how attractions are adding incentives, and what training will look like in the new normal.

Stories Covered: Genting SkyWorlds in Malaysia seeks 1,500 new workers; Great Wolf Resorts has almost 2,000 job openings available at 16 of its locations; 900 jobs available at Pennsylvania parks for 2021 season; Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania hiring 200 employees; Walt Disney World begins mass hiring again; Meow Wolf is hiring for various positions; A third of Basecamp’s workers resign after a ban on talking politics; Current Research Surrounding Social Distancing (April 2021) From IAAPA and UCF; Japan to introduce 'vaccine passports' for international travel

Haunt Industry News: The West Coast Haunters VIRTUAL Convention Recap, HAA Announcements, an update on social distancing, and the 6 Types of Screams


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Support for the haunted attraction network comes from Gantom Lighting & Controls. Talk with a Gantom Designer and test out their new fixtures for FREE at: www.gantom.com/demo

Today is halfway to Halloween! How are you celebrating? Things are only getting better from here as we creep towards Halloween. I celebrated Halfway to Halloween at the Spooky Swap Meet with some of the best ghouls around, so this episode is all on-location Halloween goodness. Co-creators Claire and Sarah are featured in a previous episode if you want to go back and listen.
Featured in this show: Murder House Productions, Bats and Body, Little Miss Oddities, Tee No Evil, Sarah Cooke, and Rags to Witches.