May 13, 2025
NEWS: Halloween Creep: August Becomes Haunt Season’s New Start
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Begins Aug 15, following Aug announcements for Horror Unleashed & HHN; Marketing Your Haunted Attraction; Six Flags America To Close
- ScareCON comes to Birmingham May 20th - 21st; Midwest Haunters Convention's Exhibitor List; Eli Craig Talks Clown in a Cornfield and Modern Horror; FX’s Alien: Earth Brings Immersive Sci-Fi Horror to AREA15. Read more here.
https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/halloween-starts-in-august-now-disney-says-so
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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the
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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the
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HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and
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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we
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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read
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more about these stories and so much more in our
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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,
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And as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it
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off to Darryl.
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Do you want to learn about marketing your haunted attraction
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and getting the right message to the right person at
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the right time. In a guide for Haunters the Haunted
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Attraction Networks, Philipernandez breaks down the core principles behind effective
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haunt marketing, reminding operators that while tactics may evolve, the
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fundamentals have it. The article explores how to identify your audience,
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craft targeted messages, and deliver them with the right moment,
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especially in a landscape shape by shifting algorithms and AI tools.
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Designed for new and veteran attraction owners, the article offers
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practical strategies to help increase attendance and make your marketing
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efforts more intentional. You can read the article or watch
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the full masterclass video by following the links in our
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show notes. The Haunted Attraction Associations twenty twenty five State
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of the Industry presentation, delivered live at trans World's Halloween
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and Attraction Show, is now available to watch in full.
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Moderated by outgoing HAA President Spencer Terry and incoming President
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Jim Werner, the session covers trends, challenges, and opportunities facing
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the haunt industry for twenty twenty five. If you miss
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the event or want to revisit the discussion, we also
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have a takeaways guide in the show notes. The green
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Tagged Podcast unpacked six Flags closure and what it means
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for attractions. In the latest episode of the green Tag Podcast,
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host Philip and Scott explore the recent closure of Six
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Flag America's water park and the DC themed takeover at
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the Gaylord Resort for Haunted Attraction operators. The conversation raises
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key questions about long term planning, IP usage, and how
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guest expectations are evolving in destination entertainment. A companion piece
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in the Green Tag Newsletter dives deeper into the financial
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pressors shaping these decisions. With construction costs rising and consumers
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seeking more value, the haunt industry may need to reconsider
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whether expanding with new builds or revitalizing existing assets is
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more strategic. Both discussions are timely for haunts evaluating infrastructure
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investments ahead of the twenty twenty five season. Mickey's Not
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So Scary Halloween Party returns to the Walt disney World
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Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, thirty eight select nights August
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fifteenth through October thirty first of this year. The festive
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fund includes a new meet and greet with Mickey and
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Minnie Mouse in the town Square Theater, the transformation of
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Storybook Circus into a Happy Haunt for families with younger children,
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and a dance party inspired by Zombies Four Donna the Vampires.
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Many longtime fan favorites are reappearing as well, including Mickey's
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Booty You Halloween Parade, Disney's Not So Spooky Spectacular Fireworks Show,
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and the Hocus Pocus Villain spell Tacular. Don your costumes
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and satisfy your sweet tooth with trigger treating and various
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locations in the park, and limited time Halloween food and beverages.
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Event tickets will range from one hundred and nineteen to
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two hundred and twenty nine per person. Guests have select
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Walt Disney World hotels will be able to purchase tickets
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starting on May fifteenth. All other guests may purchase tickets
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starting on May twenty second. Scare Con twenty twenty five
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comes to the Heart of England Convention Center in Birmingham,
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UK next week on the May twentieth and twenty first.
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Scare Con supports Europe's haunt and horror industries with workshops,
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seminars and exhibit floor and networking opportunities. Party the Night
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Away at the scare Ball, taking place the evening of
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Tuesday May twentieth, featuring the annual Scar Awards ceremony. New
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for twenty twenty five, the scare Ball will also feature
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a two hour performance from freak Show Extreme Fan TASM Wednesday,
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May twenty first, Attendees can mix and mingle during the
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afternoon at Extreme Screen Park. Tickets are on sale now
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starting at eighty pounds per person. The Midwest Hunters Convention
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exhibitor list has been posted. The initial exhibitor list for
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the Midwest Hunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois has been posted
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to their website. Ninety plus vendors are currently on the list,
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with more exhibitors being added to this lively show floor
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each day. The Midwest Haunters Convention takes place June sixth
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through eight that the Donaldi Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
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Tickets are on sale now, starting from forty to fifty
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dollars for single day show floor passes, sixty five dollars
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for Saturday and Sunday show floor passes, and three hundred
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and fifteen for weekend passes including the Friday Night Haunt
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Tour Seminar and the Saturday Night Party. In film and
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TV news, Eli Craig talks Clown in a Cornfield and
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modern horror in an exclusive interview with a Haunted Day
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Attraction Network director Eli Craig Tucker and Dale Versus Evil
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discusses his new film Clown in a Cornfield, a slasher
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that blends horror, comedy, and gen z anxiety. Based on
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the novel by Adam Cizar, the story follows teens hunted
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by a killer clown in a small town, unveiling from
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a cultural and generational tensions as Haunted attraction designers were
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constantly exploring the art of storytelling across different mediums. Craig's
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approach is particularly valuable because he skillfully balances classic horror
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tropes with contemporary relevance, respects his younger audience without condescension,
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and understands that fear works best when it speaks to
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real world anxieties, all principles that translate directly to effective
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Haunted attraction design. FX is launching their Wreckage, an immersive
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pop up experience based on its upcoming series Alien Earth,
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at Area fifteen in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May sixteenth
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and seventeenth of twenty twenty five from six pm until midnight.
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The free event invites guests to explore the crash light
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of the USCSS Magineo, complete with alien specimens, atmospheric storytelling,
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and interactive installations. For Haunted Attraction professionals, The Wreckage demonstrates
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how major ips are leveraging immersive, story driven activations to
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build height, offering valuable inspiration for Haunt design and off
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season guest engagement. Are You Ready for Urban Deaths twentieth
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anniversary show in Maze Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group in
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North Hollywood, California, celebrates twenty ghoulish years of Urban Death
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with an all new signature horror production and twentieth anniversary
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maze directed by Denise Devin and Jana Weemer with music
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by Joseph Bishara. This all new iteration of Urban Death
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uses the phantasmic and shocking with the terrifying the human,
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guiding audiences through a bone chilling walk through maze followed
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by a forty five minute sit down horror theater Thrombosis.
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Each night, brave guests will be led into the darkness
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and thrust into a series of haunting, grotesque, freaky, and
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often beautiful vignettes that have defined Urban Death as a
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genre baking theater phenomenon since it was created by Zombie
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Joe and Jana Wimer two decades ago. Tickets are on
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sale now for twenty online and twenty five dollars at
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the door. This production is for audiences seventeen plus due
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to graphic content and nudity. Some upcoming events this May
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through July of twenty twenty five include scare Con May
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twentieth and twenty first Monster Palooza Pasadena, California. May thirtieth
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through June first, Midwest Hunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, June
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sixth through eight, and the Texas Haunters Convention in Dallas, Texas,
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July twenty sixth and twenty seven.
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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode
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was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting by Darryl Plunky,
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post production by David Swope. This Haunt News Update is
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a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you can
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sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hantattraction Network dot com.
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Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting end Controls.
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Until next time, Haunters, Stay Scary. This is a Haunted
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Attraction Network production.
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