NEWS: is your haunt capitalizing on Valentine's Day?

0:07 Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read more about these stories and so much more in our free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes, and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it off to Darryl. Haunts nationwide will open for the first off season events of the new year, with Friday the thirteenth and Valentine's Day offering operating dates from February sixth through February twenty first, suggesting some haunted houses we'll try to extend the holiday.

0:52 Keep on listening to hear our full list of over one hundred haunts. Later on in the newsletter, Love is Blind returns to Dark Hour with a new interactive Valentine's mechanic. Dark Hour Haunted House from Plano, Texas is bringing back Love is Blind on February thirteenth and fourteenth, reintroducing the event with a new interactive mechanic that turns a traditional Blackout Haunt into a choice driven experience. This new version incorporates gameplay elements from Dark Hours Dead by Dark Hour format, asking guests to actively manage how they move through the attraction. Rather than simply endure the darkness. Guests must manage a glow stick that helps them to navigate in the dark, but also draws the scare actors to them, creating strategic decisions and playful dynamics. I think we'll get some of those situations where in order to distract the monsters from your partner, you will let your light shine a little bit, says owner and creative director Alan Hopps. Then the monster gets drawn off of them to you. That's the dynamic I really want the actors to play with. The result is interaction not just between the actor and the guest, but also between the guests themselves. For Hops, the Haunted House itself is only part of the experience. The moments before and after mattered just as much, especially for Valentine's couples.

2:10 I want people to be in line between fifteen and thirty minutes, Hopps said. I think that actually helps the Haunted House experience because you do have that anticipation you're watching groups go in, and you're watching how they act as they go in, and then you have a chance to talk about that upcoming experience. This operational philosophy aligns with recent research. A twenty twenty four study from the University of Florida titled Haunted Attraction The Effects of Recreational Fear on Interpersonal Bonding. The key finding bonding happened after the event through talking, laughing, and reflecting together rather than during the experience itself. By designing for fifteen to thirty minutes of anticipation in line and providing prost haunt decompression space, dark hour creates the conditions for what the study identifies as the most valuable part of the shared fear experience.

2:59 Tickets for Our Love Is Blind are now on sale, starting at forty dollars for general admission and ninety five dollars for VIP admission. Trans World Vendor Spotlight videos extend your reach beyond the show floor. Vendor Spotlight videos are short form, professionally produced video features filmed live on the show floor at Transworld's Halloween and Attractions Show. Each spotlight highlights one new product or one best selling item in a focused thirty second interview style format. These videos are editorial features distributed through the Haunted Attraction Network, the leading news resource for the Haunted attraction industry. Cost is three hundred dollars. Contact Philip at Haunted Attraction Network dot com to book. Why participate? Reach a massive targeted audience. The Haunted Attraction Network reaches over five hundred thousand followers and subscribers across social media, YouTube, newsletters, podcasts, and its website.

3:54 Your spotlight is seen not just during the show, but long after the show ends by the people who make purchase decisions. What you get each vendor Spotlight includes placement across the Haunted Attraction Network, including Haunted Attraction Network, Facebook, Haunted Attraction Network YouTube shorts, inclusion in long form YouTube recap video with chapter markers that allow viewers to jump directly to your segment. Inclusion in the Haunted Attraction Network newsletter with forty two hundred subscribers, and the trans World recap article. To combine Instagram reel, Facebook Collaborator access, vendors will be added as a collaborator on the Haunted Attraction Network Facebook post, allowing video to appear directly on the vendor's Facebook page. And be shared, boosted, or repurposed natively searchable YouTube placement. Your spotlight is included in a longer YouTube video with chapters, making it easier for viewers to find your brand product booth even months later. How it works.

4:51 The videos are filmed on the show floor using a multi camera set up. Each spotlight focuses on one product to keep messaging clear and effective. Scale dueling is coordinated once participation is confirmed while filming, editing and distribution are handled by the Haunted Attraction Network vendor. Spotlight videos are limited in quantity and scheduled on a first come, first serve basis during the show. In theme Park News, Universal proves hotels drive destination resort success. Comcast Theme Parks division cost one billion dollars in quarterly EBITA for the first time in Q four of twenty twenty five, with much of the attention focused on Epic Universe's opening, but the most revealing numbers came from hotels. Universal added two thousand rooms in Orlando while raising average daily rates twenty percent and increasing occupancy three percent. The hotel performance signals Universal has successfully transformed Orlando into a destination resort where guest day multiple nights rather than treating it as a single day.

5:52 Add On in this week's Green Tagged Analysis, breakdown how the hotel strategy not epic alone, raided the flow I wheel effect and what that means for operators building multi day experiences. Follow the links in our show notes to read the full analysis and watch the latest episode of Green Tagged podcast. Attractions Magazines Epic Universe Digital Guide is now available. Attraction Magazine's Epic Universe Guide is now available as a digital download in addition to the print format. Originally published in May of twenty twenty five, the sixty four page commemorative magazine features Q and A, tips for visiting, full details and photos from all of the lands and more. Featured sections include what makes a Monster, The Dark Universe Manifesto with executive producer Chris Frizzella, Women of Epic Universe, a celebration of the park's female characters, and Epic Eats Await, a look at the park's culinary creations. The digital version is available for ten dollars. Print copies can still be purchased for twenty dollars. F Telling announces a new illusion show, Magica Luna, starting Friday April third through Sunday, November eighth.

7:01 F Telling and Catschevelle, Netherlands will welcome guests to the realm of Dreams and Illusions with the new show Magical Luna taking place in the f Telling Theater. This new twenty minute daytime performance is non verbal spectacle full of magic and illusions. Travel alongside a teenage girl, Luna, through dizzying dreams filled with magical illusions and wondrous creatures who teach her an important life lesson, You are never too old to dream. Magical Luna is a partnership between f Telling and the renowned producer Magus Utopia, contributor to the twenty twenty four app of Brass Ring Award winning production Nightmare Fuel Wildfire for Universal Studio Florida's Halloween Horror Nights, Nightmare Fuel Wildfire became the highest rated show in the history of Halloween Horror Nights, seamlessly blending fire performances, illusions, and specialty acts with innovative storytelling. According to the official press release for f Telling, Magic Utopia is directing a dream of production unmistakably infused with an f Telling signature.

8:04 The performance is suitable for the whole Family were recommended for ages six and older. In live stream news coming up on Ask the Haunter It's Philip Bernandez Haunters Toolbox is hosting a live Q and A session with a Haunted Attraction Networks own Philipernandez on Tuesday, February tenth at seven thirty pm Central Standard Time. How do you create a successful offseason haunted event? Are you spending your marketing budget effectively? What is changing in the haunt industry in twenty twenty six? Philip will answer all these questions and more during his ninety minute live session. Attende's must be members of the Haunters Toolbox Facebook group to join. Horror Land Miami announces Love Kills Valentine Haunted event on February twelve through sixteenth. Step into a dark, immersive horror experience from the horror Land Screen Park in Miami, Florida with Love Kills. Love Kills is advertised as a walk through haunted experience created specifically for Valentine's weekend, where guests will wander through fog drenched cemetery's abandoned chapel and cursed love stories frozen in time. The event will feature live actors, themed environments, lighting, fog, sound design, and scare zones produced exclusively for the limited run. Horror Land Miami stated that the event is not a party or seasonal overlay, but a fully produced haunted attraction design for the February operating window.

9:25 Tickets start at twenty nine ninety nine and advance purchase is recommended. Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group presents Bleeding Heart Boogieyman. Get ready for a full contact, blindfolded horror theater experience with the newest production from Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group in North Hollywood, California. Bleeding Heart Boogieman. Within the darkness, you are no longer alone, and the Boogeyman lusts for your black and soul. This twenty five minute experience for audiences eighteen and over will pull it your heart springs and breathe deep into your passionate desires, hungry wants, and most terrify bying of nightmares. The production runs February fifth through seventh, with four performances each night. Tickets are on sale now for twenty dollars or twenty five at the door.

10:10 Creep It reel Oc announces their twenty twenty six events dates. Mark your calendars because creep It Real OC from Santa Ana, California, returns for two frightfully fun events in twenty twenty six. The original Creepit reel Oc will take place September eleventh through thirteenth, and the holiday horror market creep It Real Festive will take place November twentieth through twenty second. Both events feature over one hundred horror vendors, live music, celebrity appearances, entertainment costumes, photo ops and more. A Haunted Attraction Association has a proposed by law to allow non owners and operators to run for HAA board member positions. In this month's Haunted Attraction newsletter, HAA President Jim Werner announced that a new by law is to be proposed in the coming months that would allow non owner operators to be eligible to run for HAA board positions. This new bylaw is intended to strengthen the board through broader expertise, recognizing the talent of safety professionals, designers, educators, managers and innovators that shape the industry. Here's our list of twenty twenty six Friday the thirteenth and Valentine's Day haunts that are opening up in Alabama. You can visit Arx Mortis from killin the City of Chaos and east of Boga, The Conjuror Haunted Attraction in Birmingham, east of Boga Manor and east of Boga hel Billy Hollow in Vincent Pope's Haunted Farm in Salem, Sweet Dreams Haunted House in Joppa, and Warehouse thirty one in Pelham, Arkansas is bringing you The

11:43 Asylum Haunted House in Cave Springs, Arkansas, Asylum X and Fort Smith and the Folklore slaughter House in Gravesville. California has got two to nine haunts in Lynden, California, All Saints Lunatic Asylum in Apple Valley, Black Casket Productions, New Kaipa Eulogy Collective in Anaheim, Beer Overload in Newark, The Haunt and at Tescadero at A Tescadero, California, High Desert Haunted House in Apple Valley, Sacramento Scream Park and Sacramento Screams in Fairfield, and Zombie Joe's Underground Theater Group in North Hollywood, California. Colorado has got the thirteenth Floor Haunted House in Denver, find Your Fright in Loveland, Hell's Scream Haunted House in Colorado Springs, while Connecticut brings you the Fright Haven in Stratford, Florida. Haunted houses include the Thirteenth Floor Hunted House Jacksonville and Jacksonville, Florida, Creepy Hollow Woods and Jay the Horror Land in Miami, Sir Henry's Haunted Trail in Plant City, and Wentz Brothers Festival of Fears in mary Esther, Florida. Georgia Valentine's Haunted houses include Helen Helen in Helen, Georgia, Lake Joy, Trails of Terror in Kathleen, Paranoia Haunted House in Canton, and Wicked South in Pembroke, Georgia.

13:02 Illinois is bringing everyone the Thirteenth Floor Haunted House Chicago from Chicago, Illinois, Disturbia, Haunted House from Downers Grove, Factory of Fear and mow Lean, The Massacre Haunted House in Montgomery, Sinister Acres in De Soto, and the Vibe Haunted House in Crevcore. Indiana has got the House of Lector in Evansville, Hysterium Haunted Asylum in Fort Wayne, Malice Manor in Clarksville Necropolis, Underground in Indianapolis the Thirteenth Hour in Indianapolis, Indiana. Iowa Haunted houses have the Hillside House of Horror in Glenwood, Iowa. And Kansas brings you the Haunt at Wallers in El Dorado, Kansas.

13:43 Kentucky is scaring everyone with the American Horror Plex from Louisville, Kentucky, the Haunted Hotel Ky in Louisville, and the Kentucky Fear Tower in Winchester. Louisiana has got the necro Manor Haunted House in Bossier City, while Maryland has got Bennett's Curse in Baltimore. There's Nightmare in Westminster and Laurel's House of Horrors from Laurel, Maryland. Massachusetts has got the Factory of Terror in Fall River, mass while Michigan has got the Awaken Haunted Attraction in Leslie, Factory of the Dead and Saginaw and Hush Haunted Attraction in Westland, Michigan. Minnesota has got the Nowhere Haunted House in Inner Grove Heights, Minnesota, while Missouri is bringing you Terror on the Route sixty six in Sullivan and the Darkness in Saint Louis Missouri, Nevada Haunted houses include the Halloween Maze in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tom Devlin's Monster Museum in Boulder City. New Jersey is bringing you the Thirteenth Hour Haunted House in Wharton and Brighton Asylum in Passaic, while New Mexico has got Haunted Scarecrow from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and New York has got the Bayville Screen Park from Bayville, New York. North Carolina haunted houses include the Haunted Forested Panic Point in Youngsville, North Carolina, Holler and Haunts Hayride and Clinton, the Hotel in a Haskie Panic Attack from Nikuina, Pinhead's Graveyard from Canton, and the Woods of Terror in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ohio

15:14 has got the Akron Haunted Schoolhouse in Akron, Ohio, Area thirteen Project in Oxford, Beer, Columbus Haunted House in Columbus, Hel's Dungeon in Dayton, the Nightmare of Main Street in Palmeroy, Ohio. Oklahoma is bringing you the Asylum from Nowada and the Chamber of Terror from Moore, while Oregon is bringing the Fear PDX in Portland, Oregon. Pennsylvania has the Field of Screams PA in Mountville, Haunted Attractions of State Screen Park in Uniontown, the Horror Ween Haunted Warehouse in Mount Union, Lincoln Mall, Haunted House in Philadelphia, Penherst, Asylum from Spring City, and spook Haven from mill Hall. South Carolina has got Dark Castle in Elgin, to Farm in Lexington and Nightmare Dungeon from Greenville, South Carolina, while Tennessee is bringing you the Fear Zone from Memphis, Fright Works from Powell, Hells bar Dam from Guild Nashville, Nightmare from Madison, and the Scream Chamber from Athens, Tennessee. Texas Haunted houses include the thirteenth Floor Haunted House Houston from Houston, Texas, Cutting Edge from fort Worth, Dark Hour from Plano, Doc Wilkes's House of Horror in Longview, Hangman's House of Horrors and fort Worth, Imminent Doom in Kilgore, Nightmare on Nineteenth Street in Lubbock, Silo of Screams from Temple, and the Texas Scare Grounds from Mineral Wells, Texas. Utah Haunted houses include the Asylum forty nine from Tuell, Castle of Chaos from Midvale, and

16:48 Fiesta Fright from Saint George, Utah, Virginia. Haunted houses include Fright Maare from Chesapeake, Virginia, Spooky Acre's Haunted House from Norfolk, Saint alban Sanatorium from Radford, Terror Manor from Roanoak, Virginia. Washington State is bringing you the Cinema of Horrors from Kelso, Washington, and Frightvale from Oak Arbor, Washington. West Virginia Haunted houses include The Fear of the Farm WV in Winfield and The Fright Knights WV from Daniels. Is your Haunt opening for the off season event? Simply let us know and we can put it on our podcasts and newsletters. Upcoming events from February through April of twenty twenty six, trans Worlds Talloween and Attraction Show in Saint Louis, Missouri March twenty six through twenty nine, the Spooky Swap Meet in Los Angeles, California from April twenty four through twenty sixth, and the East Coast Haunters Convention from Oaks, Pennsylvania on April twenty fifth and twenty sixth.

17:48 And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode was produced by me Philip Ernandez, with reporting by Darryl plunky post production by David Swop. This hant news update is a production of the Haunted Network, and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunta attractionnetwork dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting and Controls. Until next time, Haunters, stay scary. This is a Haunted Attraction Network production.