NEWS: New Zombie Stunt Experience Debuts at HHN Japan

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. Over the past two decades, theme parks such as those owned by Disney Universal and Six Flags have seen exponential growth in attendance and revenue over the autumn season, highly due to their increased focus on Halloween events. A recent article in The Hollywood Reporter discussed how theme parks are vying for larger shares of the overall twelve billion dollars Halloween market with seasonal event vents and up charge experiences.

1:01 The Haunted Attraction Network's own Philipernandez was quoted in the article saying we can infer the financial success of these events from several indicators, including the sheer number of ticketed events, up charges, VIP experiences, and exclusive merchandise tied to Halloween offerings. It also runs counter to Christmas, which is included with most tickets. Despite a trend of decreasing disposable income, high quality theme park special events remain an area where consumers are willing to spend money. Parks have added numerous up charge experiences, such as behind the scenes walkthroughs, VIP tours, and Haunt season passes to allow the most passionate fans more ways to engage with their favorite Halloween events. Utilizing ips such as Disney's use of the Nightmare before Christmas or hhn's use of the Walking Dead, Insiduous or a Quiet Place has also increased the fandom fervor. Halloween events now take place in theme parks around the world, including ones that don't celebrate a traditional that don't celebrate at traditional Halloween holidays. Bernandez speculates that the success of these Halloween events may offer a glimpse into how parks approach their businesses moving forward. What theme parks have done is taken this shoulder season and turned it into something that's more popular than summer and that maybe in many ways, is going to be essential to their future. This year's Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan features a new outdoor im merce of horror attraction based on the popular Biohazard franchise known to us in the US as Resident Evil. Biohazard Night of Heroes combines acting with stage effects and stunts to recreate the video games.

2:34 Guests fight alongside the heroes from the series to defeat the Umbrella Corporation's Hellish Zombie Horde in a historic showdown. The five minute experience is presented in the round, with guests in the center as the action and stunts unfolds around them. The show maintains throughputs similar to a Haunted House, but with less staff and efficiently balanced actions, scares, and guest interaction. The combination of high energy stunts, a well known ip and an efficient does design makes this standard edition that broadened Helloween's appeal and leverages the popularity of the Biohazard slash Resident Evil franchise. Philip and Scott discuss some new experiences and details in this week's bonus episode of Green Tagg. Follow the links in our show notes to hear that or to watch the full Biohazard Night of Heroes experience. The New York City Fire Department has shut down a haunting in Hollis in Queens Village, New York due to a number of fire code violations. This past weekend. Inspectors found numerous hazards at the residential haunt, including blocked exits, holes in the walls and floor, and electrical issues, with the Fire Commission calling the attraction a death trap. A full vacate order was issued by the Department of Buildings. In a statement to a local news station, the FDNY said all of the conditions and violations required immediate action as they posed life safety hazards that could have been tragic if there was a fire at this location.

3:52 A Haunting in Hollis has not i released an official statement regarding the closure. A twelve year old boy died in a tragic accident this past Fast Friday at the Haunted Hilltop in Harrison, Tennessee, Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts. Student Sam Jesson passed away from injuries sustained while trying to climb on a moving hayride tractor and falling under the vehicle. A chaperone for the group of children Sam attended with told deputies that the kid's been playing near a hay ride tractor route and were hiding behind bushes when trying to scare riders on the tractor, Jesson fell underneath the tractor wheels or trying to board a moving vehicle, and was pronounced dead on the scene. A GoFundMe campaign was created to raise money for the Jesson family, raising over thirty thousand dollars as of October fourteenth. Prepare for a Goulish good Time on Sunset Boulevard with a launch of the Sunset Strips After Life Transfer Trolley, a free and immersive Halloween time trolley operating on October twenty sixth, twenty seventh, thirty first, and November first, brought to life by the Sunset Strip Business Improvement District BID in partnership with the City of West Hollywood, California, and produced by JJLA.

4:56 His activation as part of the City of West Hollywood's much anticipated annual the Halloween Carnival, which takes over Santa Monica Boulevard and Halloween Night, guests of the Afterlife Transfer Trolley will climb aboard the Haunted Hearst inspired trolley from one of twelve different stops greeted by ghosts on the Sunset Strip who share their eerie final words and stories throughout the trolley's track. Bars, restaurant and hotels along the Sunset Strip will be offering unique Halloween inspired food, beverages, and events. Highlights include Hotel Ziggi's sixty Halloween Party on October twenty sixth, The London West Hollywood's Wicked Witches Afternoon Tea on Fridays and Saturdays, Bar next Doors, Vampire Bloodshot Special, and more. An ongoing list of the Sunset Strip businesses and activations can be found in their official website. The trolley is free to board for guests of all ages.

5:44 Despite previously filing for bankruptcy, Scarehouse in Etna, Pennsylvania returns in twenty twenty four with three experiences, The Basement stocked by a serial killer escape room, and the vampire themed Chipped Fang Immersive Mocktail pop up bar. Although the event will feature smaller scale haunts than recent years, it aims to maintain the high quality experiences fans expect. After several years, the Basement has returned to offer guests eighteen and older and Extreme Haunt experience taking place in the lower level of an over one hundred year old building. Guests must sign a waiver to venture into the series of intense, intimate, and r rated horrors that lie within. The new Chipped Fang pop up bar in the Strip District features a ninety minute interactive experience aimed for the general audiences. Tickets include four handcrafted mocktails, entrance into a highly themed gothic layer full of surprises and photo ops, and participation in an interactive production featuring performers and playful challenges Stoked by a Killer. Located with Bold Escape Rooms in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers a year round escape room experience, starting your very own horror movie as you try to solve a series of fiendus puzzles from the mind of a deranged maniac.

6:56 Tickets for all three offerings for on sale now, starting from thirty three ninety five to thirty nine ninety five for the Basement, seventeen ninety five for the Chipped Fang, and eighty to ninety dollars for Stocked by a Killer Escape room for two to eight players. Continue the Haunt season into November, with trans World's legendary Haunt Tour taking place November eighth to ninth. The tour will lead to Ohio to visit the Factory of Terror, the Dent Schoolhouse, the USS Nightmare, the Haunted Schoolhouse, and Haunted Laboratory. Tickets are on sale now with options to join the tour bus or to drive via your personal vehicle. Prices will increase after October thirty first. The cut off dates for official tour hotel deals is October seventeenth and October twenty first.

7:39 Registration is now open for trans World's Helloween and Attraction Show, taking place February twenty seventh through March second of twenty twenty five at the America Center in Saint Louis, Missouri. Trans World's Helloween and Attraction Show offers an expansive marketplace where the industry gathers to network, get new ideas, and purchase products. The event will once again co locate with trans world Interactive Entertainment Show and trans World's Christmas Show. General admission prices start at ninety nine dollars. Early access passes start at one ninety nine, VIP passes start at four hundred and thirty, and VIP and unlimited Seminar passes start at seven hundred. Prices will increase after Thursday, February thirteenth at eleven fifty nine pm. An upcoming event this November is creep It Real Festive in Santa Ana, California, from November twenty second and twenty third. Have you been listening to our sixty one day Hauntedthon happening now through Halloween, where we celebrate haunted attractions daily via short and long form videos and podcasts. Some of the latest ones include Let's Get Wicked twenty twenty four, the Show about Hong Kong, Disneyland, Biohazard, Night of Heroes, The Full Experience Halloween Horror Night's Universal Studios Japan, The Aftermath Hurricane Milton's impact on Florida's attractions.

8:53 Followed these videos and other shorts on our YouTube channel, Instagram, or by following the links in our show. Notes, And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode was produced by me Philip Hernandez, with reporting by Daryl Plunky post production by David Swope. This HANT News Update is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network, and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hantattractionnetwork dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantam Lighting and controls. Until next time, Haunters stay scary. This is a Haunted Attraction Network production