April 9, 2025

NEWS: OSCARES 2025 Ceremony; Halfway to Halloween Events

This week: The full OSCARES 2025 Awards; Dark Harbor returns on Sept 19th; Halfway to Halloween at Winchester Mystery House & Reign of Terror; The Mystic Museum's Horror High Prom; Previews begin for Dark Universe at Universal's Epic Universe;...

Show Notes
Transcript

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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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The Haunted Attraction Association honored leading figures in the haunt

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industry at the annual OSCARS Awards on Saturday, March first

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of twenty twenty five during trans World's Halloween and Attraction

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Show in Saint Louis, Missouri. Widely considered the highest honors

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in the halloween and haunted attraction world, the OSCARS Awards

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recognize excellence across multiple categories, celebrating new, established and legacy

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businesses and remarkable individuals. The Haunted Attraction Network produced this

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year's awards ceremony with Froggy's Fog as the premier sponsor.

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Learn about all the honorees and view the full ceremony

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by following the links in our show notes. The Queen

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Mary's Dark Harbor Ride dates have been announced. Mark your calendar.

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The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in Long Beach, California will

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return on select nights September nineteenth through November two of

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twenty twenty five. The event features haunts, hundreds of monsters,

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immersive attractions, live entertainment, VIP experience, themed bars, carnival rides,

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festive foods, and more. Put on your boots and cowboy

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hat for the wildest haunt in the Florida Wilderness. Sir

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Henry's Haunted Trail in Plant City, Florida has announced a

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brand new experience for twenty twenty five. Sir Henry's Haunted

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ghost Town and Barbecue. On April eleventh and twelfth, experienced

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Western horror story themed trails in a high stakes Old

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West showdown in the Common Area. It will also feature

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two escape games and some of the area's best barbecue

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food trucks. Tickets are on sale now, starting at twenty

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seven dollars for general admission and thirty seven for front

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of line. The Winchester Mystery House hosts Halfway to Helloween

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flashlight tours. Step into the Shadow of the Winchester Mystery

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House in San Jose, California, on April nineteenth and twenty

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sixth and May third and tent for Halfway to Helloween

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Flashlight Tours. Explore the mansion in your own pace, with

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only a flashlight to guide you through the twisting corridors

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and room. The experience will include access to areas that

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are off limits on the standard mansion tour. The grounds

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outside the mansion will be covered in ghostly decor and

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hauntingly beautiful photo ops and themed cocktails and treats inspired

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by the Halloween season. Tickets are on sale now starting

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at forty nine ninety nine for adults and twenty nine

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ninety nine for children ages five to twelve. The Mystic

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Museum in Burbank, California will bid farewell to their Horror

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High Reunion exhibit with a night of thrills, chills, and

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killer fun at the Horror High prom taking place on Friday,

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May tenth. The dance will feature a live band in DJ,

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photo ops, professional prom photos, bar and refreshments, and a

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night market with eerie exclusive horror goods. Tickets are on

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sale now starting at thirty five dollars for school spirit

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general admission, forty five for Junior Varsity admission which includes

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a prom photo and early access, and one hundred and

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twenty five dollars for VIP bundles. All tickets will automatically

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enter guests into a raffle style drawing to be selected

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for the Horror High prom Court. The dance also serves

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as a fundraiser to bring the next Mystic Museum exhibit

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to life, which is set to debut on May thirty

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first of this year. The Reign of Terror in Thousand Oaks, California,

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will return for two nights on May second and third

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to celebrate their Halfway to Halloween Brave the Haunts, eleven

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interconnected attractions with one hundred and forty two rooms of

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pure terror and Fright. Tickets are on sale now, starting

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at forty two dollars for regular admission and sixty seven

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for mediate access. Double m Haunted hay Rides and Haunted

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Houses in Boston, SPA, New York will host its second

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annual Halfway to Halloween event on May sixteenth and seventeen.

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The event will open with an outdoor screening of Friday

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the Thirteenth, Part two from nineteen eighty one, complete with

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roaming monsters to add to the scares and thrills. Next

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guest will brave two haunted houses that continue the slasher theme,

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including a visit to Camp Crystal Lake itself. Tickets are

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on sale now for thirty dollars each. Media previews have

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begun for Universal's Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida. Attractions Magazine

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attended an April fifth preview event and have posted pictures

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and videos of the horror themed Dark Universe section of

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the park. Take a sneak peek at the Burning Windmill

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and monsters unchained The Frankenstein Experiment pre show featuring Doctor

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Victoria Frankenstein, Igor and Frankenstein's Monster. Epic Universe will open

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on May twenty second, twenty twenty five. Learn more and

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purchase tickets from the park's official way website. This week's

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Green Tagged podcast discusses key takeaways from the recent AYAPPA

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and North American Summit at the Disneyland Resort. Philip SHARE's

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first hand insights from Disney executives on the thoughtful redesign

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of Toontown and how small intentional changes created significant guest

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experience improvements. Discover how Disney balances operational necessities with guest

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comfort through innovative solutions from stroller parking zones to decompression spaces,

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to mix and match cast costumes that enhance storytelling. Explore

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why seemingly simple elements like tables, chairs, and even non

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flat grassy areas based resistance yet proved crucial for guest satisfaction.

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Scott provides industry contexts in these practices, making these high

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level insights applicable to the attractions of all sizes. Zegon

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Studios Masks and Costumes from Melrose Park, Illinois, will be

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closing in the near future. For over fifty years, the

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company has delivered comfortable, lightweight, and breathable masks, costume and

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accessories to members of the haunt industry. In an email,

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Tony Zagone informed the Haunted Attraction Network that they have

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ceased manufacturing and taking custom orders and they will be

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selling off their existing inventory at a discount. Disclosure due

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to unforeseen circumstances, comes in a wake of a difficult

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year after the passing of the company's co founder, Philip

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Anthony's Agone last June. In a Facebook post, Michael's Agone

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thanked their fans, customers, partners and employees for their years

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of support and loyalty. Official statements have not yet been

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posted to the company's social media profiles or website. You

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can take a look inside this year's trans World's Halloween

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and Attraction Show from Saint Louis, Missouri with a full

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length video by following the links in our show notes.

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Sample highlights of this year's show floor with detailed interviews

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with over twenty five exhibitors, and venture beyond the vendor

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hall with a taste of trans World signature events including

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the Zombie prom and the Vampire Circus performances. Just a reminder,

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ask the haunt expert, Philip Heernandez will be on Haunter's

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Toolbox on April eighth. Haunters Toolbox is hosting a live

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Q and A session with Philip Hernandez of Gantem and

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the Haunted Attraction Network on Tuesday, April eighth, starting at

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five thirty pm Pacific time. Join this informative one and

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a half hour live session to learn tips and tricks

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from Philip, whose experience includes social media, marketing, video and audio,

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theme parks, Haunted attractions, public relations, press releases, and much more.

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Some upcoming events this April through June. Include the Spooky

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Swap Meet in Los Angeles, California, April twenty five through

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twenty seven, West Coast Haunters Convention in Oaks, Pennsylvania April

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twenty six through twenty seven, halfway to Halloween Expo in

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Ann Arbor, Michigan coming up May ten, Monster Palooza in Pasadena, California,

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May thirty through June one, and the Midwest Hunters Convention

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in Rosemont, Illinois, June sixth through June eighth.

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And that's all for the news this week.

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Today's episode was produced by me Philip Hernandez, with reporting

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by Darryl Plunky. Post production by David Swope.

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This Haunt News Update.

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Is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you

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can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hantattractionnetwork dot com.

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Support for this episode comes from Gantam Lighting and controls.

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Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary. This is a Haunted

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Attraction Network production.

NEWS: OSCARES 2025 Ceremony; Halfway to Halloween Events

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