News Roundup: Haunt Faces Eminent Domain after 34 Years

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. The City of Hammond, Indiana, is moving forward with plans to replace Reaper's Realm Haunted House with a riverfront development. Reaper's Realm has rented its location for thirty four years at the Historic Indiana Botanic Gardens.

0:52 The City of Hammond has recently filed an eminent domain lawsuit in the Lake County Superior Court to obtain the property, claiming the land is under utilized and houses a deteriorating building. During a recent city council meeting, John Halusca of Halusca Enterprises, the family business that owns Reaper's Realm, said the property loss would devastate the family financially. Despite his statement, the council approved an Ordinance expanding their Gateways redevelopment area to include the Haunt property with a six to two vote. After a successful run this past Halloween season, Ashland Public Library will again team up with Jeff D. Paoli, host of That Halloween Podcast, for a series of Haunted Happenings live streams. The first live stream of the year will be held on January eighteenth at six point thirty Eastern Standard time and feature Tony Gardner, founder of Alterian, Inc. A Los Angeles based studio specializing in the design and creation of animatronic and prosthetic makeup effects. Listen as they discuss many of Gardner's projects, emphasizing his work for the Chucky television show and movie franchise. Hear how his work work for the family friendly movie hocus Pocus led him to building and puppeteering the iconic killer doll for numerous projects.

2:07 Register today to receive the live stream zoom link by following the links in our show notes. Body paint artist Passer is hosting two workshops at Name's in Burbank, California, Body Paint Lingerie on January twenty second and Monster Heads Body Painting on February nineteenth, In these hands on classes, artists bring their models and learn passer's makeup tips, tricks and techniques. Walk out with a portfolio worthy piece and help master your body painting skills. Workshop tickets are one hundred and twenty five dollars per student. Students must bring their own body painting supplies and models. Space is limited. Arizona Hunters will host a PVC Candle's workshop and Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, January twentieth at ten am MST. This class will teach a method of using pre wired flicker LEDs, which can be plugged in for a steady light. For five dollars, each participant will receive three pieces of PVC pipe pre filled with foam, three orange flicker LEDs, twenty two gage wire, female power jack adapter, and some hot glue. Extra candles will be available for a dollar each. A twelve volt adapter will be needed to be purchased separately. If you have a hot glue gun, please bring it in register by January eighteenth to attend. Exhibitor registration is open for the Texas Haunters Convention in Mesquite, Texas. Early bird pricing is in effect until March thirty first at eleven fifty nine PMCST. Save fifteen percent by registering

3:40 early. Returning twenty twenty three exhibitors will also receive an additional five percent discount. The Texas Haunters Convention will take place at the Mesquite Convention Center July thirteenth and fourteenth of twenty twenty four. Attendee registration will open on March first. There's a new year round hell Halloween in Haunt store in Ironton, Ohio Backfire Boutique. After operating an online business project Backfire and receiving a positive response with booths at Fear Expo and trans World's Halloween An Attraction Show, eighteen year old Tayan Poplin opened the brick and mortar store to sell her spooky wares to like minded Helloween fans and haunters. I realized that people liked the weird and odd things, and I always wanted a storefront to sell, and I wanted it to be a workspace out of my house, Poplin said in an interview with the Ironton Tribute. And also, if a local haunted attraction needs something and can't wait a month for something to come in, we can build it in a couple of days. Despite her age, Poplin already has quite a lot of haunt experience. She began scare acting at age eight. By fifteen, she managed a trail with over forty five crew members, scaring nearly two thousand people each night. She then began building props to their dad, which eventually turned into Project Backfire. Her store now sells everything from s the attic props to animatronics, as well as spooky gifts, clothing, costume, mask jewelry, and much more. The Backfire Boutique is opened Tuesday through Saturday from eleven am to six pm. Gore Galor has released a new line of scenic detailing

5:14 mosses for twenty twenty four. These real dried mosses come in easy to install sheets. The sheets can be stapled, glued, or set with their gore foam. Once installed, fire treated on site for safety and fire marshal compliance. There are some upcoming events January through March of twenty twenty four, including Halloween and Party Expo January twenty third through twenty fifth in Las Vegas, Nevada, hont Con February ninth through eleventh in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the trans World's Halloween and Attraction Show March seventh through tenth in Saint Louis, Missouri, and that's all for the news this week. Today's episode was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting by Daryl Plunky post production by David Swope.

5:59 This hont News Update is a production of the Hanted Attraction Network and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at hantattrastionnetwork 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.