News Roundup: HHN Auditions; ScareCON Awards

0:07 Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the h A N 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. Scare Con from Chertsey, United Kingdom announced the winners of the twenty twenty three Scare Awards. The Scars the twenty twenty three Awards are based on events and attractions that opened or operated for a significant duration between April twenty two and March twenty twenty three. All fifteen categories were judged by the scare Con and Scare Tour review team and scored upon specific requirements for each category, including public reviews. Awards were received by Tully's Octoberfest, Traumatica Terror Mountain, Satan Slammer, Fear Avon Valley, horror Land, Bloodbath by Screamworks, Baalzell, scare Maas, the London Bridge Experience, Movie Park Germany, Scream Factory, Psychopath, The Nightmare, Realm, Howel Valley High, and Scream Allowed. Congratulations to all of the winners and the nominees.

1:30 Get your tickets for the Midwest Haunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois very soon as early bird discounts and this Thursday, May twenty fifth at eleven fifty nine pm Central daylight time, with precon hot tours on June eighth and ninth, and event dates June tenth and eleventh. This action packed weekend is stacked with excited entertainment, top notch exhibitors, educational programming, networking parties, contests, and more. Some recently featured highlights on the event's Facebook page include the Chicago haunt Builders walk through Haunted House on the show floor, Kids Zone Ghoul School limited to thirty students aged six to twelve, and the MHC Zombie Walk presented by the Chicago Zombie March. Learn more about this conventions learn more about all of the convention's events and seminars on its official website by following the links in our show notes. Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano, Texas has done some spring cleaning and plenty of things must go. The Haunt will host a yard sale on Saturday, June tenth, from nine am to two pm Central daylight time.

2:31 Check back often in the events Facebook page to see pictures of items that will be available at the yard sale. Organizers of the Centralia Halloween Parade in Centralia, Illinois announced the winner of the twenty twenty three parade theme contest, Monsters and Misship. The winning theme was submitted by fourth grader Turner Aid. Members of the parade committee showed up at Turner's class in Saint Mary's Grade School to present him in his classmates with the pizza party. Turner will be honored at the ninety sixth annual parade in October twenty eighth, twenty twenty three. Auditions are now open for Halloween Horror Nights twenty twenty three at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. Scare Actor Edition time slots are available for Wednesday, May thirty first and Thursday, June first. Appointments are required. Applicants must be eighteen plus years old and will be asked to do some improvisation and demonstrate scare abilities. Proof of eligibility to work at the United States is also required. A current headshot and resume are preferred. Spencers and Spirit Halloween announced they are expanding their corporate headquarters in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. The project will add eighty one thousand square feet of office space and amenities to the company's current campus, bringing the total footprint to twenty four acres, or the size of five football fields. The new office area will provide the company with space to accommodate their growing workforce. The company currently employers more than thirty thousand associates across the country, seven hundred of which are located at the New Jersey corporate offices. We look forward to welcoming new members to our Spencers and Spirit

4:02 Halloween family, where our guiding principles has always been to foster an environment of inclusivity, passion, and resilience, embracing differences, authenticity and fun for all, said CEO Stephen Silverstein. The company is actively searching for skilled and motivated individuals to fill a variety of positions across multiple corporate functions, with half of the current openings being in the tech sector. Those who would like to apply for exciting career opportunities available at Spirit Halloween should visit the company's official career website. Ralph Lee, the founder of NYC's Village Halloween Parade, passed away May twelfth, at the age of eighty seven years. Lee directed the first Village Halloween Parade in nineteen seventy four and continued for twelve years before stepping away to pursue other artistic endeavors. Parade began as a theatrical event featuring mass performers, giant puppets, floats, and musicians, all marching through Greenwich Village in Manhattan.

4:54 Halloween is for the kid and all of us, Lee said in a nineteen eighty two New York Times article. It gives people, especially adults, permission to act any way that they want. Over the years, his Village Halloween Parade has grown, becoming one of the city's most cherished events, attracting more than sixty thousand costume participants and two million spectators. Twenty twenty three marks the parade's fiftieth anniversary. While many cultures wait until autumn to start their Halloween celebrations, Japan's spooky thrills and Chills take place in the scorching heat of summer. Our recent article by Carl Sampson discusses the history and legends behind how summer became Japan's spooky season. Some upcoming events between May and July twenty twenty three include Monster Palooza June second through fourth in Pasadena, California. Midwest Hodder's Convention June tenth and eleventh in Rosemont, Illinois, Texas. Hodge's Convention July fifteenth and sixteenth in Mesquite, Texas. Or are Ween Cohn, Idaho. July twenty first through twenty third in Boise, Idaho. Midsummer Scream July twenty eighth through thirtieth in Long Beach, California. Ghosts of Summer July twenty nine through thirtieth in Portland, Oregon. Spring and summer haunted events happening in May include the Eribis Factory of Terror in Erie, Pennsylvania, The Halls of Madness in Paris, Illinois, the Haunted Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Haunting in the Hills Onstead, Michigan. Then in June, you can catch all Hello's Eve Terror Town in Williamsburg, Ohio, the Drake Society in Ontario, California.

6:25 Eloise Asylum in Westland, Michigan, Freight Mayor in Chesapeake, Virginia, Hollering Haunts, Hay Ride in Clinton, North Carolina, Riverside Entertainment and Salome Springs, Arkansas, Scream Hollow, Wicked Helloween Park in Smithville, Texas, Castle Blood in Menissan, Pennsylvania, Dark Castle in Elgin, South Carolina, Wicked World Scaregrounds in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Acropolis Underground in Indianapolis, Indiana. SRDS Haunted Attractions Polkatello in Polkatello, Idaho. Then in July the Ams Haunted Attractions in Maryville, Tennessee, Blood Prison in Mansfield, Ohio, The Cinema of Horrors, Haunted House in Kelso, Washington, and Ever Haunt and Angela, New York. Find the exact dates and times 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 Swolk. This Haunt News Update is a production of the Haunted Traction Network, and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunted Traction Network dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting and controls until next time.

7:35 Haunters stay scary. This is a haunted attraction. Network production