March 19, 2025

NEWS: Will Year-Round Scares Succeed Off the Vegas Strip?

This week: Horror Unleashed Analysis; 18 Haunts opened for St. Patrick's Day events; Wicked New England plans Halfway to Halloween in Salem; Scarehouse Windsor wins Innovator of the Year Award; John Carpenter announces NYC concert; Disney Halloween...

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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Universal's Horror Unleashed opens August fourteenth, twenty twenty five, at

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Area fifteen in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will bring Universal

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seasonal Halloween Horrorites formula to a year round venue. During

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a recent tea panel, Universal creative team members expanded on

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previously announced details, emphasizing continuous immersion. From the moment you

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walk into the moment you walk out, you were completely

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immersed in that world of horror. The team revealed some

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bars will double as scare zones while others offer safe spaces,

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outlined plans for rotating ips and seasonal overlays within flexible

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black box spaces, and position the attractions specifically for Vegas'

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adult market, as show producer Abby Finian noted, Vegas is

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America's playground. We were able to push some boundaries a

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little bit more than we can standardly. While acknowledging the

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challenge of attracting visitors off the strip, Our analysis questions

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whether Horror Unleashed can overcome fundamental challenges of year round

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haunted attraction. While Area fifteen's three point two three million

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annual visitors could potentially generate fifteen point eight million dollars

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in ticket revenue at a seven percent conversion rate, we

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identified several misconceptions in the panel's approach. The team's emphasis

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on solving problems like a lack of integrated social spaces

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overlooks that many successful haunts already offer themed the bars

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and entertainment venues, Their focus on fear rather than entertainment,

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and their claim that haunted houses are the original immersive

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experience reveals gaps in understanding the broader industry, where less

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than five percent of haunted attractions achieve sustainable profitability. Success

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will likely depend on Universal's willingness to evolve beyond traditional

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haunt models, particularly during tourism lulls, when horror appeal naturally

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wanes Philip and Scott also discuss Horror Unleashed, as well

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as the other ways Universal has been strategically diversifying their

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entertainment portfolio in this week's episode of The Green Tagged Podcast.

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Follow the links in the show notes to listen today.

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This past weekend saw eighteen Haunted attractions open for Saint

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Patrick's Day across the USA and Canada. The Northeast and

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South led the market with over seventy percent of all

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Saint Patrick's events, anchored by Pennsylvania's impressive showing with four attractions.

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Most haunts operated during the March fourteenth and fifteenth weekend,

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with one Nightmare Dungeon Haunted attraction extending through Saint Patrick's

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Day itself. Themes featured evil leprechauns, twisted Irish carnival horrors,

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cursed shamrock experiences, and some that blended traditional Irish folklore

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with modern haunted house scares. Looking ahead, haunts are preparing

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for Halfway to Halloween events in May. If your haunt

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is opening in April or May, let us know. Wicked

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New England in Salem, Massachusetts is launching its first ever

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Halfway to Halloween festival on May third, twenty twenty five

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at Salem's historic Old Town Hall. This inaugural event brings

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together live monsters, panels from local haunted attractions and Halloween experts,

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and a Halloween marketplace packed with spooky vendors. Barrett's Haunted

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Mansion will provide a custom photo op and bring their

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professional monsters to interact with guests. Panel presentations throughout the

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day will feature insights from which city Walking Tours, Halloween

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New England, and the Horror Squad podcast offering a behind

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the scenes look at how New England's top haunts create

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their scares. By working with local haunted attractions. Wicked New

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England aims to make this festival a must visit event

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for Halloween fans. General admission tickets are on sale now

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with early bird discounts for a limited time. During this

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year's Southern Ontario Tourism Conference, Scarehouse Windsor in Windsor, Ontario,

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Canada was honored with a Prestigious Innovator of the Year Award.

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This award recognizes businesses, programs, events, or immersive experiences that

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lead with innovation and ignite transformation within Ontario's Southwest tourism landscape.

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This is a big deal, said Sean Lippert, co owner

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of Scarehouse. We were so naive to our impact that

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Scarehouse has in our area. We do it every day

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because we love it, but we are now very aware

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that others love it as much as us and are

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willing to travel long distances to experience it. One of

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the key innovations that set Scarehouse apart is its immersive

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dining experiences, which plant high end hospitality with the thrill

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of interactive storytelling. Learn more about this unique experience in

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our Haunted Attraction Network article Dining in Fear. Following enormous

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demands for four or Halloween time performances in Los Angeles,

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film and music icon John Carpenter will play a one

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night only concert at the Knockdown Center in New York,

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New York, featuring Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. The performance

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will showcase music from many of Carpenter's twenty films and

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his five albums. As soon as we announced my four

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night LA residency, the response was incredible, and I wanted

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to offer my fans on the East Coast a chance

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to hear our music without having to fly across the country.

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Carpenter said, with a one night show, we'll get to

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really dig deep into our musical souls, which is something

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I can't wait to share. Tickets for the concert draw

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on sale now, starting at seventy nine dollars eighty three

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cents for general admission, one hundred and eighty one eighty

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for the Halloween Package including a tour shirt, signed poster,

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and more, and two hundred and eighty six eighty six

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for the John Carpenter Meet and Greet Package. The Disney

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Halloween Festival will return to Disneyland Paris on October first

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through November two of twenty twenty five. Joined the Disney

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Villains as well as Mickey and Friends as they conjure

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a happy haunting of spellbinding decor and exclusive entertainment. Detail

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of this year's festivities have yet to be announced, but

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last year's event included meet and greets with Mickey and

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Friends dawned in their Halloween best, as well as Disney Villains,

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Mickey's Halloween Celebration, Cavalcade, Autumn decor, and limited edition Helloween treats.

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Hunter's Toolbox is hosting a live Q and A session

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with Scott and Jewel Simonson of Haunted Media on Tuesday,

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March eighteenth, at five point thirty pm Pacific daylight time.

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Haunting Media was founded by experienced Haunted attraction owners who

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understand the intricacies and importance of delivering a truly detailed

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and immersive experience. In the live stream, Scott and Jewel

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will discuss creating killer videos and photos at your Haunt,

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marketing on a budget, retaining actors, haunt technology, and more.

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The initial list of exhibitors is now available for this

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year's East Coast Haunters Convention in Oaks, Pennsylvania. This massive

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show floor will feature over one hundred and fifty Halloween

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vendors and over twenty five Christmas vendors. Twenty twenty five

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floor plan will be released in the coming days. The

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East Coast Haunters Convention takes place April twenty sixth and

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twenty seventh at the Greater Philadelphia Expocentre, with pre show

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tours on April twenty fourth and twenty fifth. Register today

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on the event's official website. Black Locust Productions is hosting

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their first annual Midwest Haunt Swap at Forsaken Forest in Richmond, Indiana,

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on Saturday, April nineteenth, from eleven am to five pm

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Eastern daylight time. This unique event invites haunters, prop builders,

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and enthusiasts from all across the Midwest to gather for

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a day of networking and discovery. Whether you're looking to buy, sell,

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or trade, this is the perfect opportunity to refresh your

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haunt with new, used or vintage gear, costuming, makeup, drops,

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and more. Meet fellow haunt professionals, share tips and tricks,

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and uncover treasures to bring your scaring game to the

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next level. Some upcoming events this March through May of

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twenty twenty five include the Spooky Swap Meet in Los Angeles, California,

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April twenty fifth through twenty seventh, East Coast Haunters Convention

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in Oaks, Pennsylvania from April twenty sixth and twenty seventh,

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and Monster Palooza in Pasadena, California from May thirtieth to

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June first.

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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode

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was produced by me Philip Hernandez with reporting by Daryl

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Plunky post production by David Swope. This Hant 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 Hanta Attractionnetwork

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dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting

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and controls. Until next time, Haunters stay Scary. This is

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a Haunted Attraction Network production.

NEWS: Will Year-Round Scares Succeed Off the Vegas Strip?

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