Thier brand new album is coming soon to a store near you so to get you pumped in building your Haunted House Props, attend your Horror Conventions, or just think Horror and Halloween, here is the first track released from the All-New Reunited Murderdolls Album.

ROT ON ROTTING FLESH RADIO DEADITES!

So get ready for the Terror and Evil that awaits in 2010.

ABOUT the MediEVIL Halloween Scare and Samlesbury Hall:
Samlesbury Hall is a splendid 14th Century Manor House. Over the centuries there have been many changes.

The first hall was built by the D’Ewyas family and situated on the banks of the river Ribble. This was destroyed by Robert the Bruce, after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, when the Scots went on to ransack and pillage homes along the banks of the river, from Preston to Clitheroe.

Gilbert de Southworth from Warrington married Alice D’Ewyas in the early 1320′s, and five years later built the Great Hall, the oldest part of the existing building.

The current building and grounds are administered by a registered charity known as the Samlesbury Hall Trust whose aim is to preserve the Hall for the people of the area and visitors to Lancashire. The trust was founded in the 1920′s when the Hall was about to be demolished. Since then the Hall has been a museum and Gallery and host to many grand functions.

The Hall is open to the public every day except Saturdays when it is closed for weddings. On this site today, you will discover an ancient, magnificently preserved manor house and gardens, with a colourful history and a wide-ranging programme of year-round events and activities.

www.SamlesburyHall.co.uk

I saw the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (NOES) on opening weekend. As much as I wanted to attend the midnight show, I knew I would be dead (no pun intended) on my feet at work that day. Instead, I saw the show Friday night with some good friends. I was really stoked to see the remake because NOES was the first horror movie to scare me as a teenager. In fact, it might be the last show to really scare me. I have seen all the NOES movies numerous times since I’m a fan of Freddy, so when I heard about the remake last year, I was immediately set to see it on opening day. But before I reveal my verdict on the new movie, I thought it might be good to look back at all the NOES to see the evolution of Freddy and the movies over the years.

Freddy slashed his way onto the big screen in the mid-80s. A Nightmare on Elm Street was released on November 9, 1984. It was written and directed by Wes Craven and starred John Saxon, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Robert England and was the the debut for Johnny Depp.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is my favorite horror movie. Not only did it scare the pee out of me, but it had a very young and sexy Johnny Depp. I’m a huge Johnny Depp fan. He doesn’t know it, but he is my future husband. But let’s get back to the movies. A Nightmare on Elm Street, like all the movies, is set in a fictional Midwestern town of Springwood, Ohio. Several teenagers are plagued by their nightmares and stalked by Fred Krueger. If he kills them in their dreams, they die in the real world. Although the teenagers don’t know what is going on, at first, they eventually discover the dark secret their parents are hiding from them.

Much like John Carpenter’s Halloween, NOES was filmed by a relatively unknown director, a non-existence budget and preformed by a relatively unknown cast. It was a box office smash grossing over 25 million dollars.

With the huge success of the first movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge was released almost a year later – November 1, 1985. This movie is probably my least favorite of the NOES movies because it doesn’t fit with the rest. I think of it as I do Halloween III: Season of the Witch. New Line seemed unsure how to follow up and rushed NOES 2 into production too early. In the second movie, we are introduced to a new family, the Walshes, who have moved into Nancy’s house five years after the first movie took place. The son, Jesse, moves into Nancy’s room and eventually begins having nightmares of Freddy Krueger. The ever-menacing Krueger uses Jesse’s body as a host to come back to life in the real world and demands that Jesse kill for him.
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NOES 2 generally received negative reviews and comments when it was released in 1985 and would have probably killed the whole Freddy franchise. New Line wasn’t ready to give up on Freddy, so on February 27, 1987, they released A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. This movie did three things for the franchise; 1.) revitalized it 2.) saw the return of Wes Craven 3.) marked the beginning of the end for the menacing Freddy and instead gave us a comedic one. Dream Warriors is my second favorite NOES movie because it is a mixture of horror and action. Plus this one marks the return of Nancy. This time she is the one to help the teenagers fight Freddy. This movie is also the first one to go into depth of who Freddy was. We know from the fist movie that Freddy was a child killer but in Dream Warriors we begin to understand why he was a killer. Dream Warriors is also the first movie where the teenagers discover they have their own dream powers and can fight Freddy in his world. And as I said, it is in number 3 that we start to see Freddy change from a menacing character and one who is a comedian as he delivers really bad puns while stalking his victims.

Once again, New Line had a box office smash with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors on their hands and true to sense, released A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master a little over a year later – August 19, 1988.

Kristen, Joey and Kincaid (the Dream Warriors) are back in this sequel. Just when we thought Freddy was dead, we realize that Kristen is still having dreams about the boiler room and constantly revisits it dragging Joey and Kincaid into her dreams. Joey warns her that she is going to stir him up if she continues to mess around in that place – and in fact that is exactly what happens. With the help of Kincaid’s dog, Jason, Freddy is brought back to life and is freed to kill the Dream Warriors who are the remaining Elm Street children. Before killing Kristen, Freddy tricks her into using her dream powers to pull her new friend Alice into her dream. Kristen passes on her powers but also gives Freddy access to a whole new set of teenagers to “play with”.

Although not as successful as NOES 3, The Dream Master did well enough for New Line to continue the franchise. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child was released on August 11, 1989. It takes place almost a year after The Dream Master and Alice and Dan have started dating. There is no sign of Freddy Krueger but Alice begins having dreams of a young boy and a young nun named Amanda Krueger. She has made friends with a whole new group of teenagers which gives Freddy new victims. This film, however, grossed only 22.1 million, making it the second lowest grossing NOES movie.

Not yet willing to end the franchise, New Line launched Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare on September 13, 1991. This was the sixth slasher film and as the title suggests, it was intended to be the last in the series, but once again New Line was surprised by it’s moderate success.

The movie is set in 1999. Ten years have passed since the fifth film. Alice and her son Jacob have moved away from Springwood and Freddy Krueger has succeeded in killing nearly all the children in the town except one. The only surviving child is sent into the real world by Freddy to bring back more victims and more importantly, his own child, Maggie.

New Line and Paramount tried to make a Freddy vs Jason movie in 1987 but the two studios failed to agree on a story or what to do with the two franchises. When Jason Takes Manhattan failed to perform successfully at the box office, Sean Cunningham decided that he wanted to reacquire the rights to Friday the 13th and start working with New Line on Freddy vs. Jason. After Jason Takes Manhattan released in 1989, the rights reverted back to Scuderi, Minasian and Barsamianto, who sold them to New Line. Before Cunningham could start work on Freddy vs. Jason, Wes Craven returned to New Line to make Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. It was released on October 14, 1994. This new movie was never intended to be part of the series continuity since it takes place in the real world and Freddy Krueger is just an iconic movie villain. The plot focuses on Freddy invading the real world and haunting the actors and crew responsible for the Nightmare on Elm Street films. It is also the return of a more menacing Freddy instead of a comical one. And we once again see Heather Langenkamp revising her role as Nancy. This happens to my third favorite NOES movie and even though it was well-received critically, particularly for a slasher film, it failed to make as big an impression at the box office grossing a mere 18 million.

On August 15, 2003, New Line released its long awaited and highly anticipated Freddy vs. Jason movie. Even though it received mixed reviews, it was a box office success grossing over 114 million dollars worldwide. In the film’s story line, Freddy has grown weak, as the citizens of Springwood have suppressed their fear of him. In order to regain his power, Freddy resurrects Jason and manipulates him into traveling to Springwood to cause panic and fear.

All of this is leading us to A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), the remake for a new generation of Freddy fans. This time the story revolves around Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse and Dean who live on Elm Street. At night, they’re all having the same dream–of the same man, wearing a tattered red and green striped sweater, a beaten fedora half-concealing a disfigured face and a gardener’s glove with knives for fingers. And they’re all hearing the same frightening voice. One by one, he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his, and the only way out is to wake up.

The new movie follows the original story line for the most part but puts a modern spin on the familiar story. I’ve had several people ask me how I like the remake and honestly I haven’t formed a solid opinion. I liked the movie but I was expecting more. Jackie Earle Haley is a menacing and creepy Freddy – far different from Robert Englund’s portrayal and yet both men make the role their own. In the end, I recommend this movie and encourage everyone to see it at least once. My own advice is to see it without expectations.

Release:

PR Campaign:
The HHA is embarking on a new PR campaign that is solely owned and funded by the HHA. As you know last year we participated with America Haunts in their campaign, but now that we are on our feet and rolling we are prepared to launch our own campaign. As always our focus will be to protect and promote the Haunted Attraction Industry, and promote our members’ haunts. You can be assured that the knowledge of our board and members will give this new campaign great chances for success.

New Web Site:
As you know last year we developed a web site on the Hauntworld owned URL www.HauntedHouseAssociation.org. This year we are now creating our new site on the HHA owned URL www.HHAssociation.com. It is important to note that this is being done with the full support and encouragement of Hauntworld, who additionally donated funds for the NEW website. The HHA board will be fully in control of the new site at all times, and it is planned to focus equally on all projects and entities that help the HHA and the industry as a whole to protect and promote Haunted Attractions. It is hoped that the new site will be online sometime before TransWorld, keep your fingers crossed! This new site will be a great resource for haunted house owners and operators to come together and help the industry.

Safety Campaign:
As you know we began a campaign last year, an outreach to teach new haunters safety. This will be a big focus in the upcoming year, as we feel that safety education should be promoted and distributed where it is needed most, to start up or home haunts that often have no interaction with local officials. Randy Bates, our new President, is well known as one of the industry’s experts on this topic, and plans to address this fully. Also key to this is the Crisis Plan that Randy developed to help Haunt Owners and the HHA deal with assorted problems that could occur on both a local or national scale.

MEMBER BENEFITS:
Of course member benefits play a major role when it is time to join an association. Here are some of the benefits a membership in the HHA will bring your event:

Publications: Members will receive subscriptions to 3 publications while they are members – Tourist Attractions and Parks, Hauntworld Magazine and Haunted Attraction Magazine.

Vendor Discounts: Members will receive extensive discounts from many of the finest vendors in the industry. Use of just a few of these discounts can pay for your membership in short order. This list is growing all the time, but we will post an updated list soon!

Haunt Directory: Member haunted houses will be listed in our new Haunt Directory on our new web site, www.HHAssociation.com. Assorted campaigns like the PR and Safety Outreach programs will drive traffic to the site and thus to your event’s listing.

Membership Directory: Once a year HHA will produce a comprehensive listing of our members, vendor discounts, by-laws, and other important information. This will be mailed out to our members.

Heraldry: Members will receive the right to use our logos and imagery to promote that they are members in good standing of the Haunted House Association.

Exclusive Meetings and Functions: Members will be able to attend exclusive meetings and events such as the upcoming Ultimate Brainstorm meeting at TransWorld this year for members only.

Participation in the Association: Members who are the owners or operators of a Haunted Attraction can vote for the board of the HHA. Members who are Owners or Operators of a Haunted Attraction with 5 years of operation can run for the board of HHA. Members are also encouraged to participate by joining committees and helping us protect and promote the industry.

Access to Networking: Members can participate on our NEW HHA Forum and on our Yahoo Group. Plus more to come! As you can see there are many benefits to joining the HHA and many important REASONS to help us protect and promote this industry. We look forward to sharing more of our plans with you soon and having you stop by our booth and join the HHA at the TransWorld show in a few short weeks!

For more information about the association be sure to visit the current site at: www.HauntedHouseAssociation.com

And in time to kick off 2010 for you latex smelling fans, MASK-FEST 2010 is coming.

When:
Friday, March 26, 2010 5:00 PM
Sunday, March 28, 2010 5:00 PM EDT

Where:
Indianapolis Marriott East
7202 East 21st Street
Indianapolis, IN 46219

Horrorhound Weekend and The HMA are presenting MASK-FEST 2010, a convention dedicated to the artistry of MASKS, MAKEUP, MONSTERS, MODELS, and MORE! to stay up on all the happenings of the event, vendors and more be sure to visit: www.TheHMA.net, www.MaskFest.com and www.HorrorhoundWeekend.com

Simply email the following items to info@midnightsyndicate.com with the subject heading: PHOTO CONTEST, it is that easy!

1.)Any Midnight Syndicate-related image you may have from the present or past thirteen years. Some ideas include: posing with CDs, posters, t-shirts, or the band at a convention, Midnight Syndicate-inspired artwork, or a picture of your group or haunted house.

2.) A description of the photo and how it relates to Midnight Syndicate (if not obvious). You can also (but do not have to) share a story from the past 13 years about the music or how you’ve used the music (5 sentences max).

3.) Your name (as you would like to see it appear on the website)

4.) City and State

Once these fields are filled out, and submitted you are ready for the Monthly Drawing! Everyone who submits a photo or story will be entered in monthly drawings. At the end of each month in 2010 one contestant (chosen at random) will win the prize that month. Prizes include, but are not limited to, rare and special-edition autographed Midnight Syndicate-related merchandise.

Each contestant will automatically be entered in every month’s drawing until either: They win a prize in a monthly drawing, The contest ends on December 31, 2010

And if that wasn’t enough, itt is possible to win a prize in both the MONTHLY DRAWING and the weekly FEATURED PHOTO CONTEST!

WEEKLY FEATURED PHOTO CONTEST:Starting in January and continuing every week in 2010, we will feature one photo that will be displayed on the Midnight Syndicate Facebook page as well as on the official website.

Photos are chosen randomly. If your photo is chosen you will receive a Midnight Syndicate CD of your choice (must be a CD that is currently in-print).

We will contact you for information on where to send your prize to once your photo is chosen.

So enter and show that Morbid Haunt Love for the spookmaster musicians Midnight Syndicate. For more information the band visit: www.MidnightSyndicate.com or for more on the Photo Contest visit: www.MidnightSyndicate.com/photocontest.htm

In 2010 the C.H.A.O.S. Introduction to Haunted House Safety 1.0 (Fire & Panic In Haunted Houses / Code Compliance – Life Safety 101) will once again be brought to you by The International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA) and TransWorld Exhibits. They have teamed up to bring you C.H.A.O.S, the associations’ safety course that is recommend to anyone running a haunted attraction. This 2 plus hour course will count towards your 8 hours required to receive your certification. Each year IAHA along with TransWorld will offer safety classes you can attend to fulfill your requirement for certification. When you complete the 8 hours, you will be given a certificate that can be used to show your fire marshal, insurance carrier, and local authority to impress upon them the your desire to run a safe haunted attraction. This introductory course will explore the historical origins of NFPA 101 “The Lifesaving Code” using actual case studies to underscore the importance of NFPA 1010 in an overall risk reduction strategy for haunted houses, mazes and other attractions that can be classified as “Special Amusement Buildings.”

The course will also explore how the codes and standards impact your overall risk reduction strategy for your haunted attraction. The presentation will focus on all aspects of NFPA 101 Lifesaving code, NFPA 701, NFPA 10, and other codes that impact the overall safety of your attraction. You cannot afford to miss this seminar. We as an industry must put safety first.

The program will run 2.5 hours, presented by Phil Slaggert. Note: All participants will be issued a certificate of completion. All for the price of $45.00 for Members and $65.00 for Non-Members.

for more information or to register visit: www.IAHAWeb.com

For more on the Terrorplex be sure to visit their site at: www.Terrorplex.com

ABOUT TERRORPLEX
Welcome to TERRORPLEX 2009, “It’s a Year for Fear!” Terrorplex offers 4 haunted attractions and other Dark Amusements for the 2009 season starting September 18 – November 1. Our haunted attractions include Midnight Manor, Vanhelsings Haunted House of Wax (New 2009), Heavy Metal Madness (New 2009), and Count Orlock’s Castle of Torture (New 2009). We have an improved festival area with a nightly DJ, psychic reader, Gore Store, concession area, and special appearances by the Twisted Freakshow gang. Come spend and evening with us and we promise it will be a night to remember, in your nightmares that is!!!

Well it seems that the dark night and curtain is closed now on the famed Obake-Yashiki Haunted Attraction has now closed forever on January 11, 2010. This past year marked its’ 30th Anniversary.

It was a prize attraction for many to attend and get their scare on in Japan. We are sure it will be missed.

ABOUT THE ATTRACTION:
(courtesy of: BrickMcBurly.com/Kyoto
“I’m sure most of you have seen Ringu or Ju-on. Everythin’ in them is true. This house is infested with spirits just like them. Terrible, terrible things happen here. A group of young ladies found themselves mercilessly hounded by a droolin’, gibberin’ monster that hungrily pawed every inch of their bodies-and that’s just while they were waitin’ outside in line with me. Once inside, the skilled actors and artisans of Toei recreate a sengoku era village that’s been overrun by hungry ghosts, restless spirits, and even zombie ashigaru. Heads fly around, roofs collapse, and the interior of a daimyo mansion is littered with ripped up corpses and blood stained tatami mats. It’s a lot like ‘All You Can Eat’ night at the Sizzler back in the USA.”

More Blood

Start a Zombie kick ball league

Gross Out another haunter

Give customers nightmares of your character

Capture something other than dust while taking pictures on a ghost hunt

Star in a haunt related reality show

Have everyone else buy you drinks at a haunt convention party

Be the one to buy everyone else drinks at a haunt convention party

See weather reports that do not involve rain in September and October.

Get a raise at the day job to afford some kick ass fangs

Not to “sparkle” in the sunlight

Win the Nobel Prize for Haunt Related Activities

So until next time Deadites, Sit Back, Relax, and Rot Away…