Bennett’s Curse Prepares to Scare with New Logos in 2010

With every Haunted Attraction comes a solid marketing campaign and that is no stranger to Bennett’s Curse Haunted Attraction.

Bennett’s has been featured on television with specials on the Travel Channel and is one of America’s Best Haunts. And with any great haunted attraction comes the beginning of the marketing, to plant the seed for the upcoming year and this year Bennett’s Curse is starting the 2010 campaign with all new logos for their haunted attractions. The new logos re-enforce the gothic theme behind this Maryland Haunt from the slick castle underlays, to a solid font and typeface usage to bring out the haunt’s name. It looks like a good start for Bennett’s and I am sure we can expect alot more in the months to come as they prep and prepare to scare for the 2010 Haunt Season.

ABOUT BENNETT’S CURSE:
Long long ago, in an age when the lands were ruled by Kings and Queens, there was a code of honor and chivalry. But not all the people of this time shared these beliefs. Because of this, brave warriors were called upon to protect the kingdom from the dark forces of evil. These knights fought many battles in defense of their people.

After a particularly bloody battle against a rival army, the victorious knights of Castle Bennett began their long journey home. It was on this trip, in the dark of night, that they encountered an enemy far more powerful than they have ever seen… Creatures of a dark dominion awaited their passing, a clan of vampyres and other creatures sent by an evil, underworld king to rid the world of all things good.

Outnumbered and exhausted the knights fought bravely, but their struggle was in vain. The knights who survived the desperate battle, met a fate worse than death. They found themselves under a powerful spell, forced to live an eternity as vampyres and other foul creatures of the dark dominion.

This fell army made its way to Castle Bennett, setting fire to every village they passed causing widespread destruction and adding new members to their ranks.

In the end, of course, Castle Bennett secumbed to this evil, what you will see at Bennett’s Curse is what has become of Castle Bennett after its terrible demise, and you will see the live creatures that had terrorized and tortured others like yourselves within these castle walls.

Bennett’s Curse — House of the Vampyres, has quickly established itself as Maryland’s “must see” Halloween event. Our promise to revolutionize Halloween entertainment for our visitors and our committment to “Putting Maryland on the Haunted House Map” has been the driving force behind our rapid growth, and cutting edge approach to Haunted Houses. Our customers have come to expect the very latest the industry has to offer and know that only we at Bennett’s Curse will be the first to introduce the “never before seen” additions for your enjoyment.

For more in Bennett’s Curse Haunted Houses Visit: www.BennettsCurse.com

The Dark Side of Orlando Revealved!

Press: VIENNA, Ohio

To amusement park lovers, Orlando, Florida may be the Mecca for “dark attractions.” In a recent survey of the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts (DAFE), members were asked for their favorite dark attractions in the Orlando area.

Topping the list was the classic Disney darkride, The Haunted Mansion. To DAFE’s Director, Rick Davis, this was no surprise. “Most of our members consider The Haunted Mansion to be THE darkride that all others are compared too. While it has been in operation longer than all others on the list, it still entertains riders with its wonderful blend of scares and humor.”

Close behind in the number two spot is Universal’s The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, a DAFE favorite that brings the darkride into the modern era with the addition of motion-controlled ride vehicles and 3-D special effects.

Disney’s The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror combines the spooky feel of a haunted hotel with the thrills of a drop ride cinching the number three spot.

One more classic Disney ride is Pirates of the Caribbean which is another time-honored attraction, recently updated to coincide with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Universal’s Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride came after the popular movie and couples outstanding scenery and special effects with a fast-paced and surprise roller coaster ending.

Universal’s Men In Black: Alien Attack is a humorous shoot-em-up darkride with lots of monsters and surprises at every turn.

While more roller coaster than darkride, Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest still makes DAFE’s list due to several encounters with Yeti inside the mountain. Animal Kingdom also features the state-of-the-art Dinosaur ride which takes guests
on a wild ride back in time to capture a dinosaur.

What list of dark attractions would not be complete without a fantasy trip through Peter Pan’s Flight at the Magic Kingdom? And finally, Sea World’s Journey to Atlantis, a combination darkride and water ride,
rounds out the list.

FINAL LIST:
10: Journey to Atlantis – Sea World

9: Peter Pan’s Flight – Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

8: Dinosaur – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

7: Expedition Everest – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

6: Men In Black: Alien Attack – Universal Studios Florida

5: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride – Universal Studios Florida

4: Pirates of the Caribbean – Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

3: The Twilight Zone Tower of TerrorT – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

2: The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman – Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure

1: Haunted Mansion – Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

ABOUT DAFE:
DAFE (pronounced “daffy”) annually polls its membership on various issues, the highlight of which is asking members to name their favorite dark attractions (walk through or ride through attractions related to funhouses and haunted houses) from around the world. This year approximately 150 full-time and summer seasonal attractions worldwide were nominated in the various categories. (Halloween seasonal attractions are not included in this survey.) This was the first year that members were polled specifically about Orlando area attractions.

DAFE, which was founded October 31st, 2000, has over 300 members worldwide. DAFE’s Daffy Klub Web site www.DAFE.org contains articles about dark attractions, club events, and a downloadable membership application.

For more information about DAFE and an explanation of terminology, please visit DAFE’s Web site at www.dafe.org or ask for a media kit.

“Who is Edgar Krawly?” Win $10,000 Telling Us!

Spook House Logistics Ltd. needs your brains and creativity to help create “Edgar Krawly”, the creepy horror host of their major, under construction, haunted house attraction.

The Grand Prize Winner will take home $10,000 and Thirteen Finalists win an amazing prize package with a retail value exceeding $650 dollars!

HOW IT WORKS: Write an essay (500 words or less) answering the following questions:

“Who is Edgar Krawly? Where did he come from? What diabolical deed does he do with all the brains he steals? How does this strange man, circa 1900 – 1920, step into a modern day “haunted” building? Why do people who enter the “haunted” building see mind-numbing scenes of horror, of every variety? What is the significance of the cryptic number sequence “29.11”?

ELIGIBILITY: Contestants must be at least 18 years or older at time of Essay submission. Essays submitted by Contestants under 18 must be co-signed by a Legal Guardian. Contestants must submit a completed, legible entry form, a 500 words or less Essay and pay a $29.11 US entry fee either electronically, by money order or bank check for each Essay submitted.

DEADLINES: Contest is open from 09:59:33 p.m. January 16th, 2010, Eastern Time and will continue until 09:59:33 p.m June 16th, 2010 Eastern Time. Essays postmarked on or before June 16th, 2010 will be accepted after June 16th, 2010.

PRIZES: They’ve put together an exciting line-up of prizes to be awarded to the 1st Place Winner, 2nd Place Winner, 13 Finalists, Top 50 Entrants, and even a $100 “Golden Stinker” Prize for the “worst, best effort”.

CELEBRITY JUDGES: Bram Stoker Award winning authors Brian Keene and Jonathan Maberry, actress and screenwriter Brinke Stevens, actress Brooke Lewis, actress Kelli Maroney, macabre music masters Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka from “Midnight Syndicate”, director and FX artist Robert Kurtzman, “Rue Morgue” magazine creator and movie director Rodrigo Gudino, director and screen-writer Harry Bromley-Davenport, “Haunt Hottie” Jackie Steinert and Rotting Flesh Radio creator Jonathan “The Mortician” Johnson, and “Haunted Attraction” magazine creator and haunt guru, Leonard Pickel.

For more information, to register, read guidelines and more visit the official site at: www.KreepyKrawlys.com

MHC Offers 18 Haunted Attractions in 2010 Haunt Tours!

Release: The Midwest Haunters Convention has been offering pre-convention bus tours of haunted attractions for six years. This year the tours have been expanded to include 7 haunts with 18 total attractions. Tours include a two day overnight bus trip to Northern Ohio and a Friday evening shuttle bus excursion to haunts in the Columbus area. This will be the best year yet for MHC Haunt Tours!

Wednesday afternoon, June 2 buses will depart from the Hyatt Regency Columbus for the Cleveland area. We’ll tour attractions throughout the evening, spending the night in Hudson, Ohio. The next morning we’ll tour haunts in Northern Ohio; including returning to attractions toured the previous night for Lights-on tours. The Lights-on tours will give attendees an opportunity to see all the scene details and what goes on behind the scenes. The evening wraps up with additional haunt tours and a return trip to Columbus on Thursday late night.

Ticket prices for the two day tour start at $199 which includes all attractions, bus transportation, meals, snacks and hotel room. There will be five haunts with 14 total attractions.

Friday night the tours resume with shuttle buses transporting attendees to two haunts with four total haunted attractions in the Columbus area. Buses will start departing from the Hyatt Regency Columbus at 6:45 pm. Dinner stops are planned with special discounted meal options starting at just $3.99 and the haunt tours with a shuttle bus package for just $49. Buses return to the Hyatt for a Scary-Oke show starting at 11:30 pm.

The Midwest Haunters Convention offers fantastic haunt tours, outstanding educational seminars, exciting contests and an amazing costume party. The free weekend Halloween industry trade show is one of the largest in the country.

To Register and to Learn More Visit: www.MidwestHaunters.com or call Kelly at 614-203-4626.

Time to Start Thinking about Listing Your Haunt: Haunted Illinois Haunt Directory

So all you haunt owners out there. Now is the time to start thinking about getting your event listed in the Haunt Directories. Now there are many to choose from and many within a local region. Haunt Directories help you expose your event to potential customers, help them find directions and promote your event by positive reviews and feedback from previous customers.

Now as I said there are a variety of Haunt Directories and we will discuss them over time, but many like Haunt RI, HauntedHouses.com, MD Haunts, Haunted Wisconsin and many others help you promote your event in your specific region. Right now we will discuss just one for now, but the others will come soon too with more info. But let’s take a moment and discuss Haunted Illinois

HauntedIllinois.com is a regional haunt directory. This means that they only list haunted attractions within the state borders of Illinois. In getting your event listed some points of interest to you as an owner are:

Every year the directory is reset to zero events in the June-July timeframe, accepting submissions and slowly being re-built from the ground up (to ensure that haunt listings in the directory are the most up-to-date and current that they can be).

The directory allows users to sort the event list by Event Name, City, Region and Last Updated Date.

The directory allows users to search by event type, region, dates of operation or any combination of those three criteria.

Users can also enter a zip code and distance, to find attractions near them.

Events can enter detailed information about their attraction, including their event name, location, address, city, state, zip code, description, phone number, web address, email address, event type, appropriate age range, etc.

Events also have the choice to upload their logos, pictures and youtube videos for their attraction.

Visitors of the website are given the option to write reviews of events they have visited.

Many of the other Directories I listed offer this as well for their areas, but for more and to get your event listed in the Illinois area visit: www.HauntedIllinois.com

Obake-Yashiki Haunted Attraction in Japan Closing Forever

In a world that loves all things spooky, horror, and haunted, many Haunted Attractions open throughout the United States and around the world. Many famed attractions exist in Canada, All over Europe, let’s not forget Disneyland Paris’ Phantom Manor and even at Hanayashiki, Japan’s Oldest Amusement Park.

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.”

Need a Walk Through, Simulator, or Dark Ride? Try The Attraction Factory!

Planning your Haunt for the upcoming season? Maybe you are in need of some Simulators, a Walk Through Attraction perhaps. Or maybe a Dark Ride like no other? Well The Attraction Factory is the place to get all those and more.

The Attraction Factory uses state-of-the-art technology in conjunction with tried-and-true designs to bring you amazingly cost-effective attractions. To begin try their Dark Rides. From this classic attraction that still amuses and awes customers since they first began. The Attraction Factory will be able to help you create the best Dark Ride to fit your needs this haunt season. A variety of styles are available for you from: Throwback Design (classic or historic reproduction), Traditional Guided Track, Wire Guide System (no exposed track), Water Based, Fog Ride or Interactive. Dark Rides continue to be a favorite and a great side attraction to compliment you existing Haunted Attraction to gain more revenue.

Now when it comes to Walk Throughs, these are your guys as well. Walk Through Attractions are a nice self guided tour to get some scares. The Attraction Factory has created many attraction such as the Jaws Encounter and they can do the same for you and push it even further with a Ride Simulator.

Simulators continue to be a draw, and have even been used on a smaller scale such as the case with the “Ride in a Hearse”. In addition to all they have to offer, they have also joined a working partnership with one of the staples in the Haunt Industry, Creative Visions.

The Attraction Factory is proud to be partnering with Creative Visions, ETF Ride Systems and Haunt Visions for cutting edge animatronics and ride car systems to push your Haunted Attractions to the next level in 2010 and beyond.

For more information on the Attraction Factory and to get your orders in ahead of the season be sure to visit: www.TheAttractionFactory.com

The work of The Attraction Factory has been featured in The New York Times, InPark Magazine, The Post Dispatch, St. Louis Magazine, Tourist Attractions & Parks, 13th Hour Magazine and HauntWorld.

Transworld Haunt and Attractions Show is Coming…

For more information about the Transworld Haunt and Attraction Show visit the full write up HERE and to see their official site visit: www.HauntShow.com

Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern Calls It a Season

The Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern 2009 season had the most successful haunt yet, exceeding visitor and attendance goals. After investment in the product, the hiring of top producers and increased scares, it paid off!

“Once again we were met by record crowds and capacity nights,” said Hugh Morrow, president of Ruby Falls. “Our team took the uniqueness of our cavern, creativity of our storyline, and the realness of our actors and actresses and brought to life the true eeriness of The Wyrmwood Asylum! Nobody left undisturbed!”

“Nothing short of pure terror can be said about the work Ruby Falls has put into the haunts every year,” said Josh Lang with the Chattanooga Pulse. “Bit by bit, they whittle down your last thoughts of disbelief as you enter thinking this is actually a pleasure cruise, filled with candy and chocolate bubble gum kisses. Chuck E. Cheese is the other way folks.”

HauntWorld.com, the world’s leading haunted attraction website, ranked the Haunted Cavern in the top three Tennessee haunts for the best monsters/actors and most views on the site. The Haunted Cavern was also selected as a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society for September 2009. In addition, the attraction received great reviews on social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and blogs, with standard quotes from guests like “This was awesome, I can’t wait till next year!!!”

“Wyrmwood Asylum at the Haunted Cavern will go down in history as one of the best haunted attractions in the southeast if not one of the best in the country,” said Todd Patton with Fear Connection. “Our team outdid themselves as we passionately wove a web of insanity and fear for everyone.”

Todd Patton and Tim Green with Fear Connection began working as a team for Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern in 2006 and this was their fourth year developing, designing and managing the event. They have also helped with a few small independent films and assisting with other haunts in the US. Go to www.ConNooga.com for more info.

You can see many of this year’s Videos at: www.HauntedCavern.com – Videos.

Ruby Falls is a Chattanooga, TN attraction that is home to the tallest and deepest underground waterfall accessible to the public in the United States. Ruby Falls is the first US attraction to have joined the dual Green Globe/Green Certifications Program by Green Globe International, Inc.

For more on the entire event, photos and more visit: www.HauntedCavern.com

Catch One Last Haunted House on Friday the 13th

This Friday is your Last chance to see the Award Winning Cutting Edge Haunted House. This Friday the 13th! The Cutting Edge Haunted House was declared the Largest Walkthrough Haunted House by Guinness Book this year. (See the footage..CLICK HERE )

Well this Friday you can still get one last Haunt On from 8PM to 10PM at the Cutting Edge. You can also Save $4.00 OFF NOW THRU FRIDAY if you purchase your tickets online before 5 PM on November 13th. All you have to do is Enter the Promo Code – 13 following this link..Purchase Cutting Edge Haunted House Tickets Online The Code expires at 5 PM on Friday.

The Cutting Edge Haunted House, located in Forth Worth, Texas, is now the Official Title Holder of the “World’s Largest Walk Through Haunted House”. The event itself is an attraction many in the area flock too each season. With great visuals, scare and more, the event has been named as one of the top 13 Haunted Attractions for the year by Haunted House Ratings. It is also named one of the Best Haunted Attractions by Haunt World for 2009.

This year the event is full of scares at every turn! To find out more about the event visit: www.Screams.com