Haunted House Association 2010 Moves Forward

The Haunted House Association (HHA) is moving its organization forward for 2010. So far there are many things to come of the newly formed association for haunted and these are are couple of the items we can expect to see to help move Haunters forward with support, networking and more.

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

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.

Looking For Haunters for All-New Segments on Rotting Flesh Radio

Are you a Haunter? Want to get involved in the Haunt Industry’s First and Original Weekly Show? Have something to Share with fellow Haunters or Vendors?

We are looking to expand more content in rotation on Rotting Flesh Radio.

We are looking for a person or team to do any of the topics below for a segment on Rotting Flesh Radio. Or if you have any ideas in mind, let me know as well.

How-To, Props, Tips and Tricks, Make Up, Technique, Horror News, etc.

Interested email us at: rfrcasketcrew@rfrpodcast.com

Midwest Haunters T-Shirt Contest Voting NOW OPEN!

Each year the Annual Midwest Haunters Convention kicks off with Haunters, Education, Vendors and Fun. To make each year memorable to their guests, MHC has clothing such as T-Shirts and such. This year to make it fun, MHC had a T-Shirt Contest. Submissions were entered and now the Voting has begun on picking which design will become the OFFICIAL T-SHIRT DESIGN FOR MHC 2010

Release: Welcome to the first MHC T-Shirt Contest. There are 20 designs that have been submitted for a chance to be the official shirt of the 2010 Midwest Haunters Convention. Please take a look and Vote for your favorite.

To see all the designs and to Vote visit: www.MidwestHauntersConvention.com

Midwest Haunters Con Tee Contest

Please vote only once.

Please no campaigning for a design. This contest is intended to choose the shirt people are most likely to purchase, not to get votes from people who are not coming to the show. Any activity designed to do this may result in disqualification.

Symphonc Sacrifices Back to Write NEW Music for your Haunt

In the Haunt Industry Music plays a huge roll in an event to set the mood or tone. And many of you may remember back at Midwest Haunters Convention Symphonic Sacrafices jamming on stage at Club Vampire.

Well after some time off and working on their own haunted attractions, Dr. Frankenfingers is BACK!

“Good Evening Boils and Ghouls,
Symphonic Sacrifices and Living Dead Mafia have since built two major haunted houses. One was a 7,000 Sq foot mansion at a historically preserved actual haunted house. The other was a 60,000 Sq ft trail in the middle of the woods. Great year for us!

Symphonic Sacrifices is now available again to write music for your haunted event or attraction. If you are looking for music please contact me at houdioni2@optonline.net

Thanks everyone,
Robert J. Frankenberg”

So it seems the Doc is back and ready to give your haunt an exclusive track! For more information about Symphonic Sacrifices and to hear his work visit: www.SoundClick.com/SymphonicSacrifices

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

Columbia Haunt Tour 2010 Kicks Off March 26!

So what is a Haunter to do when they cannot see other haunts during the season? Well, how about seeing them in the off season?

One way to do that is with the Columbia Haunt Tour taking place during the Transworld Haunt Show. This event will once again take place Friday, March 26, 2010 during the annual tradeshow. This year the event covers two Haunted Attractions in Columbia, Missouri, <Necropolis and The Fear Fest Haunted House.

The Haunted Enthusiasts write….. “If you only go to one haunt this year make it Fearfest!” and “Necropolis”, is Missouri’s most intense nationally recognized haunt.

Guests can choose to drive directly to the attractions, or take advantage of motor coach service from Transworld. Haunts open their doors at 8:00 PM

Haunts, Transportation, Food and Fun Combo:
$70 Haunted attractions, Motor coach transportation to and from Convention center, Food (Subway sub,chips and soda) and complementary Hauntworld Magazine. Motor coaches leave the front of the convention Center at 7:00 PM SHARP! (Directly after the HHA Meeting). Motor coach seating is limited so don’t delay.

Haunts Only Combo:
$40.00 – for Just the haunts

Tickets:
Online tickets on sale by Click n’ Print. Save 10% off your bus combo ticket by purchasing before Feb. 12th.

HHA Discount: 10% discount after Feb. 12th to HHA members ONLY for the bus combo. (There are no discounts for the Haunt ONLY combo).

So if you want to buy your tickets, see some great haunts in the off season and enjoy Halloween in March visit: www.ColumbiaHauntTour.com

Haunted Attraction Gym Slogans by RFR’s Storm

by RFR Casket Crew Storm

Greetings Deadites,

I was at the gym the other day fighting through the mass of humanity that have suddenly shown up because there was a New Year’s Resolution membership sale, and I realized nobody was wearing any haunt shirts. I figure there are just not enough good haunt related gym slogan T-shirts. Here are some of my ideas for T-shirts to start showing up at the gym.

“My Other Workout is Scarring the Piss Out of Someone”

“I Can Bench Press My Weight In Evil Clowns”

“Each Mile on the Treadmill Lets Me Run Faster With a Chainsaw”

“Feel the Burn Now, Play in the Blood Later”

“Sweating to Rotting Flesh Radio”

“Fast Zombie in Training”

“It Was Either Go to the Gym or Buy a Bigger Straightjacket”

“Pain is Just Inspiration for Better Haunt Scenes”

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

Midnight Syndicate Gives “The Dead Matter” a Release and Contest

Midnight Syndicate Films has announced that The Dead Matter movie and soundtrack will be released on July 30th. Production on an interactive website that allows fans to delve deeper into the world and characters they will encounter in the movie is underway.

A set of three new trailers, the first of which will be released in February is also in production along with a mini-documentary produced by Smudgeline Productions and other behind-the-scenes featurettes. All of these items and more special features to be announced soon will be included on the DVD release.

In addition, Midnight Syndicate Halloween Music is hosting a 13th Anniversary Video Contest where filmmakers and animators can create a silent film or music video to an existing Midnight Syndicate track. The winner will be featured on “The Dead Matter” DVD as well as win prizes from sponsors: Screamline Studios, Conquest Graphics, Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps, Van Helsing’s Curse Halloween music, and Midnight Syndicate. Other finalists will also win prizes and special promotions.

Judges include legendary frontman and horror fan Dee Snider (Twisted Sister, Strangeland), Horror FX-legends Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, Dusk Till Dawn) and Robert Kurtzman (producer From Dusk Till Dawn, KNB FX, Wishmaster), as well as Edward Douglas (The Dead Matter) and Gavin Goszka of Midnight Syndicate and producer director Gary Jones (Xena, Hercules, Boogeyman 3).

For more about the Video Contest, Rules and more visit: www.MidnightSyndicate.com/videocontest

ABOUT The Dead Matter
Why rule the living when you can control the dead? . . . Inspired by Hammer Horror Films and Tales from the Crypt. The Dead Matter tells the story of a relic with occult powers that falls into the hands of a grief-stricken young woman, whose desire to reconnect with her dead brother draws her into the supernatural world of vampirism and the living dead. Scored by Halloween music legends MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE and co-produced by Robert Kurtzman (Producer From Dusk Till Dawn, KNB FX, Wishmaster) and Gary Jones (Xena, Boogeyman 3), the movie features a mix of classic horror themes with modern twists that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Starring Andrew Divoff (Lost, CSI:Miami, Wishmaster), Jason Carter (Babylon 5, Angel), Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead), and legendary television horror hosts Dick Count Gore DeVol Dyszel and Big Chuck Schodowski.

VIDEO CONTEST SPONSORS
Conquest Graphics – www.ConquestGraphics.com/Greg
Screamline Studios – www.ScreamlineStudios.com
Van Helsing’s Curse Halloween Soundtrack – www.VanHelsingsCurse.com
Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps – www.CreatureCorps.net

One Night of Fright in February at the Terrorplex

Are you ready to get your Haunt on and scream in February? Well now you can get that scare if you are in the Dallas Fort Worth Texas area you can hit up the Terrorplex on February 13th. On Saturday the 13th in honor of the theatrical release of the Wolfman Remake (Click Here to see the Wolfman Trailer), the Terrorplex is going to open two haunted attractions plus have a fun filled evening of live entertainment with the Wolfman on the prowl.

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!!!