Wayne Allwine passes away.

Okay, now first I know many are saying who is Wayne Allwine and second, why, it’s not haunt related.

Well, many of us haunters grew up with a love of halloween, haunting and so on and how many of us just love the Haunted Mansion or some of the classic Mickey Mouse Halloween Cartoon Shorts? In some way many of us haunters have been inspired by Disney. And I personally being a Disney fan felt I needed to pay tribute to only the thrid person to ever give life to Mickey Mouse. RIP Wayne Allwine.

Mickey Mouse is an American icon and even to us haunters brings joy to us with the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween at the parks, or having the RFR Dark Princess watch the Mickey’s Halloween Specials and Cartoon shorts or even many queue lines at haunts using Disney’s entertainment factor as a starting point for your customers. Mickey is there all the way.

So I had to pay tribute to a very nice man who I have met a few times, and our prayers go out to is wife, the official voice of Minnie Mouse. Yes, Mickey and Minnie were married. Thank you Wayne for filling my life with Mickey and the torch will be passed to the next Mickey, but you will remain a Disney Legend.

From Cartoon Brew
Wayne Allwine, the official voice of Mickey Mouse, the third person in history to play the character in various movies and TV shows, has passed away.

According to Wikipedia, Allwine’s first appearance as Mickey was voicing the animated lead-ins for The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977. His first appearance as Mickey for a theatrical release was in the 1983 featurette Mickey’s Christmas Carol and he has provided the voice for Mickey Mouse ever since. He was married to Russi Taylor, the current voice of Minnie Mouse. Allwine was also a sound effects editor for various feature films. Allwine died on Monday, due to complications from diabetes. He was 62.

Midnight Syndicate’s “The Dead Matter” Trailer Debuting at Comic-Con

Well our friend Ed Douglas of Midnight Syndicate has let us in on when the Official Trailer will debut for his upcoming film The Dead Matter. He has stated that plans are being made to debut the first trailer to “The Dead Matter” at the San Diego Comic-Con July 23-27 at the MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE SOUNDTRACKS booth. Also appearing at the booth (soon to be confirmed) are director Edward Douglas and cast members Sean Serino, Christopher Robichaud, Tom Nagel, CB Spencer, and Brian Van Camp.

“The Dead Matter” achieved picture lock this past week. “The test screenings went extremely well, said Edward Douglas, “there’s a tremendous amount of excitement building around here as we head into this next stage.”

In addition to the Visual FX work being done at Precinct 13, work on Midnight Syndicate’s “The Dead Matter” CD and the score is also underway. “The Dead Matter” CD is a disc of music inspired by the film as well as some music from the actual film that will be released in August of this year. “Just in time for Halloween,” said Midnight Syndicate’s Gavin Goszka. “we’re really happy with how the disc is coming together. It will definitely give people a taste of what is to come.”

Stay tuned to Rotting Flesh Radio for more updates and also as we try to get Ed back with us once again on the show.

RETURN TO SENDER: Transworld Comes Back to Chicago in 2009

After the Transworld Vegas Haunt Show wraps up this week it is back to Chicago for the 2009 Transworld Haunt Show.

HAuNTcon 2008 Bad Boys Scenic Design Special Guest Announced!

Nick Collins is a scenic designer and consultant based near Charlotte, NC. His award-winning design and technical work has been seen at Six Flags Theme Parks, Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair Parks, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. He has served for the past 2 years as Art Director for the Scarowinds’ Halloween Haunt, the Carolina’s largest Haunted Event. Nick has written for Haunted Attraction Magazine and has presented his popular “Scenic Painting for the Haunted Attraction” demonstration at HauntCon in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

His studio, SEE-NICK-DESIGN specializes in custom scenery design for stage, displays, exhibits, props & themed environments.

For more information, please visit: SEE-NICK-DESIGN.

“Nick’s talents and skills in scenic and set design are AMAZING! I sat in on a faux painting seminar Nick presented at MHC last year and was blown away by what I learned!” – Mike Krausert / Terror on the Fox.

HAuNTcon 2008 Continues to Grow!

For the past few years HAuNTcon has been hosting a paid workshop on Monday AFTER the convention. Now, several companies have approached us about offering paid workshops as well. So for 2008, HAuNTcon will be hosting hands-on workshops by Wolfe Brothers, Smooth-on, Boneyard FX and a full day Haunt design seminar by Leonard Pickel – to name a few!

A third Haunted Event Tour will also be added to Sunday Night!

The Monday seminars will be an additional fee over and above the price of the conference. Stay tuned for pricing for these in-depth hands-on workshops.

HAuNTcon 2008
Pre-show tour April 22-24
Haunt Tours April 24, 25 and 27
Education April 25-28
Tradeshow April 25-27

The 1st Annual Eastern Haunters Convention

Eastern Haunters Convention taking place May 2-4, 2008 Sheraton Great Valley Hotel, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Michael Bruner of The Monster Maze: The Ultimate Amateur Haunted House, will be hosting the 1st annual Eastern Haunters Convention, a networking opportunity for individuals within the haunted house industry. Individuals who own, work, act in, or patronize haunted attractions will come to be educated, shop, and socialize with their fellow haunters. A three-day convention with skeletal corpses, ghostly mirrors, glowing tombstones and spiders the size of king size beds, are displayed as haunt vendors show their unique props, effects, and scares.

The event will be held on the grounds of the Sheraton Great Valley Hotel, 707 East Lancaster Avenue, Frazer, PA 19355. For reservations, please contact the hotel at (610) 524-5500. Be sure to mention the Haunters Gathering for special rates!

The convention is open to all individuals within the haunt industry (haunt owners, haunt actors, home/yard haunters, haunt vendors) and their families, as well as haunt enthusiasts.

The 1st Annual Eastern Haunters Convention will have seminars useful to those in the haunt industry, vendors selling unique haunted house props that are not typically available to the general public, people within the industry who will share various tips and tricks to improve your haunted house business, and a bus tour to several Philadelphia-area haunted attractions.

The bus tour is currently slated to include a tour of the Eastern State Penitentiary AND its haunt, “Terror Behind the Walls,” a MASSIVE haunted house inside a real prison! A lost world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers stands behind the Eastern State Penitentiary’s massive 30-foot high walls. This is the home of “Terror Behind the Walls,” which has been rated in the “Top 10 Haunted Houses in the U.S.” by AOL City Guide, the Travel Channel and Hauntworld Magazine. Also a destination on the tour is a visit to the Mutter Museum, best known for it’s collection of medical oddities, such as the tallest skeleton on display in North America, the body of the mysterious “soap lady”, many skeletal remains of conjoined twins, preserved body parts of people that have had horns growing out of their heads and more! The bus tour will possiby include other Philadelphia-area haunt attractions, as well.

Every single attendee to the convention will have the opportunity to participate in an authentic ghost tour of the haunted White Horse Tavern!

A costume ball (“The Cadaver’s Cotillion”), with a New Orleans theme, will be available for an additional fee, which will include food, drinks, and entertainment.

For many years, the haunted house industry has been very similar to the world of stage magic, in that haunt elements, tricks, and effects have been kept secret. Michael Bruner, a 2-term elected member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Haunted Attractions has been working hard to smash this notion of isolationism. For 8 years, Michael Bruner hosted The Annual PA Gathering of Haunters to foster an environment of brotherhood and safety-first among people within the haunt industry by giving a human face and name to competitors’ haunted attractions. The PA Gathering of Haunters has grown year after year, has outgrown two locations and has evolved into the Eastern Haunters Convention.

For more information, visit Eastern Haunters Convention

ABOUT THE MONSTER MAZE – The Monster Maze is a thematic, story-telling, high startle, low gore, interactive home haunt that changes its theme, layout and plotline every single year. Talented actors will escort you through the maze, immersing you in a unique, memorable, mythical experience. Visit The Monster Maze for more information.

HAuNTcon 2008 EXPANDS Pre-show Tour to 2 Nights!

The Pre-show Haunt tour for HAuNTcon will take attendees to New Orleans, LA to tour, The House of Shock (THE most radical Haunt you will ever see), The 13th Gate (One of the highest detail Haunts you will ever see), The Mortuary (built in a haunted funeral parlor, in the middle of a cemetary) , Chinchuba’s Haunted House (a non-profit attraction in it’s 20th year!).

To maximize this jam packed excursion the tour will start in Baton Rouge, LA on Tuesday night, April 22, 2008 with a lights off and lights on tour of 13th Gate. Buses will then leave Wednesday morning and head to New Orleans for tours of The Mortuary and Chinchuba’s Haunted House, ending with lights off and lights on tours of The House of Shock that night. Attendees will stay the night within walking distance to Bourbon Street. Cemetery Tours and some other surprises will fill out Thursday before flying to Houston and arriving in time for the Thursday Night HAuNTcon Kick-off Tour.

This is a once in a life time opportunity to see some incredible Haunted Attractions in a very short time frame. Make your plans now to fly into Baton Rouge, LA on Tuesday evening, April 22, 2008 for this exciting tour!

Pricing is being finalized now, stay tuned to HAuNTcon for further details!

A New “Ash” on the Horizon?

While searching around the net i came across a new movie that will be coming out soon. It looks to be the makings of a new “Ash” type character. Hopefully it will turn out to be good and we have a new “Ash” for this era. Its gonna be hard to compete with Ash but hopefully this new Jack Brooks can put up a good fight. Take a look for yourself.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
No one would ever believe what happened the night Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. His life destroyed, all he has left is an unquenchable fury he’s now fighting to control. Now the local plumber, Jack continuously struggles with his memories as his life becomes a downward spiral until his girlfriend Eve convinces him to attend night classes. Little does he know that in that dank, tiresome classroom, his destiny awaits. Evil awakens as Jack unknowingly disturbs the grounds surrounding Professor Crowley ’s dilapidated old home. Lured by this ancient demonic power, Crowley discovers a monstrous black heart that quickly forces its way into him. Possessed by the heart now beating in his chest, the Professor starts a slow, gruesome, transformation… One night, as Crowley bursts into a creature of legends, Jack finally discovers the true purpose of his rage as he attempts to save the lives of his classmates and learns that you can’t run from your past…

-Omro-
“The Rotting Flesh Radio Chainsaw Buffet”

Midwest Haunters Convention Party Video 2007

HAuNTcon Phase 2

Last night, the costume part took place and the Bodybag Entertainment Grillout Social. The social began with Bodybag Entertainment picking up its attendees in their signature Hearse “Lost Souls” and it was a sight to be seen by non-HAuNTcon guests at the Hyatt. The grill out was a fun socail event where the Industry’s people could tak, eat and have fun. Such people as Bloody Mary, Screamline Studios, Morgan Manor, Scare Tacticz, Pale Eye Productions were on hand as well as Haunters and Guests. Bodybag Entertainment knew how to through a social as the steaks were well grilled by their Booth Babe and lots on drinking was on hand.

From the Social we moved on to the HAuNTcon Costume Ball. The costumes were outrageous, funny and the crowd was having a good time on the dance floor. Leonard even put on a pair of skates and was Roller Pickel for a portion of the evening working the floor….”video coming soon from Sinister Visions.” The ball remained to be in the ballroom, the lobby and everywhere else throughout the Hyatt. The Wolfe Brothers were even out of the signature makeup and were actually in costumes, which I believe is a first. Zombo the clown was making rounds at HAuNtcon once again this year and Mr. Dangles was his partner in crime, and those photos will surface soon, so it make ruin you for life if you see it.

Once the party ended it continued ion the lobby for hours and Haunters always know how to through a good party. As the event is winding down and today is the last day on the show floor, I think it will be a big day here at the event. More classes and seminars are slated for the day and the Haunted Garage Sale is always one to hit up to get those props at a cheap cheap price.

We will have Phase 2 of the photos coming later this morning and even more tonight. Stop back to the site as we have hours and hours of RFr audio on site with the RFR anchorman Omro.

So until then…Sit Back, Relax and Rot Away….