Haunted Attractions Podcast

At Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano, TX, a cover of 13 witches is using your fear to cast a spell of eternal darkness! Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano TX is a 50,000 square foot facility with theme park quality sets and show control. For those in the haunt industry, it’s an iconic venue. Today, we’ll explore how Director Allen Hopps is creating a unifying band aesthetic using costuming, story, and show control. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

During The Summoning, Guests will participate in a real live seance that rips a hole into the supernatural world and takes them on a terrifying adventure! Held at the San Francisco Mint, the show is a unique brand of immersive horror. It combines scares with show sequences, sexuality, and plenty of queerness. Today, we’ll speak with founders David Flower and Joshua Grannell about the show’s evolution. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Now in its 10th year, A Nightmare on Franklin Street takes over Tampa Theatre for the final two weeks in October. The event series encompasses several entertainment genres, from movies to tours, education, and even a murder mystery. Today, we’ll speak with Jill Witecki about the event and what goes into the design process. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Billed as “Sydney’s scariest Halloween event,” Halloscream at Luna Park is celebrating 10 years of XTREME FEARS with 3 horror mazes, an immersive Horror Themed Attraction, and unlimited rides. Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park constructed in 1935; the park caters to families during the day and uses Halloween as a second scarier gate. Today, we’ll learn about the event and its unique challenges from Andrew and Kate. Andrew Ross-Graham is the Showtime Manager at Luna Park Sydney, and Kate Englefield is the Creative Director for Fractal Creative. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Thrillvania started with a single temporary attraction, Verdun Manor, 37 years ago. Michael Malec is the General Manager at Thrillvania, but he started working in Verdun as a kid. Today, we’ll speak to Michael about Thrillvania’s 2022 season and how they’ve stayed around this long. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Eastern State Penitentiary's Halloween Nights partnered with Haunters Against Hate to celebrate National Coming Out Day (October 11th) by hosting a Pride Night full of special festivities; Erebus Haunted Attraction offers "Fun Without the Fear Tours"; Fort Edmonton Park's DARK's viral Tik Tok Campaign; Global Village unveils new House of Fear attraction; Alton Towers debuts a new immersive audio experience - "The Invitation"; West Coast Halloween Convention canceled for 2023; Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood adds night to their season; Holiday World presents Halloween in the Sky October 22nd & 29th; McDonald's iconic Halloween pails return October 18th - 31st. Read the stories: https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/haunt-news-oct-19

The price of Genie+ will increase at both Disneyland and the Walt Disney World resort. Plus, we review a listener message about TikTok and takeaways from the new secret bars at Hush haunted attraction.

Hush Haunted Attraction in Westland, Michigan, has added three bars this year for its 10th anniversary. Two bars are hidden within the maze, and one is outside next to the cue line. Today, we’ll learn about the design and logistics of the bars from Founder Cody Bailey. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Picture a street festival spanning an entire block; now imagine that street is taken from a post-apocalyptic nightmare like the walking dead. Nightmare on Chicago Street puts guests into a post-apocalyptic nightmare for a night of fun and screams. The story follows the Zombie Defense Initiative, an organization establishing a “safe zone” from zombies yearly. Guests enter the safe zone, which is the street festival area, and hope nothing goes wrong. Today, we’ll learn more about this event from the art director and ‘mistress of disinformation.’ Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

The Thirteenth Hour in Indianapolis recently transitioned from an outdoor location to a new indoor building. Today, Tyler is on-location with Ben to learn about the move and this year’s show. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Hatch & Kraven’s Slaughterhouse has moved and expanded over the last few years into a full SlaughterPLEX. Today, we’ll learn all about it. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Shaqtoberfest is one of the most hotly anticipated haunt event of 2022 in Southern California. Today, we're on-location hearing about the event's creation from Chris Stafford. Chris is the CEO of thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, one of the producing groups for this first year event.

Dark Harvest returns to Anaheim in a new location. Pirates Cave Productions joined Dark Harvest this year to bring more technical scenes. Today we’ll speak with Adam LeBlanc from Dark Harvest and Dave Larson from Pirates Cave Productions about the new experience. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Today, it’s a cross-over episode! I recorded this episode with Jeff Depaoli for Dizney Coast to Coast. “Dizney Coast to Coast” is an entertaining and informative podcast about anything and everything related to The Walt Disney Company. Jeff and I discuss Halloween in this episode at every Disney property worldwide, and I rank my favorites. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Son of Monsterpalooza celebrates the art of monsters & movie magic this weekend; West Coast Halloween Convention announces cancellation of 2023 event; Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood adds an additional night; Halloween pails return to McDonald's; Find out the most popular candy in your state with CandyStore.com's interactive map; Instacart delivered more than 116 tons of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in 2021; Four new haunted house doughnuts come to Krispy Kreme for the Halloween season; LVCRFT released their 4th album, Scream Warriors, in collaboration with composer Christopher Young. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Frightmare Halloween Festival has been going for 20 years in Gloucester, but they’ve recently moved into testing out scary mazes. Today, Mikey from ScareTrack is on location to explore the new scares. ScareTrack is one of our content partners for this year’s hauntathon. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

The WTO's outlook for 2023 isn't great. Scott and discuss what that means for the attraction industry, plus takeaways from Eastern State Penitentiary.

Apple Valley is located at the southern edge of the Mojave Desert. Apple Valley’s professional haunted attraction is All Saints Lunatic Asylum. Today, we’re going on location to learn about the haunt and its transition over the last 15 years. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Haunted Harvest is inside Frosty’s Forest in Chino, CA. Think of a haunt where each scene is split up and separated by lots of corn. Instead of flats and transition hallways, you have lot of corn and plenty of opportunities for scares outside. But the corn comes with some challenges. Today, we’ll hear about this year’s themes and the challenges that come with this style of haunt. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork

Carnival of Darkness is a new haunt inside Little Rascals Pumpkin Patch in Ontario. Today, we’ll hear from the Owner Kekoa about their theme and what it’s like transitioning from haunter to owner. Follow along to our Hauntathon: https://linktr.ee/hauntedattractionnetwork