NEWS: Festival Fright Nights, Hauntathon, & MHC Recap

This week: Winchester Mystery House Unveils Festival Fright Nights; Hauntathon seeks Haunted Attractions for 2025 Season; Midwest Haunters Convention Draws Massive Crowds; Oogie Boogie Bash tickets go on sale June 26th; Friday the 13th's Jason comes to Halloween Horror Nights; Universal Japan gets new maze and collab with KATE makeup; Top 5 theme park trends you need to know; Terror Vault presents Hexed. Read more here. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the
haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the
HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and
education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we
bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

(00:28):
more about these stories and so much more in our
free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,
and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it
off to Darryl.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
The Haunted Attraction Network's annual Haunt a Thon is back
for its eleventh year, and your haunt could be part
of it. Running from September first through October thirty, first,
Hantathon twenty twenty five will once again celebrate the haunted
attraction industry with daily videos, podcasts, and short form content
spotlighting the best haunts across the globe. Whether you're a

(00:59):
mega haunt or a passionate home haunter, this is your
chance to be seen by millions of Halloween fans. The
Hauntedon is now accepting applications from haunted attractions and sponsors.
Our sponsorship opportunities include haunt features, podcast advertising, vertical video
ad integration and newsletter features in the very publication you
are listening to right now. In twenty twenty four, the

(01:21):
Haunted Attraction Network delivered forty point two million video views
across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, thirty three thousand podcast
downloads from horror focused listeners, thirteen thousand monthly website views,
and forty five hundred engaged email subscribers, national media features
on outlets such as NBC's California Live and NPR's Marketplace.

(01:44):
With a social media reach of over five hundred and
fifty thousand followers, Hantathon offers unmatched exposure for Haunted attractions
looking to build long term visibility and connect with an
engaged Halloween audience. To inquire about sponsorship packages, contact Philip
directat Fillip at Haunted Attraction Network. Disneyland Resorts announces Halloween Fun.

(02:05):
The fall celebrations return to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California,
August twenty second through October thirty first. The resort will
be decked out in autumnal decorations, including the iconic Giant
Mickey Mouse, Pumpkin, and Main Street USA. Seasonal attraction overlays
will return with the Haunted Mansion Holiday in Disneyland and
Luigi's Honkin Halloween, Major's Graveyard Jambouree and Guardians of the

(02:28):
Galaxy Monsters after Dark in Disneyland California Adventure Park. Additional
experiences such as encounters with characters in unique new Halloween
looks inspired by the joyful spirit of the seventieth Celebration
of Helloween, Screams, Nighttime Spectacular with fireworks on select nights,
Mickey's Trick and Treat Show and the Disney's Happiest Haunts

(02:49):
Guided Tour will add to the not so spooky fun.
The Oogi Boogie Bash at Disney Halloween Party returns to
Disney California Adventure thirty one select nights August seventy eighth
through October thirty first of twenty twenty five. Donna costume
and enjoy an evening of family friendly trick or treats,
including special Helloween themed entertainment, Rightfully Fun Parade, immersive treat trails, villains,

(03:13):
grove Scenescape, spellbinding attractions, and more. The following Disney villains
have been announced for the various treat trails. Doctor Duffenschmertz
from Phineas and Firm Oogie Boogie from Tim Burton's Nightmare
Before Christmas, Eighties from Hercules, Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco,
Agatha Harkness from WandaVision and Agatha All Along, Yokai from

(03:35):
Big Hero six, and Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Two more villains have yet to be announced. Tickets will
go on sale for Inspire Magic key holders on June
twenty fourth, all Magic key Holders on June twenty fifth,
and the general public on June twenty sixth. General admission
tickets started one thirty nine to one ninety nine for
guests three year older from August twenty second to November two, Disney, California,

(04:00):
The Adventure Park welcomes the return of the Plaza de
la Familia, a vibrant celebration honoring the spirit of Dia
de las Mouatos through music, food, art, and storytelling. Inspired
by Pixar Animation Studios Coco. Through song and dance, the
storytellers of the Plaza de Familia celebrate the musical world
of Coco. Street performances bring to life the everlasting bonds

(04:20):
of family. Other returning offerings include live music at the
Paradise Gardens Bandstand, themed craft activities, Miguel character photo opportunities,
colorful decor, and a celebratory menu of Mexican cuisine at
Paradise Garden Grill. Frontier Land at Disneyland Park also pays
tribute to the Dia Delas Moritos. The area near Rancho
de Zukala Restaurante will be adorned with skeleton figures, brilliant

(04:44):
mary golds, and other decorative items typically displayed on afriend Us.
Hershey Park's Dark Knights teases a new house, Hershey Park
from Hershey, Pennsylvania tease the newest haunted house coming to
their Dark Knights Halloween event. Kill and Fail Garage fueled
by evil killers have taken over the abandoned Kill and
Fill garage and what goes on behind the rusted chain

(05:06):
link fence. As shirt to sen sparks flying, Beware the
screams start when the engines die. This house will join
four returning houses, four scare zones, and more when the
event returns starting September twelfth. Learn more and sign up
for the ticket updates on the event's official website by
following the links in our show notes Halloween Horror Nights
resurrects Jason for twenty twenty five. Yes, Halloween Horror Nites

(05:29):
are Lando and Hollywood give rise to horror movie icon
Jason from the infamous Friday the Thirteenth franchise with Jason Universe,
which takes guests back to the summer camp where the
gruesome legend was born. This haunted house will pay homage
to the machete wheeling slasher, taking guess where it all began,
from the creaking floorboards of Jason's ramshackle cabin to the

(05:50):
decaying main lodge and the eerie forest that offers no
refuge for his victims. Around every corner, fans will be
inundated with the infamous killer moments from Jason's heinous homae
sitled career as he taunts and stalks his victims, who
learn too late that the legend is real. HHN runs
select dates August twenty ninth through November second in Orlando, Florida,

(06:10):
and September fourth through November two in Hollywood, California. Halloween
Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Japan Halloween Horror Nights
and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka Japan runs Select Knights
September fifth through November three. The event's signature Street Zombies
are back with an expanded zone and a new closed

(06:30):
room Horror Maze Factory of Fear Zombie Tour. Another new
experience for this year is Witches of Block eighteen Bewitching
Mansion of Emotion. This collaboration with global makeup brand Kate
Guide's guests through a mysterious mansion where makeup is used
to awaken hidden emotions and unleash inner transformations. These will
join fan favorite returning experiences like Resident Evil, Knight of Heroes,

(06:53):
Chucky's Carnival of Chaos, Chainsaw Man, The Chaos four D
and more. Erie Entertainment also a Bounds with Zombie to
Dance and Hemikuma's Sweet Screen Party. Learn more and purchase
Universal Studios Japan tickets on their official website. The Top
five theme park trends that you need to Know six
Flag and Cedar Fair's eight billion dollar mashup for Shen's

(07:16):
Shopping Spree and Falcons Beyond Devouring Oceaneering are just the
opening salvo in a consolidation wave now squeezing most regional
parks into four corporate camps, But deal making is only
the first of five seismic shifts. Philip and Scott unpacked
in this week's episode of Green Tagged. They probe why
per guest spending keeps climbing even as attendance flattens, how

(07:38):
velvet rope up charges like Disney's four hundred dollars Premier
Pass and six Flags one hundred and sixty two dollars
a month Flash Pass are normalizing class tiers, and why
every operator from Disney's Universal FanFest to Sea World's Coasters
after Dark now treats shoulder season festivals as a loyalty engine.
The hosts also tackle staffing's post pandemic cool down and

(08:00):
ask whether AI driven scheduling and on site dorms finally
solve the labor puzzle. Think you've already future proof to
your park? These five trends say otherwise. What's really going
on with Hershan's Palace deal? Hershand finalized its acquisition of
Palace Entertainment's twenty four US attractions with a one point
one billion dollar leveraged loan, and Vow's twenty twenty five

(08:22):
will be a listening year. Meanwhile, Six Flags fired every
park President Overnight, favoring a regional management model instead of
a local one. In this episode of Green Tagged, Philip
and Scott unpack whether family culture can shine heavy debt,
how a headless organization might finally smash six flags notorious silos,
and why both moves reshaped the post merger map where

(08:44):
just four companies now control most regional parks. Midwest Hunters
Convention has some vendor highlights for us. The Haunted Attraction
Network took a spooky tour of the trade show floor
at Midwest Hunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois. View our video
by following the links in our show notes to see
how lights from some of this year's vendors, including Silent
Scream Props featuring their strung Out Corpse, which Head Designs

(09:07):
a new vendor featuring this unique take on the Necronomicon,
Ghostly Productions featuring their symbol monkey Puppet, Drop Dead Design
Studios featuring their best selling Big Smasher Gasher Prop, Wicked
FX feature their signature three D printed hand painted ice screams,
and more. A Lumabot demonstrated their AI projection mapping app

(09:28):
the Nightmare Haunted House, one of the home Haunts featured
in the show's Haunted House, Chicago Row, Pumpkin Pulp featured
their new Quinn Rosary, Boogie Bite Me and Chum masks,
Frank and Fuel debuting their Frank and Flavor Energy drinks,
Pumpkin Riot featuring their new Pumpkin Witch mask prop Geeky
Goodnies featuring their best selling Cremberwlet, Gourmet Marshmallows, Ghastly Garb

(09:52):
featuring their handstitched Mistress costume, unsub Masks featuring the new
Gord masks, and Haunt Dolls showcasing the unique custom dolls
and the Inn Flesh Experience. Festival Fright Nights turn Winchester
Mystery House into a full scale Halloween event. This fall,
the iconic Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, will

(10:13):
undergo a chilling transformation as it debuts Festival Fright Nights,
brand new Halloween experience. Produced in partnership with a thirteenth
Floor Entertainment group. The event pluges guests into a storyline
set on Halloween Night nineteen twenty four, two years after
Sarah Winchester's death. The plot centers around a theatrical masquerade
ball hosted by a mysterious newcomer who claims to have

(10:35):
opened a spiritual portal within the mansion. As the evening unfolds,
visitors will discover whether this daring ritual has revealed hidden
truths or awakened something far darker. Brave guests will have
based three all new haunts, theatrical performances woven throughout the estate,
themed food and beverage offerings, and more. The experience will
utilize never before seen areas of the Winchester Mystery House,

(10:57):
making this the most expansive Halloween activation of the site's history.
Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House will run select
nights September twenty six through November first. Tickets, early access notifications,
and more details are available on the event's official website.
Terror Vault Presents Hext, a brand new immersive horror experience

(11:17):
from Terror Vault in San Francisco, California, is going to
becoming select nights October second through November first. This fall,
three ancient witches from across the globe unite in a
ritual so powerful it threatens the end of humankind. As
children vanish and darkness rises, a secret society of believers, recruits,
unlikely heroes akau to stop the Coven of three? Will

(11:38):
you stand with them or fall under the spell? Tickets
are on sale now starting at fifty five dollars for
general admission, sixty dollars for general admission plus an opt
in necklace with interactivity, and one hundred dollars for VIP admission.
Spooky Awards opens for twenty twenty five submissions. The Halloween
in Costume Association has announced the return of Spooky Awards,

(11:58):
an official celebration of innovation, creativity, and excellence in the
Halloween industry. The competition is open to all Halloween product manufacturers,
HHA members and non members alike. Product categories include accessories,
costumes for adult, child licensed, most Unique, non Scary, non
character and Scary in Horror decre makeup Character three D

(12:21):
and Scary in Horror Masks, Most Innovative, Open to all categories, Packaging, Sustainability, diversity,
equity and inclusion. HA members will receive one conflimarytory submission,
followed by a fee of fifty dollars per additional entry.
Non members are charged one hundred dollars per submission. Submissions
will be accepted through August sixth. The twenty twenty five

(12:42):
finalists will be announced on October first, twenty twenty five,
and they of winners will be revealed during the Halloween
and Party Expo in Las Vegas in January of twenty
twenty six. Learn more on their official website. Michael celebrated
Friday the thirteenth with the launch of its twenty twenty
five Halloween decre With everything from hosting essentials, baking supplies,

(13:02):
seasonal crafts, DIY costumes, boo basket must haves, stylish decore
and more. Michaels makes it easy for Halloween fans to
get more magic out of every moment. Our customer's passion
for Halloween is unmatched, and the incredible enthusiasm for last
year's collections made one thing clear. We had to go
bigger and bolder than ever before, said Stacy Shiveley, chief

(13:23):
Merchandising Officer at Michael's. This year, we're thrilled to deliver
our most expansive and creativity and creatively daring Helloween assortment
to date, from playful, punk inspired pastels and romantic haunted
regency to celestial goth and twisted fairy tales. Each distinct
collection merges the trends our customers adore with value they expect,

(13:44):
empowering them to bring their spookiest visions to life. Currently,
two of the retailer's Halloween collections are available for purchase,
Trick or Treat and Sweet and Spooky. In addition, three
collections can be viewed on their website with release dates
as follows Dead Regency on July twenty fifth, Iridescent Moon
on July twenty fifth, and Alice's Adventure on August fifteenth.

(14:05):
Some upcoming events this June for August include the Texas
Haunters Convention in Dallas, Texas, July twenty sixth and twenty seventh,
Haunters Against Hate the Event three in Louisville, Kentucky, August
eight through tenth, and Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, California,
August sixteenth and seventeen.

Speaker 1 (14:24):
And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode
was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting by Darryl
Plunky post production by David Swape. This Haunt News Update
is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network, and you
can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunt Attraction
network dot Com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum
lighting and controls. Until next time, Haunters stay scary. This

(14:50):
is a Haunted Attraction Network production