IAHA News and Updates from IAHAweb.com

The trick-or-treating may be over for 2007, but for many of America's leading haunted attractions, the Halloween season isn’t over just yet. The International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA) estimates that about 30% of its haunted attraction members will be open through the first weekend in November.

"Like Christmas, Halloween has grown from a holiday lasting a single day to a season long celebration,” said IAHA President Timothy Gavinski. With many haunted attractions opening in mid-September and not closing until early November, the haunted attraction season now spans eight weeks.

Today, the Halloween season is second only to Christmas for consumer spending. "In the last decade, haunted attractions have matured from small neighborhood events, to large, regional destination attractions,” said Gavinski. In the United States, Halloween has become a 7 billion dollar industry and about 15% of all Americans will attend at least one haunted attraction this fall.

While many people would guess that Halloween would be the busiest night for haunted house owners, according to Gavinski, that is not the case. “Because of the competition with trick-or-treating and parties, Halloween tends to be a quieter night. Traditionally, the Saturday before Halloween is the busiest night of the year for haunted houses.” But with Halloween falling on a Wednesday this year, many haunted attraction owners are betting that the Saturday after Halloween will also be a very busy night.

The following haunted attractions will be open this November. Please see each attraction's website for specific opening dates and times.

Arizona

Revenant Haunt
www.revenanthaunt.com


Arkansas

Raycliff Manor
www.eurekascreams.com


California

Halloween Harvest Festival
www.halloweenharvestfestival.com


Delaware

Frightland
www.frightland.com


Illinois

Eleventh Hour
www.eleventhhour.info


Kentucky

Terror on 231 KY
www.terroron231.com


Georgia

Netherworld
www.fearworld.com

Horror Hill
www.horrorhill.com

13 Stories Haunted House
www.13storieshauntedhouse.com


Michigan

Erebus 4 Story Haunted
www.hauntedpontiac.com


Missouri

The Darkness
www.scarefest.com

CreepyWorld
www.scarefest.com


New York

House of Horrors
www.houseofhorrorsbuffalo.com


North Carolina

Kersey Valley Spookywoods
www.spookywoods.com

Woods of Terror
www.woodsofterror.com


Ohio

The Haunted Farm
www.haunted-farm.com


Oklahoma

Psycho Path
www.psychopathhaunt.com


Pennsylvania

Eastern State Penitentiary's Terror Behind the Walls
www.EasternState.org

Shocktoberfest
www.shocktoberfest.com

Fright Factory
www.frightfactory.tv

Night of Terror
www.nightofterror.com


Texas

Hangman's House of Horrors
www.hangmans.com

Mead Manor House of Horrors
www.meadmanor.com

Nightmare on the Bayou
www.nightmareonthebayou.com

Reindeer Manor
www.reindeermanor.com

Screamworld
www.screamworld.com


Wisconsin

Terror on the Fox
www.terroronthefox.com

Haunted Attractions are known for their fright factor, but it's not all about the scares. According to the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA), Haunted Attractions are also popular destinations for young couples looking to get acquainted.

“Visiting a haunted house is the perfect first date,” said IAHA President Timothy Gavinski. “It is almost a 100% guarantee, the girl will grab hold of the boys hand and hang on for dear life ”

Prior to the proliferation of the automobile, many young couples found the privacy they desired in the Tunnel of Love, a popular boat ride that helped bring couples closer together, either by the romantic element, or by frightening them so that they would cling to one another. The Tunnel of Love, and its close cousins, the Fun House and the Haunted House, were popular events at many trolley parks, early amusement parks, at the end of streetcar lines in many larger cities.

With the increasing number of automobiles in use in the modern era, attendance at urban trolley parks, and the popularity of the Tunnel of Love and similar events, gradually declined. Automobiles provided people with more entertainment options, and by 1932, young couples had a new place to get cozy on a date: the first Drive-in Movie-Theater opened in Camden, New Jersey that year.

The modern Haunted Attraction industry can trace its roots to local civic groups like the Jaycees, volunteer fire departments, and church groups, which began sponsoring small Haunted Attractions in the early 1970’s to raise funds for their organizations. Within a decade, the Haunted Attraction industry began a sustained expansion, as theme parks and entrepreneurs joined the charities in opening elaborate, professionally operated, multi-attraction Scream Parks. By the 1990’s, literally thousands of Haunted Attractions were in operation across America during the Halloween season.

The Tunnel of Love, the Fun House, and the Drive-in Movie Theater have all but disappeared from the American landscape, but Haunted Attractions continue to grow in popularity, particularly among young couples.

Today, Halloween is a seven-billion-dollar industry, making it second only to Christmas for consumer spending. "In the last decade, Haunted Attractions have matured from small neighborhood events, to large, regional destination attractions,” said Gavinski. “We expect that about 15% of all Americans will attend a Halloween event this fall."

It’s not too late to visit a Haunted Attraction this fall. Because Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, many Haunted Attractions will remain open through the first weekend in November.

The New BOO!
Haunters use high-tech methods to terrify their patrons -- but keep some old-school scares, too.


By Brian Truitt

To our credit -- and much to the chagrin of those in the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night business -- scare tactics along the lines of Orson Welles' Halloween "War of the Worlds" radio prank just don't work anymore. The gore-filled horror movies released seemingly every other week and an excess of screen violence have desensitized Americans so much that it's difficult to frighten people these days. But that hasn't stopped the haunted attraction industry. Next to Christmas, Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday in the United States, and according to Hauntworld magazine, there are more than 4,500 haunted attractions in the country. It's big business, too, taking in up to $500 million a year in ticket sales.

Obviously, people are dying to be scared. So to get that football player to hide behind his girlfriend, or to freak out a group of guys so badly that they leave their grandma behind, "haunters" use advanced technology and some tweaked older techniques. "That's the most fun you can have: scaring people," says Tim Gavinski, president of the International Association of Haunted Attractions and a former "home haunter" who runs two haunted houses in Wisconsin. "This industry is so high-tech, and it's because that's what the consumer is expecting."

Arguably the biggest of all the season's events, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida uses innovative content and technology to heighten the spooks for all eight haunted houses -- from audio triggers to special effects to enhanced lighting. This year, horror movie icons Leatherface, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees each gets his own house in the park.

"The computer is a great tool," says Jim Timon, senior vice president of entertainment for the amusement park, "but you can never scare the living daylights out of somebody using a computer simulation. You've got to really get in a space and bring Freddy Krueger out of a wall and terrify someone."

At Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, the amusement park has outfitted its "vampires" with magnets on their hands and legs, allowing the creepy creatures to climb on walls and around unsuspecting guests during its HalloWeekends. Companies like Distortions Unlimited also are responsible for some of the fear factor, coming up with truly gruesome toys for haunted houses. Among them: "The Electric Chair," in which an exquisitely detailed latex body is strapped to an electric chair and thrown around viciously as a fog machine and sounds of electric current add eerie ambience.

Sometimes, computer animation or technology is used simply as a distraction while a haunter instead scares with a lower-tech item, such as a rubber spider. At The Darkness in St. Louis, Larry Kirchner has shrunk the size of its theme rooms to make visitors feel claustrophobic and uses old standbys such as freaks with chain saws. ("In the haunted house business, that's No. 1: People are afraid of chain saws," he says.) And in Pontiac, Mich., at Erebus -- Guinness record-holder for the world's largest walk-through haunted house -- owners Ed and Jim Terebus have been catapulting a corpse they affectionately call "Uncle Freddy" at crowds for more than 15 years now.

"We have things that grab you, bite you, land on top of you. I'm gonna put you in a room, slam the door, dump 10,000 balls on your head and bury you alive," Ed Terebus says. "If I can make you jump back and hit the floor, I've done my job." What's the ultimate scare? Getting you so unnerved in advance that you don't even want to go inside. Just take note of the "chicken exit." You may need it.

Halloween might still be three weeks away, but many the nation's leading haunted attractions have been scaring the masses since early September. But it's not all about the scares – the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA) expects that its haunted attraction members will raise several million dollars for various charities this season.

“Giving back to the community is a big priority for many of our members,” said IAHA President Timothy Gavinski. “Some of our members are non-profit organizations or family farms that raise money to support their operations, while others are for-profit companies that donate a portion of their proceeds to a charitable organization.”

James Smith, an officer of IAHA and a lead actor at The Niles Haunted House Scream Park, in Niles, Michigan, indicated that his haunt donated over $100,000 to 80 Michigan charities in 2006. Smith expects that the Niles Haunted House will easily match or exceed that contribution this year.

Haunted houses have a long history of raising money for charities. In fact, the haunted house industry can trace its roots to local civic groups like the Jaycees, volunteer fire departments and church groups that began sponsoring small haunted houses in the early 1970's to raise funds for their organizations. Within a decade, the haunted house industry dramatically expanded, as theme parks and entrepreneurs joined the charities, and began opening elaborate, professionally operated, multi-attraction scream parks.

Today, the Halloween season is second only to Christmas for consumer spending. "In the last decade, haunted attractions have matured from small neighborhood events, to large, regional destination attractions,” said Gavinski. “In the United States, Halloween has become a 7 billion dollar industry and about 15% of all Americans will attend a Halloween event this fall." Charities across the nation will benefit as a result.

The International Association of Haunted Attractions (I.A.H.A), together with Transworld Exhibits, Inc (TW), is proud to present the haunted attraction industry’s first and only Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony. I.A.H.A/TransWorld Haunted Attraction Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony will serve as IAHA’s annual meeting and will include a cocktail hour, an IAHA “year in review”, a dinner, and industry awards.

Get Ready!
Now is the time to document your attraction for the 2007 season. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifBe sure to take plenty of photos and video this season. Award categories and submission guidelines will be announced by January 15, 2008 at www.IAHAweb.com.

Save the date!
The I.A.H.A/TransWorld Haunted Attraction Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony will be held in conjunction with the Haunt & Attractions Show in Las Vegas, NV on the evening of Monday, March 17, 2008.

Pricing:
Fees for the dinner will be announced at www.IAHAweb.com by January 15, 2008. IAHA Members will receive a discount.

Registration:
Registration for IAHA members begins on January 15, 2008 at www.IAHAweb.com.