Here’s a list of this years’s Haunt Conventions across the country. Keep checking Scare Zone for further detailed updates and information. Only 6 months til Haunt Season!
TransWorld’s National Halloween & Haunted Attractions Show
The haunted house industry’s own haunted house show will be held again in the America Center in St. Louis, Missouri on March 8-11. Prepare for three jam packed days of over 100,000 square feet of haunted house products, amusement products, seminars, education, and haunt tours through one of America’s best haunted houses “The Darkness“. This is THE MAIN event of the year if you own or operate a haunted attraction, amusement park or any sort of amusement facilty. The show floor will showcase over 100 vendors from the Halloween and Haunted House industry! Several entertain events are held, annual meetings for the Haunted House Association, tours through several haunted houses like The Darkness, The Lemp Brewery haunted house, and much more.
Held April 13-15 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Haunts from around Canada will visit this show to trade ideas, teach seminars and much more.
April 13-15 in Burbank, Ca. This event is geared toward the horror film industry and fans. The convention focuses on “the art of monsters,” such as horror makeup, sculpture, and artwork. The show itself is not that big, but the presentations are always great. It’s a must-attend for anyone interested in horror makeup, art, and special effects. And of course, the presentations from horror makeup artists can be very useful for haunt actors and haunt makeup artists.
International Makeup Artist Trade Show
This is held in New York this April 14-15. Make-up artists, vendors, manufacturers and enthusiasts convene for the make-up world’s biggest gathering to discuss, display, discover and collect the best the industry has to offer.
HauntCon travels each year to a different city so that attendees can visit haunted houses around the country. Hauntcon is held each year in the month of May 3- May 7. This years show will be held in Monroeville Convention Center in Monroeville, PA (Pittsburgh). The tradeshow floor is smaller but with some really cool haunt vendors with cool products on display. These shows (MHC, HAUNTCON, etc) do not offer the sheer amount of vendors and massive tradeshow displays as the Transworld Haunt does however because of their cheaper booth prices it opens the doors to smaller up and coming vendors. This year’s haunt nightly haunt tours include Fright Farm, Hundred Acres Manor, and Haunted Hills Estate.
National Haunters Convention (Philadelphia, Pennslvania)
This years event will be held May 4-6 in Philadelphia and will feature a tradeshow floor, haunt tours, and seminars. The show leans more towards local enthusiasts and home haunters than professional haunted house owners. Because there are so many haunts in the area the show planners are able to offer tours through some of the best haunts in the nation.
May 11-13 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Join the members of Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, and Monster Quest for the “Steel City Paracon,” a conference on the paranormal. Tickets are now on sale for the very intimate event–only 200 tickets will be available. The cost is $199 and includes entrance to the seminars, lectures, and networking events. With such a limited number of tickets, we recommend purchasing soon!
West Coast Haunters Convention
June 1-3 in Salem, OR. Haunters can gather to learn new tips and trade ideas. This year’s show is expanded and will located in Portland Oregon this year at the DoubleTree hotel and expo center. The show will also feature a local haunt tour and Scare Zone plans to be in attendance here.
June 1-3 in Petersburg, MI. This is another small haunters gathering with a focus on Michigan haunts events include demos, door prizes and events for kids of all ages. This year will include a charity driven Haunted House put on by the convention itself.
MHC is held in Columbus, Ohio June 8-10. Learn from many other haunted house owners, actors and more. The show somewhat leans towards the home haunts and enthusiasts more so than just the professional haunt owners; however, the show features a ton of vendors and events for both home and professional haunters. They’re also hosting two bus tours: An All Day Paranormal Bus Tour and An Evening Haunt Bus Tour.
The “Tides of Torture” cruise (not related in any way to the torturous Ghost Ship haunt), will set sail for the Caribbean on August 27-31. This will be the inaugural cruise for the convention focused on horror movies rather than haunts. Some of the celebrities joining in the mayhem include Doug Bradley from Hellraiser, convention regular Kane Hodder (Jason in Friday the 13th parts 7-10), Tony Todd aka Candyman, and others.
November 12-16. The IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) show is the biggest amusement show on the entire planet held every year in Orlando. The show is over 750,000 square feet and offer over 1000 vendors. On average there are about 100 haunt related vendors to choose from. Additionally IAAPA has been producing haunted house seminars each year at their event.
