Archive for the ‘Illinois’ Category

Screaming Soon: Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Summer is just about here and that means it’s time to pack up your gear and head out to a Cabin (or tent) in the Woods. A few weeks ago we shared information on the UK’s new “Horror Camp Live!” experience kicking off on Friday the 13th weekend in July.  Now here in the U.S., Haunt Stalkers can attend “Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre” taking place in  Rockford, Illinois. This camp is actually more of a haunt convention/seminar than a full out haunt experience but it still sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

R.I.P. Productions will present the “Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre” Friday and Saturday, July 13-14, in Rockford, Ill. The event will feature interactive haunted house workshops, “Gorification” (featuring gruesome gore, airbrushing techniques, and hands-on demonstrations), “The Scarezone” (featuring character development and scare techniques), “Chiller Theater” featuring Friday the 13th slasher movies, and “Frights, Camera, Action” where you become the horror star in a slasher flick.

“Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre” will begin at 5:30 p.m., Friday, July 13, and run through 11 p.m., Saturday, July 14. The camp is open to haunted attraction actors, owners/operators and anyone interested in attending (must be 16 years of age or older). Cost is $35 per person, which includes transportation on the “Camp Massacre Bus” (mandatory), workshops and supplies. Visit trailofscreams.com/events for information or a registration form, or call (815) 965-6772. Attendance is limited to the first 50 victims, and registration deadline is July 1.

R.I.P. Productions has been hosting, organizing and facilitating seminars for haunt owners and actors throughout Illinois and Wisconsin since 2005. Each year since 2002, R.I.P. has brought total fear and mayhem to northern Illinois with the Trail of Screams, Screamatorium Haunted House and Fear Asylum Haunted House. The group strives to continuously stay on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry, utilizing digital technology, Hollywood-quality props and prosthetics, hosting guest appearances by professional horror film actors and providing quality, professionalism and entertainment value to every patron.

The 2012 Fear Asylum Haunted House will open Friday, Oct. 5, at the Belvidere Park District William Grady Pool. (Because of the intense nature of the event, parental guidance is strongly recommended). For additional information, the public is encouraged to call (815) 965-6772 or visit www.trailofscreams.com.

Here’s a look at the Camp’s Weekend Agenda ( *please note,  Scare-Zone.com has no affiliation with this event for more information please visit their official website):

Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre
Agenda

Friday, July 13th

5:30 p.m. -   Bus departs from Wal-Mart parking lot (7219 Walton Street/E. State Street)

(The bus will be leaving promptly at 5:30 p.m. You may leave your vehicle parked overnight but be sure your vehicle is locked and all valuables are out of site).

Please Note:  Bus transportation is a MANDATORY part of the Haunted Slumber Camp Massacre.   You MUST arrive by 5:30 p.m. to depart on the  “Camp Massacre” Bus!

6:30 p.m. -   Arrival at Camp Site (Check-in)

(All attendees will be required to check-in Tents and sleeping bags are encouraged). Event location is approximately 4 miles south of Rockford.

 7:30 p.m. –   “Spine-Chilling” Cookout

 

(Do you hunger for flesh??? Trail of Screams will provide all the fixins’ for a “spine-chilling” cannibal cookout!  Meet fellow actors, haunter’s and R.I.P. Production’s management and staff members)

8:30 p.m. –   “Chiller Theatre”  

(Don’t look behind you….it’s a flashback to “Friday the 13th” slasher movie classics).

Saturday, July 14

8:00 a.m. –     Breakfast

(Cold cereal, donuts, milk, juice, and coffee will be available).

9:00 a.m. -    “Gorification” Seminar & Workshop    

(Learn makeup techniques to “die for”, including latex applications, gruesome gore, airbrushing techniques and hands-on demonstrations).

Noon – Lunch

(Chicago style hot dogs, chips, macaroni/potato salad & desert will be available)

1:00 p.m. -    “The ScareZone” Seminar & Workshop

(Learn scare techniques, character development, building dialogue in a haunted attraction,  how to create a frightening character, and much more!)

6:00 p.m. –    Dinner

(Pizza and chips will be available)

7:00 p.m. -   “Fright’s, Camera, Action!”

(Create your own “horror star” in your own slasher flick!  Details and rules will be provided).

11:00 p.m. –   Bus departs for Rockford  (Arrival time approximately 11:45 p.m. at Wal-Mart parking lot)

Haunt Conventions ‘Spring’ Up Across the Country

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Here’s a list of this spring’s Haunt Conventions across the country. Keep checking ScareZone for updates and information. Only 6 months til Haunt Season!

TransWorld’s National Halloween & Haunted Attractions Show (THIS WEEK!)

The haunted house industry FINALLY has its own haunted house show and it will be held in the America Center in St. Louis, Missouri on March 10-13 2011.  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 and much more.  

International Makeup Artist Trade Show

This is held in New York this April 9-10. 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

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 April 27- May 2nd. This years show will be held in Louisville, KY. 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.

National Haunters Convention (Philadelphia, Pennslvania)

This years event will be held May 5th-8th in Philadelphia and will feature a tradeshow floor, haunt tours, and seminars. The show leans more to 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.

Canadian Haunters Convention

Held May 12th-15th in London Ontario, Canada. Haunts from around Canada will visit this show to trade ideas, teach seminars and much more.

West Coast Haunters Convention

May 13th-15th in Salem, OR. Another smaller show where haunters will gather to learn new tips and trade ideas.

Great Lakes FrighFest

June 3-5 in Petersburg, MI. This is another small haunters gathering with a focus on Michigan hauntsevents include demos, door prizes and events for kids of all ages.

Midwest Haunters Convention

MHC is held in Columbus, Ohio June 3-5, 2011. 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.

IAAPA Attractions Expo

November 14-18. 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.

Corn Maze Conference (Corn Maize)

Each year the Corn Maize industry gathers for conference held each March.  The conference consisits of meetings, seminars, education, events, tours of attractions and a small tradeshow floor that includes industry suppliers and much more.  Next event will be held in California during February 2012!

2011 Haunt Profile: The Darkness Haunt

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Here’s a sneak peek video of what The Darkness haunt has in store for next week’s Transworld Halloween & Attractions Convention. The Darkness owners have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare the for the convention and hope to  host an inspiring and educatational interactice experience. The Darkness is one of the top rated haunted houses in America comprised of  three attractions, the Darkness haunted house,  Terror Visions 3D’, and the Monster Museum.

Video Courtey of  Halloween Productions, Inc.

If you own any type of amusement attraction YOU CAN NOT miss The Darkness Tour or the Halloween Haunt Show itself… this is a ONCE in a lifetime, ONCE a year event.  R

In addition to The Darkness another haunted house ‘Lemp Brewery Haunted House’will open, which happens to be located just down the street from The Darkness.  The Lemp Brewery haunted house is located five stories underground in REAL caves and caverns in what might be the most unique location for a haunted house in America.

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY at www.TheDarkness.com for either the behind the scenes tour or the live with actors events.  Follow them on Facebook or Twitter

Year-Round Haunts: Raven’s Grin Inn

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Just because haunt season is over doesn’t mean the scares have to cease. There are, in fact, several places around the country where you can be terrified year-round. Throughout the year, Scare Zone will be profiling these haunts (and, we hope, visiting some of them).

Today, we’re featuring Raven’s Grin Inn, located in Mount Carroll, Illinois, about 140 miles east of Chicago.

Raven’s Grin is open year-round, but if you want to visit, you have to make a reservation. The personal tours take approximately 1 to 1.5 hours, and at only $12, it seems like a great bargain.

So what is the Raven’s Grin Inn? The owner (Jim Warfield) has turned his 19th-century house into a weird and crazy attraction that’s half haunt and half art museum. Here’s a brief description from a profile in Time magazine:

Warfield saved the house from demolition 20 years ago, and has filled it with a crazy hodge-podge of his freaky old art projects, like “the last Elvis impersonator” who sits decaying in a wheelchair; relics like the “Poe-Lease” car, a black-and-white 1950s-era Hudson car protruding out of the second floor (three other autos also stick out of the house); and plenty of creaky, spooky secret passages. Oh, and then there are the slides: The four-story Bad Dream Bed-Slide takes you screaming from the second floor all the way to the wine cellar in the haunted basement, where sightings of the Lady in White have been reported.

Yes that’s right: this haunted house has slides. According to one reviewer, Warfield wraps you up in a bed sheet as you lay on a bed, and then he tips the bed upright, shooting you down the slide into the basement. In addition, at Ravens Grin, you’ll find walls that open to reveal passageways and hearses that you’re required to crawl through.

Raven’s Grin Inn is a truly unique haunt that blends scares and comedy, fun house and fright house. If you’re in the area–or if you’re in the mood for a road trip–make a reservation for Raven’s Grin.

For more, check out this story of the house’s inception by the owner himself.

Here’s the Raven’s Grin feature from Wild Chicago in 2009: