Introduce Yourself...

[SlightlySick Illusions]

First time joiner long time visitor

Hello all my name is Dan Slatkin I have for a long time been a silent player right behind the scenes in the haunt industry. I for many years was the head designer at Haunted Enterprises, I did not go to the shows or join in on any of the forums, but now that I have released my own product into the industry I plan on being much more involved. I would like to thank all of you who stopped by the Haunted Enterprises booth and checked out the new SlightlySick Video Illusion DVD. I would also like to thank Haunted Enterprises for being my official distributor and helping me bring my product to the show.

I have been involved in professional Haunting for over twenty years. I have worked in and ran haunts all over the western USA and am always willing to help out other Haunters in any way I can.

I would like to thank you all for welcoming me to your forum, and thank Larry for letting me be a part of this great forum.

Right now all I have is a youtube page up but more will be coming soon.

[thrilltainment]

Chinese haunter and LED lighting expert

Hi HauntWorld,

My name is Quan Gan, I am Chinese-American, born 1983. I grew up in California and hold a degree in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. I recently quit my corporate job and decided to open up the first American Haunted House in Mainland China in 2009: Shanghai Nightmare

While building our haunted house, I found problems with installing existing low voltage lighting and decided to team up with an engineering partner to develop our own products for the haunted attraction industry: Darklight

We attended Transworld for the first time in 2010 as an exhibitor and was really excited to see the positive feedback we got from haunters about our product.

So now, my business keeps me running back and forth between the US and China. In the US, we sell our LED precision lights and in China, we operate our own haunted house.

Cheers!
Quan

[Jay Dead]

another n00b...

Jay Westerman
Dallas, Tx
Morningside Mortuary, home haunt

I am new to this community and could not be more excited about it. I've been doing some larger scale home haunting for the past couple of years now and though the best I could be was Spirit Halloween stores. Uh yeah, Im excited.

[The Haunted Enthusiasts]

We are The Haunted Enthusiasts & we love this industry!!! www.hauntedenthusiasts.com

My name is Jim Patton and my wife Stephanie and I started The Haunted Enthusiasts.

We have attended haunts since the 70's and for the last 11 years have made a concerted effort to make it to as many haunts as possible. We visit 7 to 10 states a year, sometimes on our own, sometimes taking fellow enthusiasts who ask to join our well coordinated itineraries. Some of our accomplishments include 33 haunts in 11 days, 40 haunts in one month, and 3 states in 1 night! (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky)

After a great 2009 and being asked for the billionth time what we think of this or that haunt or how we do what we do, we realized it was finally time for a website. You can find us at www.hauntedenthusiasts.com

The site just went live this past week and is definitely in it's infancy. We have posted reviews for our top 4 haunts, but will try to review all of the haunts we've attended over time. We listed just some of the haunts we've attended and ended up at 3 pages, so it will take awhile to get to all of them.

As you will see in our reviews, we use what we call The Spinal Tap Scale, in honor of the great film classic THIS IS SPINAL TAP. That's right, our scale goes to... 11.

We have only given four 11 out of 10's to date, so it's not a regular thing to blow out the scale. We see haunts across the nation and feel we are pretty fair about what truly counts as a leader in the industry and scale busting haunt. We will also talk about trends, good and bad, that we see across the country and across the industry.

While we did follow everyone's wishes to do reviews and ratings, we want to stress that we love this industry and love anyone who is willing to put their time and resources into being a part of it. From the mega haunts to the haunts ran by 5th grade classes, we thank you all for continuing something that has been such a wonderful part of our lives.

We hope to act as an unbiased voice for enthusiasts, attendees, and haunters that we feel are doing a great job. We have no vested interest other than seeing great haunting continue and helping those haunts we feel are "getting it right".

We also hope to share our itineraries and advice for travel, accomodations, etc. Our main advice will seem obvious to this group but it is to use Hauntworld.com to research and plan your itinerary. We use Hauntworld.com throughout the year as it takes a year to map attractions, coordinate meet & greets with proprietors, research best travel and accomodation options, etc for 7 to 10 states and 30 to 40+ haunts.

We couldn't do what we do without the Hauntworld.com website. With it's extensive listings, maps, and contact info it is the greatest haunted attraction resource there is. We just added meet & greets to our itineraries a couple years ago and we wouldn't have been able to if not for the amount of time Hauntworld.com knocks off our travel time and the contacts it provides. Thank you Hauntworld.com!!!!!

Thank you to all the haunters out there who have welcomed us in to their haunts. You are a special breed of people in a very special industry. It takes A LOT of desire and dedication to do what you do. Just as attendees we see that. Thank you for doing what you, and we, love.

Jim & Stephanie Patton - The Haunted Enthusiasts

[Moxley Manor]

Hey, Richard. Fellow Dallas'ite here. I live in NW Dallas over near Forest and Webb chapel. Looking forward to visiting your haunt this season.

Jim

Thanks Jim! We will be at TFW on May 1st in Irving. You should stop by and introduce yourself.

[FEAR ASYLUM]

The fright lord

i am Michael i would have to say the dedication of the first haunted house i ever attended i was around eight years old and it was at st Charles in Oklahoma i remember my dad took me the cafeteria was set up like a space station and holy ---- the real star wars characters and props were there and then you could go down into the gym which was converted into a haunted house there were scenes in there that i have not and will not ever forget it was the first real time that i could ever remember being scared and it turns out i love being scared after that i would set up small crawl through mazes in my parents house i could always remember getting yelled at for tearing up all the sheets or moving the furniture around but that didn't stop me i would invite the neighborhood kids over and charge them what ever they had rather it be a cracker jack box tattoo or a packet of cool aid they would go through and run out of my house screaming , that may be why i didn't have many friends as a young child but oh well here i am today with a show that i put on every year in hopes of bringing fear into the hearts of those who attend if we scare one person into remembering what they experienced the rest of there lives than we as haunters have made it a memorable experience for our customers i am 36 now and will continue to improve and maybe one day even have a permanent location for the haunts in which we produce ,and thank you to all of the haunted industry. And to those who beleive in us . my primary goal as a haunter is to entertain the fantasies and expectations of our guest by providing a safe yet fearful realm in which our loyal patrons can come an experience a fright filled fun evening at fair admission pricing while maintaining the integrity and fellowship of the haunted industry in short (SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU ) i will be at the transworld and look forward too meeting all of my new found brothers and sisters and offer a great big thank you to every one who has every helped make our industry the best industry i believe in the world

[OblivionHauntedHouse]

Howdy!

Greetings, All!

A haunter of 14 years - having designed and constructed for Haunts like BURIAL CHAMBER , TERROR ON THE FOX and SHAWANO MANOR in Wisconsin - Now embarking on opening my own attraction.

Oblivion Haunted House.

We will be at transworld and looking to meet a lot of you and have a good time.

Hope to see you there!

[Dalloween]

Name is Richard and I reside in a North Dallas metroplex. After a few years working at a local haunt, we will be branching out and introducing a new haunt to the Dallas / Ft. Worth metorplex this fall.

Hey, Richard. Fellow Dallas'ite here. I live in NW Dallas over near Forest and Webb chapel. Looking forward to visiting your haunt this season.

Jim

[Moxley Manor]

Name is Richard and I reside in a North Dallas metroplex. After a few years working at a local haunt, we will be branching out and introducing a new haunt to the Dallas / Ft. Worth metorplex this fall.

[screamforadream]

Bobby, from Connecticut, still in high school but already a seasoned haunter. Have a LOT more years ahead of me, but already been a designer and manager of a local haunt. Currently working on a huge one night event for a Relay for Life, hence the name "scream for a dream" just thought it fit seeing as how I've never been paid to scare or design, I do it for fun and to help out good causes! =) I scare by night, and am a lifeguard and water safety instructor most days after school, and new to this forum.

[scaryguy666]

Von Spooky nachos

What does that name mean? Its makes me hungry.

[Von Spooky Nachos]

I'm a little shy ...

Well, ahh ... I am the mortal component to Edgar Krawly, one of his drones to be exact. I handle all the internet activities and correspondence for Edgar Krawly when I'm not assisting with extracting fresh human brains, cleaning out brain jars, attaching probes and electrodes to human brains (yawn) or just standing there, drooling, awaiting my next command. But it's good work if you can get it ... employer matched 401K, health insurance ... dental only pays $25 a procedure, but I guess that's better than nothing.

Anyhoo ... I'll be poking around here once in a while. And if anyone is interested, we have a few vacant jars available and would love to extract ... err ... love to meet you.

I'll be bumping around the Haunt Show, although incognito.

Von Spooky Nachos

[Dalloween]

Name: Jim
Age: 33
Location: Dallas, TX

Hi, everyone. I'll be attending the Haunt Show for the third time this March, and came to this site from the trade show page. My background is in architecture/design and I currently teach at a private art college here in Dallas. I've been a Halloween fanatic since a very young age, when my parents helped me start collecting decorations, props, masks, etc to create haunted houses in our backyard playhouse (I still have most of the stuff they bought me). My interest and collection has only grown over the years. At this point, I own a small online retail Halloween business and also do an annual complete make-over of the inside and outside of my home where I've drawn around 2,000 ToT's each Halloween for the last three years (people calling friends on cell phones has done wonders for drawing people to my home "get over here, you have to see this!"). Needless to say, I've totally outgrown my home... I've only been able to use about a quarter of my collection the last two years which includes professional quality props and pneumatic animations. Given my design background and haunt interests, my ambition is to eventually go pro. I've recently started the process of developing a business plan and am looking to make industry contacts. I'm excited to have come across this site and am looking forward to where this adventure continues to lead me.

[jakprintsHAUNT]

Jakprints Introduction

Company: Jakprints Inc.

Location: Cleveland Ohio

Primary Business: Printing of paper goods, apparel, textiles, stickers, banners, wide format, as well as embroidery and a multitude of other product options. We also offer mailing services, custom creation of new and fun items, specialties like glow in the dark and fluorescent inks/threads, foils, embossing, debossing, lamination, and so much more. You dream it we can probably do it.

Noteable past industry related clients: Raven's Wolf Productions, The Legion Of Terror, David Greathouse, Ghostly Manor, Haunted Hydro, Carnival Of Horrors, Haunted Crypt Productions, Screamline Studios, HauntedHouse.com, Mushroomhead, Nox Arcana, etc...

My "day job" so to speak is with Jakprints Inc. A professional printing company here in Cleveland, Ohio. I went to the owner with the proposition that there are not enough easily accessible options in the haunt industry for quality printers, and I wanted to use my knowledge of the industry to help change that. He liked the idea, and we have plans to have a lot of fun doing this, so here I am.

You may have seen our insert in this month's Hauntworld magazine, and we will also be featured in the coming issue of Haunted Attraction. I will personally be attending the Haunt and Attractions show in St. Louis to get out and meet as many of you as possible and show what we have to offer as well as share great stories from all of our haunt travels over the years. We are also considering exhibiting at other shows later in the year/next year based on the success of this project.

Being in the haunt industry I know a lot of what many of you both haunt vendors and haunted attractions/actors will be looking for, and we can provide most all of your print needs from paper goods, apparel, stickers, banners and wide format, silk screening, embroidery, sublimation, tons and tons of specialty finishing options such as foils, lamination, fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark inks/threads, and even mailing services to accomodate mailing lists, direct mail promotion, or preparing and sending promo kits out to sponsors. As our new tagline reads, we have more possibilities than you have places to hide the bodies.

In again having fun with this promotional venture, we welcome contacting us regarding any questions you may have on printing, prices, options etc... We also want to extend an invitation to talk with anyone interested in donating, lending, or trading any products that we could use in promo photoshoots for future ads and promotional pieces such as body parts, appliances, contact lenses, or in general anything that we could showcase in an advertisement. We would be more than happy to cross promote you with names and/or logos of the company providing products used on the advertisement. The sky is the limit and again we want to have as much fun as possible with this and do what we can to provide a great service in a comfortable and familiar atmosphere to the haunt industry.

Looking forward to talking with and meeting/working with many of you very soon!

(sorry for the 2 "book" posts...lol, just wanted to properly introduce ourselves)

Mike "Pogo" Hach

[jakprintsHAUNT]

Mike "Pogo" Hach

Well to make this easiest to read I will break my intro into 2 parts: myself as a haunter, and then the company I work for and am introducing to this industry, so here is me, next post is my company...

Hello everyone!

I would like to take this opportunity to properly introduce myself and my company:

First about me personally:

Name: Mike "Pogo" Hach
Age: 31
Location: Cleveland,Ohio

Haunt Related Experience:
Have done everything in the haunt industry from acting, makeup, set and prop design, marketing, advertising, production, lighting, pretty much everything but owning my own attraction. I have been working in this industry since 1992.

I have worked for or acted (at least guest acted) at the following attractions: Bloodview, Haunted Hydro, Hinckley Haunted Barn, Carnival Of Horrors, Fright House at the DC Armory, Terror Tunnel at the IX Indoor Amusement Park, Dreamreapers, and Carnival Of Horrors at the IX Indoor Amusement Park.

I played extra roles in Robert Kurtzman's The Rage, Midnight Syndicate's The Dead Matter, David Greathouse's Legion Of Terror, as well as done camera and FX work for music videos of the band Mushroomhead (including the most recent video Your Soul Is Mine on the Saw VI dvd/blu ray), and done effects for several local short films, as well as several non profit prom drinking and driving demonstrations.

Extra Tidbits:
Met my wife Justine working at Bloodview Haunted house in 1997, then married at the Historic "Haunted" Mansfield Reformatory in 2007.

I helped form the Cleveland area acting troupe The Demons Of Darkness.

I will post photos of myself under profile pictures soon.

I used to frequent the Hauntworld boards but have been somewhat out of the loop for a while. Am having a lot of fun seeing all the great things that are still going on! Looking forward to staying active again! I will be in St, Louis and hope to meet many of you that I dont already know there!

Read next post for introduction to the company I am introducing to the industry:

Mike "Pogo" Hach