I recently attended HAuNTcon in Birmingham, Alabama last month. What is Hauntcon? Haunted Attraction National Tradeshow and Convention which moves to a different city each year.
I have been going to Hauntcon the past few years and have wanted to post about it for a while now. This year was different tho' and very special and I'll get to why here in a few. First however, if you have not ever gone to it and like a good haunted house or want to learn how to make things, Hauntcon is the place for you!
This year, we were in Birmingham, Alabama, staying at the Sheraton hotel. I have found that when you go to a convention, it is always the most convenient to stay at the same hotel if you possibly can. The hotel offered a shuttle bus to and from the airport which is really nice so I didn't have to rent a car and that saves another expense. Plus, what was even better was that I was able to share the room with another, Deanna Bryant-Shaw. She is someone I met at previous Hauntcons and had shared a few classes together in the past as well as sitting with her on the bus tours. She is a really nice person and very talented and creative! Oh did I mention the bus tours? These are fantastic! Hauntcon offers pre-show bus tours to the local haunted houses. You get to go to many of the local haunts with the lights on and get a behind-the-scenes tour of how they put it together. Sometimes you'll get to go back to that haunt then with the lights off and see it in action with the actors and all just as it would be during the haunt season! I can't begin to describe how much fun these are!
All of that, is -before- the convention even starts! What a
great way to kick it off! Friday started the show with registration and classes
of all types. There are business classes for those who want to learn what it
takes to open a haunted house and all the aspects thereof. They have creative
classes with demonstrations on various things, making props or delve into some
of the psychology of a haunt. Plus, my favorite are the hands-on workshops!
Yep! You get to learn how to make stuff! AND! you get to take those items home
that you made. So its a great make and take class.
In addition to the classes, there is a trade show floor
where many vendors come and you can see a nice sampling of their products and
purchase items as well as make orders for things and talk to them one on one.
It's a great chance for networking and making those special contacts for
suppliers and vendors alike.
One of the fun night time events, aside from more tours of haunted houses, is the costume ball! I usually don't attend but this year I did and wow! What a great fun time that was!
I'll get more into each aspect of Hauntcon in the upcoming blog posts but I wanted to give an overall general view of Hauntcon and touch on some of the wonderful events you can attend and experience!
The next year's destination has not yet been determined but when I find out, I'll post of it here! :)
Don't miss out on this event! You can meet people from all over the world and not only have a lot of great laughs, but you can also learn a great deal that you can take back with you and add to your own haunt whether it is home or professional! GP /|\
Believe it or not, I am starting to catch up to my Monster of the Month club! This is for October and I have November here to open yet and December's is to arrive today! :) We'll get all caught up tho', no worries! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one. A heads up on this one for my friend Richard! LMAO!
Oh and to let you all know what I've been up to, is preparing for....
In about 2 weeks, I'll be flying south with the geese all the way to Birmingham, Alabama for almost a whole week of Haunt Heaven! This is a Halloween and Haunter convention where people from all over the world, yes, my friends from Australia, Ireland, England as well as Panama and all over the US come together for tours of local haunts, hands on workshops, demos, classes, and to shop with some great vendors for all of your haunt needs! It's an amazing time! There is also a costume party that I am planning to attend if my costume that I am making comes out right! :) So check out the link above and you'll see all the cool things you can do there!
I always have a great time!
I hope to blog about this year's event and I want to about last year as well, just so much to see and do! Crazy fun!
Until then, enjoy the latest Monster of the Month!
Do you remember playing Yahtzee as a kid? It was always a lot of fun in my house. My mom was especially good at it as she was always good with dice.
When I saw this one, I just couldn't resist it! The Walking Dead Yahtzee game! How fun that the zombie head is the cup you roll the dice from! Love it!
When I took it out and gripped the zombie head, I saw that my thumb fit right into the zombie's mouth! Just hysterical! There is also a surprise when you remove the scalp/skull cap of the zombie and I won't say what it is, will let you find out when you get it for yourself but I just laughed.
This is also not just a novelty item, but you can actually play Yahtzee with it. It comes with a pencil, score card sheets and dice, tho' the dice are kinda funky and there is an extra die too for a bonus game to play. The directions go over the bonus game as well for you and it's basically like a battle type of game with health points that you start out with. It sounds like fun!
I love the base of the cup, it's wide and so it will sit up nice and proper and not spill or tip over. These are the type of bases my dad always thought would be smarter to have on regular drinking glasses instead of all the narrow bases and wide tops. Everything will fit right inside the cup/head, dice, pencil, score sheets and yes, even the directions if you fold them up.
Definitely a great game for the whole family and can't beat it being The Walking Dead theme!
