The 2013 Midwest Haunters Convention kicked off on June 7th in Columbus, Ohio and we were there to catch all the horror and mayhem of this gore-filled convention full of off-season haunts, bus tours, backstage tours, horror karaoke, a trade show, and a masquerade party.
Our adventure began on June 4th for the Pre-Convention Bus Tour. A 63-hour experience covering 20+ attractions at 8 haunted houses in 3 different states. (Coverage Coming Soon!!)
The convention officially kicked off on Friday, June 7th. An all day Paranormal Bus Tour was offered to tour the Ohio State Reformatory and the Bissman Building in Mansfield, OH, but we opted to catch up on our sleep after the epic pre-convention bus tour.
Friday Night Bus Tour
After catching up on our beauty sleep, we prepared ourselves for the Friday Night Bus Tour. The festivities kicked off at the Hyatt next to the convention center for "Scare You to Death: An Interactive Haunting Experience" presented by Shutter Productions.
This make-shift haunt assembled in one of the hotel's event rooms packed a surprising punch. The winding maze was filled with entertaining actors dying to make a personal connection. The mini haunt was delightful from beginning to end with one slight hiccup. An actor covered in heavy chains clipped one of his chains to a decorative chain on my handbag and tried to drag me away. It was funny until the decorative chain on my $200 bag broke, but I was still able to enjoy the rest of the haunt even after that accidental annoyance. Following the presentation from Shutter Productions we boarded the bus.
Unit 70 Studios
The first stop on the Friday Night Bus Tour was Unit 70 Studios, a huge warehouse/art studio where they design and construct terrifyingly realistic props for haunted attractions. We were given the opportunity to take a self-guided backstage tour of the studio and enjoy some light refreshments.
Artist (and model) Lea Gray was on hand to provide guests with some festive face painting. After chatting with us and taking our business card, she dreamed up this fabulous concept to turn our logo into body art. We swooned. Then re-boarded the bus.
Haunted Hoochie at Dead Acres
The night's main attraction came in the form of Haunted Hoochie. An extreme haunt with a reputation for playing rough. Haunted Hoochie/ Dead Acres will be covered in detail in its very own post/review. For now, I'll just say that it did not disappoint and it was a highlight of our trip.
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Haunted Hoochie / Dead Acres[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2048.0"]
Haunted Hoochie/ Dead Acres WARNING[/caption] Scary-Oke
We returned back to the Hyatt in time to catch the end of Scary-Oke, which was essentially just costumed regular karaoke. We both signed up looking forward to showing off our hot new logo-inspired body paint, but they didn't have S's song, so I was the only one who got to sing.
Saturday Trade Show
Saturday morning we grabbed some coffee and headed over to the Convention Center for the 2013 Midwest Haunter's Convention Trade Show. It was an impressive display of horror makeup, sets, props, special fx, and more. Browse through our photo gallery to get a taste of the atmosphere.
2013 Trade Show Photo Gallery
Masquerade Party
Saturday wrapped up with a spectacular masquerade party where everyone dressed to impress. Click the link below to see the professional photo gallery of all the fabulous costumes.
2013 Masquerade Party Photo Album
We had a fabulous experience at the 2013 Midwest Haunter's Convention and we met a lot of great haunters and haunt enthusiasts. We look forward to returning again sometime in the future.
