[0:24] Hello, everyone. I'm Jonathan. I'm Crystal. And this is Haunt Weekly, a weekly podcast for the haunted attraction and haunted entertainment community. Whether you're an actor, owner, or just plain aficionado, we aim to be a podcast for you. And we return to you this week from the frozen winterlands of New Orleans. Yes. It is cold. It is quite cold right now. And even though the forecast is calling for a fairly significant amount of snow. About four to five inches. I have our secret weapon here. Sitting beside me. Crystal has the, she's the anti-Elsa. And she doesn't know how she does it. It's just every time she looks forward to snow, no matter how much it's promised, it never comes. Yeah, right now we're at 95% sure that there's going to be snow tomorrow. But I will remind the court it was a 100% chance in Philadelphia. I know, blizzard conditions. It was going to be blizzard conditions, multiple feet of snow, and no snow until we were midway in the air back to New Orleans. Then everything got hit. It's like the snow. Is she gone? Good. Jump. Then it pounded the shit out of Philly. Anyway.

[1:37] You'll know next week whether or not we got snow. In any significant amount. As I've said, my rule for this says flurries don't count. Significant accumulation must take place. Yes. So that I can build a snowman. You've only had snow once as an adult, and you've had to drive into it. Yeah, it was already there. It was already there when we arrived, and the temperature just didn't go back up to make it go away. Yeah. Like, you're allowed to have cold weather. Oh, yeah. But you're not allowed to have snow. But anyways, please, real fast, do check us out of the places we exist. We're HauntWeekly.com, HauntWeekly on Facebook and X or Twitter, YouTube.com slash HauntWeekly. We're also wherever you get your podcasts from. That includes the Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Podplayer, Pod, whatever.

[2:26] We're out in all the places. So, yes, indeed.

[2:29] Well, just a heads up. Okay, this is an episode of Visible by Four. It means it's time to do the news. Now, I'm going to warn you, A, because of all the shit going on in New Orleans, and B, because of the nature of the time of year, we may be a little short. Now, we have some important topics. we don't have a lot to say on. Right. And some moderately less important topics that we have a lot to say on. Yeah. So we're going to see how it goes. We're going to play it by ear. But first thing is first. Every week we try to ask a question a week. And the last one we asked was, did you make any New Year's resolutions? If so, what was yours for 2025?

[3:08] Yes. And James Munsell said, unfortunately, to possibly find a new one. Attitudes and egos got involved just waiting to hear the fallout for the up and coming season as to what's gonna happen that sucks man i mean it does i will say this i have seen a lot of good haunts in that way yeah and it is rough and then it's really it's especially rough when like nobody's fully wrong yeah no one's the asshole everyone's just a little bit the asshole yeah Yeah, or just on different pages. Yeah. Had different expectations about what it was going to be. Sometimes it happens, man. Greg Packard said, to try to do something for the haunt each day, good luck with that. Yeah. I would find that quite exhausting, but... Definitely a very good resolution. Yes. And Daniel Barnett said to connect more with others in the industry. Excellent idea. My personal suggestion would be to go to, well, any of the conferences. Yeah. And speaking of which, we'll be doing conference reminders in a few minutes. In a minute or two.

[4:14] But yes, indeed. Actually, no, we're going to skip conference reminders this week. I've got to update it. Okay. Because, actually, we'll just do the next three. Okay. Okay. We'll do that. We'll do an abridged conference reminders. Because with everything going on, usually on the news episodes, she does the notes. I update the conference list. And I didn't do it. Yeah. You know. Everything going on in the holiday, I just didn't do it. And I apologize for that. That one is completely on me.

[4:46] So, yes. We'll get to that in a second. But first things first, this week's question of the week. I think this is going to get some great responses. What haunt build are you most proud of? What is your best build? I want you to brag. Yeah. Don't even humble brag, man. Just brag. Come at me, you know? Yeah. What's your best build? What build are you most proud of? Let us know. HauntWeekly.com, HauntWeekly on Facebook, and YouTube.com slash HauntWeekly. Let us know. We read all the comments everywhere they come in. And very, very good chance they're going to be right on the show. Small podcast. Yeah. So what's your best build?

[5:27] You have any? Oh, man. You know... It's kind of weird. The builds I'm strangely the most proud of are some of the ones that did not work in the hot. I understand that. I'm really amazed we got that drop ceiling to work as well as we did. Yeah. The one in the corner. Oh, that was so cool. It was consistent. It was impactful.

[5:51] And it was safe as all fuck. Oh, yeah. There's still support pieces up for that that we haven't been able to get out of the walls. Yeah, and it's not lack of trying. No. So I think some parts of that became permanent. Yeah.

[6:05] No, I'm really proud of that because we took this really big vision of having a ceiling come down on people and we made it happen. The only problem was we just could not get people under it long enough for it to work. Yeah. Anyways. Yeah, it was a slow moving thing. Yeah um so as far as scare build i think that the disappearing wall with the projection on it okay was probably one from this year this last year no oh no the disappearing wall the fabric yeah okay yeah yeah the the first iteration of the disappearing you know we've never seen anywhere else no nobody else does this wall yeah and and honestly i was thinking about that i think one of the reasons might be is the fabric approach we took works great for three nights, but I don't know how it would work for a 30-night season. Yeah, I don't know either. That's a good question, but regardless, yeah, that was a really cool effect. Now, as far as just general builds, I think the queue line might actually be our best build because it's still standing after multiple hurricanes. Yeah, the queue line, yeah, yeah, you know what, you know what, that's a very good point there that I did not consider. That queue line, not only has it served as a queue line it served for a couple years during the pandemic as a hot tub um.

[7:28] Place uh place yeah that ensured privacy and ensured comfort and everything yeah and gave us a covered space uh yeah that for two people who a have very little idea what they're doing we're honest and b wanted to make it so that it could be flat packed if absolutely necessary yeah it's made with panels yeah it's literally made with panels everything in it is a four panel pretty much yeah we wanted to give people a covered place that they could wait that was separated um and give our actors like a little scare entrance on the side that was a last minute addition at the request of one of the actors yeah that was a very last minute yeah so i mean and considering that it's a non-permanent structure because we don't have anchors in the ground for That's the difference, folks. You read the code in New Orleans. That is the difference. Yeah, it's held up great. Yeah, and like you said, it survived three hurricanes, two, three, something like that. I don't know. It's at least two. Yeah. And the only thing that happened was one piece of the roofing got torn off, but that was our fault. Yeah. We lazed out at the end and didn't attach that final piece properly, but all the pieces we attached properly, still there.

[8:51] And the outside owl that's built using the same techniques that hasn't been damaged at all no no no other than by cats scratching on it well okay well that and it's also um southern facing so it has the mold and mildew issue that's common any building that faces south in new orleans or any wall that faces south in new orleans is going to have this issue just trust me i don't know i'm I'm not sure exactly the physics, the biology of it, but it's a thing. It's a goddamn thing, and it's annoying as shit. So, yes, indeed. Let us know what your favorite builds are at all the places I already mentioned.

[9:29] All right, so it's time to do conference. Remind us, as we said, we're going to keep it a little bit abridged this go-around. So, Crystal, why don't you start us off?

[9:38] February 27th through March 2nd. It is Transworld's Halloween and Attraction Show in St. Louis, Missouri, at the America Center. You can go to haashow.com for more info. All right, April 4th through April 6th, it's April Ghouls and Athens, Georgia at Southern Brewing, featuring a haunted trail, bands, vendors, and more. Hauntfest.net for more information. and finally this week april 24th through april 27th it's east coast haunters convention it will be in oak city pennsylvania at the greater philadelphia expo center uh info is still pending it is paired with the east coast christmas show and eastcoasthauntersconvention.com for more info indeed all right.

[10:27] And Daniel Barnett, this is what I encourage you to do if you want to make these contacts. Yeah, and there are groups on Facebook and things, too. You can also start participating. Facebook groups are great. And Facebook, it's kind of weird. It's where the haunt industry is. It is. And I wish that we had other outlets. Like, I realized the last time I did the media announcement, I skipped over X. and I did it completely subconsciously because like 95% of our audience is on Facebook. Yeah, and... I probably should stop maintaining that presence because there's nothing listening. I think it's a good idea to stop maintaining it. Maybe I'll set up a blue sky page or something. Yes, we should do that. Okay. Yeah, I mean, all I've been doing is posting the episodes as they go live. Yeah. But realistically, it doesn't matter because damn near every follower we have social media-wise is on Facebook And that's just the nature of honors. Yeah. It's always been that way. And it's been that way for a long, long time. So get comfortable with Facebook if you're not. That's the other recommendation. All right. Well, on that note, it is, like I said, an episode of Visible by Four. Therefore, it's time to do the news. And unfortunately, we're starting with a rough story.

[11:43] Yeah. And it's an international rough story. Yeah. Do you want me to take the lead on it? I can do this one. So a teacher in, and I'm sorry, I'm going to mispronounce this, Malacca, Malaysia. Yeah, but this is not going for free Malaysia today, by the way. Yes. This is the one that was added in last. Of course, I forgot to put that in. But I got, anyway. Moving on. A teacher has been arrested for allegedly molesting two six-year-old students at a carnival that was held at the school. The 43-year-old male, he invited the girls into the haunted house that the school was putting on and then assaulted them. The girls went straight to the headmistress who called the police. And a test conducted on the suspect said that it was positive for methamphetamines. There's not... You know, obviously, this is all alleged right now until there's more information.

[12:50] You know, I mean, okay. And it's such a difficult story from a haunt perspective. We're talking about a carnival at the school and a teacher at the school. Yeah, it's not a professional haunted house. Yeah, exactly. Yes, I was trying to figure out whether or not to include it or not, but it is a haunted house event. Yeah. And a lot of schools do put those on and ask for volunteers to help run them. Yeah, including both. I mean, and this was a teacher at the school, it sounds like. Yes, it was.

[13:25] You know, realistically, the haunted house element of the story is fairly minimal, other than the haunted house provided a convenient, isolated space. Yes. This is a tale of a teacher abusing their authority, allegedly a teacher abusing their authority to molest two girls yeah that's what it's really about it's not really a haunted attractor story but i'm but you know you you know luckily the headline on the actual article does not mention the haunted house you had to kind of dig into the body of it yeah because they said it was at a school carnival which is true it was a haunted house at the school carnival um but yeah yeah the here fortunately the haunted attraction angle isn't really that important for the haunted attraction side. I'm glad the students went and got help. Yes. I'm glad the headmistress quickly believed them and took immediate and responsible action. Yeah. And it seemed like everyone involved, other than obviously the teacher in this situation, did exactly what they should.

[14:29] I feel very bad for the victims, but I'm glad that, He probably won't be doing that again, as we hope is. Yeah. Because, you know, that's it. Oh, we did skip something, but we'll get back to it in a minute. So, yeah, a tragic story, but one that fortunately has as good of an ending as I guess you can get. Yeah. All right.

[14:52] Now, as we get into less, I mean, still serious, but not as serious on the tragedy news, we quickly wanted to do a follow-up on TikTok. We talked last week about the TikTok situation and the upheaval in social media.

[15:07] As I'm sure everyone knows, in the past week, TikTok self-banned, then un-self-banned, and everything's still kind of up in the air with this. Yeah, it's very strange. And I would not count on it remaining the platform that it was. No. Well, there's three problems with that. So problem one is President Trump has been historically very unpredictable on this topic. Yes. He has gone back and forth on TikTok multiple times. And I guess we'll see what he does. But problem two is that he may, there's a whole debate whether or not he can even do anything. Because this was a law passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. And then upheld by the Supreme Court. Yeah. He may not be able to stop it with an executive order or anything like that. Whole set of questions around that. And third, even if he is able to, it's not going to be the platform it was because already people began hedging their bets and moving away from it, anticipating the ban. Yeah. So it's one, two, three there in terms of why TikTok is not going to be what it was a year ago or two years ago. Yeah. All right. Moving on. Now that we've got that update out of the way that I accidentally skipped over in the notes.

[16:32] Brett Hayes has put out a post on Facebook for the locals in the area of Fear

[16:37] Fair. If you remember, Fear Fair was his haunted attraction for many, many years. Unfortunately, he had to shut down abruptly due to an insurance issue that was not their fault. I insist upon that. Yeah, that was so stupid. And this is in Indiana. Yeah, in Indiana. In Seymour, Indiana. But basically...

[16:59] Um, all the wiring in the old Fear Fair building was stolen recently. Yeah. And so he's asking for people in the area to help keep an eye out. If you see somebody over there that isn't, um, and this was a Facebook post by him. Yeah. That isn't supposed to be there. Let him know. Yeah. Um, there is a company legitimately there moving props. Yes. Please do not bother them. They have a white truck with trailer, white trailer also. Yeah, it looks like a plumber's truck with the extended cap and a panel trailer. Yeah. I mean. Yeah, they're supposed to be there. They are supposed to be there. They are doing things that are totally legit and legal and fine and ethical. Please don't bother them, but if anyone else is on the property, let them, let the authorities know. Let somebody know. Yeah. Basically.

[17:53] Um it's just a real shitty situation i know fearfare had been doing some things with christmas and some non-haunt related things so they could find insurance for but it just really sucks the story fearfare this is just a kick while they're already down yeah it just sucks yeah it does All right. All right. Next up, Fear Factory partnered with Station Park Dental to give Andrea Mangum a $20,000 smile makeover. And this is from Morningstar, and the writer is Jeremy Karchner. Karchner. Man, I'm skipping all the letters. I thought it was Magnum. But you're right. It's Mangum. Yeah. Yes. You triple-checked that, I know. I did. I know you but yeah she's she's been working at fear factory since 2017 and opened up on, on a haunt event about some dental issues that make it difficult to eat and have been causing ear problems so the procedure will happen in either happened in August or will happen in August. It was unclear in the article. I'm pretty sure it's a will happen.

[19:13] But yeah, that's, Yeah, it's a neat thing to do for one of your own. Yeah. It's a very cool way to support your haunt family and to further the idea that haunts are a family because you definitely don't see other businesses doing this. So, yeah, a good thing for them, good press for them.

[19:36] All right. Now, this next story is an interesting one. I found this one a while back. We had missed it in October. over this is an article by beer shaner at wooster and it's how you say it we know someone who's lived in wooster wooster mass um wooster sucks and i love it now when i first saw this i had thought it was um either a parody or ai or something because it just seemed a little too crazy yeah but then i looked into it and it appears to be authentic.

[20:13] I was quite surprised because back in October during the middle of haunt season, the headline did I'll just read the first paragraph because it actually says it kind of well tensions flared at Ralph's Rock Diner Sunday afternoon as a group of evangelical protesters, demonstrated against what they call a satanic ritual that will awaken the Antichrist himself, now apparently and this is what I did for my little extra research as I looked up this location And then I even checked in Google Maps to make sure it was 100% real. It's a diner slash bar that also does a haunted attraction every year.

[20:52] The Die Inn. Yeah. No points for creativity on that one. Sorry, guys. And basically, it's a small haunted attraction. The admission fee is $10. Yeah. We're not talking about the biggest haunted attraction in the world. But apparently, protesters seized, oh yeah, sorry, it's called Diner, Drive-In, and Die. Mm-hmm.

[21:18] And basically, protesters picketed the event until they were told by authorities to move. Then they picketed it in the parking lot on the property until authorities or someone forced them to move to the sidewalk, to a public space. Yeah. And the pictures in this are crazy. Yeah. Because you haven't seen this since the Satanic Panic in the 80s. Nothing like this. No, no. So, there's, I mean, for a lot of reasons, we are headed, I think, toward another satanic panic. Yeah, I... But I do think we're heading into it. But haunted attractions, in general, rarely attract attention from religious protesters. I mean, like House of Shock did, at least initially. But they were doing very deliberate, very heavy-handed satanic imagery. They were very intentional. And they were doing it in the middle of the actual satanic panic in the beginning. Right. So they were playing with fire. Ha ha ha.

[22:21] And they knew what they were doing. So they got, I think, exactly what they wanted. Apparently there were also rumors that some of those protests may not have been fully authentic. And you know what? We're in showmanship. I wouldn't think less than four of that. But yeah, there was definitely some real backlash there. Yeah. So yeah, I do not understand. And why the wherever there's two followers of Christ Church, that is their actual congregation name, decided that they were going to spend their Sunday. Yeah, just doing this Sunday after church. Going to go take it to the haunted house.

[23:01] So and the reason I want to say we missed this in October and the reason I wanted to go and include it now a slow week. So slow episode. So no reason not to. but also it's just what? Like I said, when I first saw this I thought I was on The Onion I thought I was on a comedy site especially with the name of the blog but it turns out the story actually is as good as I can prove it the place is real, the event is real and yes, the congregation is real, I mean what the fuck? I don't know Like, we've not seen anything like this in so long. Mm-mm. And I don't know. I hope that this isn't going to become...

[23:48] You know a new normal for the haunted attraction industry especially like wooster is outside boston, it's a more conservative more small town vibe to as i understand it never actually been there myself like i said uh crystal's mom ellie's mom ellie's mom sorry ellie's mom yeah lived there for a long period of time so we got to hear all about the goings on in wooster for years there yeah we did and especially the wooster bus lines oh my god.

[24:15] So much drama on the wooster buses y'all let me tell you, oh goodness i'm not wrong you're not but yeah so anywho that um, yeah i'm just worried that this may become a new normal for the industry hope not i hope not too all right cedar point yeah um this is an article with wkyc ryan hadett cedar point confirms more changes to the park um they are removing um a lot of various structures from the park basically they are in the middle of sort of a lot of renovations it seems like yeah and it looks like one of the things that they're removing is a is like a sky it's called the high grounds and it's a playground that's up in the sky yeah like a good like a one the haunters community related to a city museum in st louis yeah yeah it looks very much like that but outdoors City Museums is outdoors. The actual bit you climb around? Oh yeah. Yeah, I didn't do that part. You watched me from the bar, which is the wise move, actually. Yes. Yes, I did.

[25:21] We know I don't do heights. Yeah, so I'm, you know, it's sad that they're taking this down because it looks like a great playground. And there was a video in the article that shows kids really enjoying everything at this place. And it's going to be, you know, changed. They do have a Hello Weekends there. Yep. That they've introduced in recent years. There's no word on whether or not it's going to continue. The last one they did was Blood on the Bayou last season.

[26:04] What the fuck is up with this? Yeah. But they are putting in, you know, new roller coaster. Yeah. They said it would be the fastest, longest tilt coaster in North America. Yeah. And it's called the Siren's Curse. Yeah. So that sounds spooky-ish. Well, and, yeah. You know, and the thing about it is, like, those types of playgrounds, in my experience, kids 100% love the shit out of them. Mm-hmm. Like, and once again, going back to the City Museum when we were there, kids were just having a blast on that. It was crazy fun. Mm-hmm.

[26:42] But it's also not something you can sell a theme park on. Yeah. It's not necessarily what sells tickets. Right. And so they're pushing toward attractions with superlatives, i.e. the fastest and longest tail coaster in North America. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this, and if they're able to continue their hollow weekends. Because, like I said, I am still very, very happy that even non-universal theme parks have been getting involved with Halloween and doing Halloween shows. I hope it's able to continue, but it is sad to see a beautiful sky playground go away.

[27:28] Yeah, and it is located in Erie County, Ohio, if you have any interest in checking it out. Yeah and seeing what they do with it all right well and more sad news unfortunately uh nightmare in the country announces closing in woodward oklahoma this is just their website nightmare in the country.com which honestly the first time i heard that name i'm like uh it's a dubious name i'm like wait but no other haunt uses that i've never heard that name before.

[28:00] Oh, well, regardless, after 15 seasons, they are closing, and it's for a positive reason. The owners want to retire. Yeah. They've hit that point. They want to retire. They thanked all their patrons, actors, and staff over the years and said that basically this is their time to not work. Yeah, they want to do something different.

[28:20] You know, it always sucks to see a haunt close, and I always feel bad for all the people who made connections and memories at a haunt but this is the owner's one it's the best reason i can think of we've been successful we had a great run i want to we need to we want to retire yeah exactly i can fault no one for that even as i do feel bad and sympathize and empathize with those impacted by it i also cannot blame someone for wanting to retire especially after a 15 year run And running a haunt is demanding. It is. And it's hard on the body. Yeah. Especially until you get older. It's hard on the body. And it's really hard. It's really, really stressful is the problem. It's such a stressful industry to be in. You really do have to love it. Because haunt season and the build up to it. You've got like three solid months there of just constant stress.

[29:15] And then it all tapers off for a bit. And then it just starts ramping up slowly over time. Yeah and so yeah this is one of the reasons why we never went probe is we didn't want to put that into our lives we knew we we know homeowners we know what they go through yeah and you know having run several large events yeah over my career it it would just be that but as a career and that doesn't sound like fun no there's there's too much on the pro side that isn't fun yeah exactly There's too much in the business world.

[29:51] It's that intersection between haunt and business that never interested us. Yeah. Haunting we love. Yeah, haunting we love. We love building things. We love scaring people. Love acting. Love doing just about every part of the haunt that we have for different reasons. It has a lot of different elements. They all tickle different little creative spots on us. I'll scratch different little itches. But the minute we have to start getting permits and start getting, you know, employment paperwork for all our actors and thinking about the finances and how we're going to pay everyone. Yeah. Yeah. That gets rough fast. It does. All right. Moving on.

[30:29] Haunted Hotel in Bollinger is looking for a new owner. This is an article by Rosanna Fair at the San Angelo Standard Times. I do love that their site is go san angelo yeah yeah, write your own jokes people yeah uh the hotel was built in 1886 um and it was taken over nine years ago by connie and dan la fove and they're now looking to sell it sounds like they do more paranormal experiences but the place could be a great opportunity for a haunted attraction to move in.

[31:09] They are working to find new owners who will uphold the events that are already scheduled for 2025 and keep the same kind of feel going on. Yeah, and I hope they're able to find someone. It sounds cool. I'm not much into the paranormal side of Haunted, but I know that this is an overlap with the Haunted Trang community because a lot of Haunted, like the mortuary locally does this a lot you know they're an actual historic building historic mortuary shock of shocks and so they do paranormal events from time to time on top of being a haunted attraction in september october november yeah so yeah um good luck to them that's i don't have no what to say other than you know we when we were in kansas city we learned that yes those old hotel buildings can become honored attractions but there were a lot of stairs and some of those like i was not prepared for that workout no everyone who works there must have like calves of like thighs of steel you know yeah unless there's a secret back elevator somewhere yeah we were not invited on yeah um.

[32:24] All right. Well, this one already happened, but for fuck's sakes. This one article by Natalie Davies at the Detroit Free Press. The Westland Haunted House Knows Halloween. Hollywood style New Year's bash. This took place. You didn't. Okay. Hang on one second. Legendary Newsman. Oh.

[32:52] Go to the next one. No, no, no. We can get this one. It's the Westland Haunted House. That's what I'm confused about. It's just called the Westland Haunted House. Yes, it's just called the Westland Haunted House.

[33:03] That rolls off the tongue neatly. Yes. All right. So the Westland Haunted House had a special New Year's Eve bash that featured, I shit you not, a mini Bourbon Street with secret bar, DJ, and aerialist performances. And I got to say, the combination of Bourbon Street and New Year's aged like fucking milk. Yeah. Yeah. Not everybody wants to be on New Year's Bourbon Street right now. You know, I cringe at that normally. Yeah. But it's like so much more cringe this year. Well, and they had no way of predicting that. No, they didn't. And I totally get that. But it's still, you know, it's rough. It is. Tickets started at $60 per person with different levels, give different access experience. The event was for those 21 and older. Duh. And you could have gotten more information at legendarybash.com, but the events already happened. Yeah, but if you want to see what they do for next year, you can follow them there. Yeah. All right.

[34:13] I was not able to get that one. so um milltown haunted haunt donates to the ark of loudon loudon's newest to track uh haunted attraction donated a thousand dollars to the ark of loudon which is a charity um in their town hunters gigi and sarah greg launched the haunted house tours this year to unite unite the community by the passion for the art of scaring and give back to local organizations. They also gave to the Walk for Wildlife, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, and donating almost 100 pounds of canned food to the Loudoun Hunger Relief. Yeah. All in all, a wonderful thing.

[35:06] Once again, it's always interesting how we start seeing the stories about haunts giving and donating this time of year.

[35:15] It's always lovely to see, but at the same time, I do kind of wish that the haunts would get more boost from it closer to haunt season. Yeah. But regardless, it is the right thing to do. It is an awesome thing to do. Thank you much. Now, I think we should do the last one first and then go back. Yeah, that sounds good. Because I'll do this one, because this is my wheelhouse anyway. And then we'll come back to the one that's actually going to be our conversation piece, probably for the last ten minutes or so. Yeah. I think that's about right. Mm-hmm. All right. Disney removes Redbubble artwork from Haunted Mansion gift shop following criticism. This is from Pirates and Princesses. Yes.

[35:54] Don't look at me. Messenger. So I looked it up. There are multiple articles on it, but this one's by Pirates and Princess. And we'll have a link to the MSN.com version of it. So you'll actually have to go to the Pirates and Princess site. But basically, according to this article, Disney used AI to generate a photo of Ghostbribe Constance Hatchaway from the Haunted Mansion. And then they sold that in the gift shop. Yes. At the Haunted Mansion. Yes.

[36:29] You dicks! Exactly. Like, fans noticed right away. Yeah, she probably had 12 fingers or some shit. Well, they figured out where it came from, how to buy it, because apparently they didn't even get an exclusive license.

[36:47] But yeah, many fans argued that Disney is known for hand crafting, you know, artistic stuff, and then they go and use AI. And specifically, or specifically rather, they used, someone else used AI. Yeah. And then was selling the image. Yeah. And then Disney bought that image. Right. Did I get that about right? Yeah. That's, I believe, the order of operations. It's a little fucky in the article, I admit. But, so, what the fuck? Mm-hmm. I mean, okay. Like, the problem is this. How many times in this industry have we said we want our haunt to be Disney-like or provide a Disney-like experience? Well, apparently that includes just buying shit artwork off Redbubble that was generated by AI, because that's what Disney would do now. Yeah. And they'll sell that shit. Yeah. Yeah, so everybody's up in arms about that, because it is not what Disney's known for.

[37:48] Because you're basically, you know, poisoning your brand by doing that. Like, okay, if Bob's Haunted House down the road did that, we would mock Bob. Yeah. We would mock him. But at the same time, you know, we'd be like, but it's Bob. You know, it's Bob's Haunted House. It's one guy. Bob's getting on in years. He doesn't have time for this. but disney supposedly the top of the top the upper echelon the cream of the crop yeah.

[38:20] Five people got that reference um and everything else i mean it's like disney and it's not like this was just some tiny little thing they stuck on the wall in the haunted mansion that you could overlook a thousand times you went through it a thousand times no this was shit they were selling in the fucking gift shop yeah well and the the bride there is one of the prominent characters she's in all the movies like i haven't been to the haunted mansion or to either of the disney um places in the u.s yeah but you have yes do you remember her presence i do i vaguely yes i remember the name there are the thing is there's all these ghosts there it's a lot of ghosts but But no, I do vaguely remember hearing the name. And it may have been in one of the movies or the promos for one of the movies. But the name is not unfamiliar to me. And it's just like, what? Redbubble? Yeah. An AI slot sold on Redbubble? Yep.

[39:22] The fuck are you doing, Disney? Yeah. The Veiled Bus was also called into question for similar reasons. But the thing is is that that veiled bust has been around for a long time now the one that they got may have been ai generated but it looks like every veiled bust ever well and that's the other thing is like with a veiled bust how are you going to tell because that's you just said every veiled bust looks like every veiled bust but disney is supposed to be the leader in it oh my god no it's like shit yes it does i'm sorry i i'd seen the image when i when i first found this article eons ago yeah but i haven't looked at it since and it looks like shit no.

[40:17] It does. I'm just going to keep repeating it looks like shit until that thought leaves my head. No, it's terrible. It doesn't even look good. No, it doesn't. Like, here's the thing. Disney, you have enough talented people there. You could probably have... One of your janitors probably wants a shot at this, right? That was their foot in the door. They just wanted to get a paycheck from Disney so they could find a way to get in somewhere else. And so, yeah. Put them in, coach. Let them have it. If you're so desperate for people to create artwork, God, I mean, Disney.

[41:02] I think that they missed an opportunity to do a fan contest type thing. I would even take that. Local artists. Yeah, I would take that over what they did. Or do a whole exhibition of local artists' interpretations of the ghost of the haunted mansion. That would be freaking awesome. Haunts should do that for yourselves. Take that idea, run with it, get fans to do interpretations. Okay, yeah, you have a lead character in your haunt or something like that. Yeah, have people do their own artistic interpretation of it, have them on display at the haunt, and maybe even give them a chance to sell the artwork. Yeah. If there's somebody who wants to buy it. Exactly. And, you know, make sure that you've got all of your, you know, clearances and copyright in order for the contest. But no, I remember reading this and just, what the fuck, Disney? Yeah. I just could not believe Disney, of all people, would do this. No. But yeah, and this is, as you noted, this is something that's been reported on multiple sites. Mm-hmm.

[42:06] You know but anyway well let's move on this is gonna just make me too sad also we'll just do another sad one instead we'll close it off with a sad one yeah basically um, there weren't a lot of happy ones out there right now can't imagine why so party city is going out of business this article is by emmy abasi and jordan valensky at cnn.com um and they're closing after 40 years of being in business. Now, this is where the story gets interesting, because I was like, okay, it's closing, that's going to be it. But this article, A, is a very long read, but so interesting. There are so many twists and turns in it. Like, CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees on a Friday meeting that it's, quote-unquote, winding down operations immediately. Winding down is not immediate. Those two things don't go together. You say ceasing operations immediately. Yeah. And staff were told that they wouldn't receive a severance pay and that their benefits would end as the company goes out of business. Wow. Now, so the interesting thing about this CEO is he's only been there four months. Right.

[43:30] I think that they hired him specifically to do this. Which is a very common thing, actually. It is. It's not a shock at all. No. So rumors started circulating because the product development team was supposed to go on their annual trip. Which I'm going to assume included a trip to the Halloween Party Expo, January 13th through 15th in Las Vegas, Nevada. They didn't go, though. I'm pretty sure. Yeah, they probably were supposed to go to that. It would have made sense. They were called back the week before, and they were given the reason of they couldn't go because of a safety risk due to Party City not paying suppliers. Yeah, safety risk. Yeah. And then it came out that employees were sent home on December 10th. And when they showed up to work on the 11th, found the doors locked and security guards telling them that they had to have a one day in advance heads up to gain access to the building to get any of their belongings.

[44:42] Like, this is just a shitty way to handle a business closing. Yeah, I mean, there's no good way, but this is one of the more awful ones. Yeah, and I mean, it's a really interesting read, even though it is long.

[45:01] And like I said, these are just some of the highlights from it. Because they got out of bankruptcy, because we reported that they had went into bankruptcy when it happened. They got out of bankruptcy a month before the new CEO was hired, and then four months later they're shuttering everything.

[45:22] You know, I actually watched a video. I'll throw out an analog, something to watch alongside this. There's a YouTube channel called Company Man. Yeah. He did a video about Party City. He's actually done a couple of videos about Party City, but he did one after the shutdown was announced, which sort of summarized everything and brought it all together. And, you know, basically, obviously, as a retail company, they're facing challenges galore. Yeah. And one of the big challenges that they faced in more recent years was that they are a party supply company. And during the pandemic years, there weren't very many parties happening. Right. Now, they did blame something during the pandemic for their $1.7 billion debt load, but it was not enough helium because of the helium shortage that was a crucial point of their business. And that was actually something the Company Man video also covered, noting that they actually got something like 10 to 15 percent of their sales from helium balloons. Yeah. That sounds crazy.

[46:41] Especially here in New Orleans where mylar balloons are now fucking enemy number one. I'm not making that up, by the way. No. They take down the grid so often. New Orleans, due to its unique geography, most of the power lines are up high up on poles. And if you release a mylar balloon and it gets into the wires or the transformers, it puts on a light show and then takes down thousands of houses. Yes. and in fact they're they either recently passed or are considering passing a ban on them yeah but like dollar tree sells mylar balloons yeah helium inflated yeah um well and i think that was another problem they had was even when they did have helium there was increasing competition in that space yes because um.

[47:27] And basically, they made nearly all their money at Halloween. Yes. It was one of the other things that came out in that video. And one of the reasons we're talking about it here. They made something like 40% or 50% of all their sales at Halloween. It was a huge percentage, right? And it was in costumes, decorations, and party supplies. Sound like someone else, you know? Yeah. Just taking a guess here. you might have heard of the spirit of a company then yeah it'll probably move into all the extra party cities now yeah because spirit by operating the temporary locations and was able to have more locations at lower cost lower operational cost and basically one of the things i find interesting about spirit that i did not know was with very few exceptions if something doesn't sell at spirit by like the 3rd of november after the half off thing is it just gets shipped back in the storage yeah it'll come back next year you'll see it again that makes sense now there are exceptions too that some things they can't sell year after year but most things you know that just go right in the storage and come right back out they don't have that issue of having to throw away a significant amount because they don't have things that spoil yeah that much um.

[48:48] But regardless, they had their lunch eating them. Because, okay, you and I have been to a couple of Halloween cities. Yes. Which I'm sure you'll remember was Party City's attempt at their own spirit thing. Yeah, they were trying to compete head to head. It didn't work. No. And between Party City, I'm sorry, between Spirit and then Home Depot, really just this 800-pound gorilla entering the fucking decorations market. Yeah. What the fuck was Party City going to do? I don't know. I mean, they had to keep increasing their costs because of inflation and because they had all of this debt that they were trying to... Their overhead was just so high, too. Yeah. So their products were a lot more expensive than you could get them anywhere else. Yeah. And I've seen the change just in our time here at this house over the last 20 years. Yeah. Because when we first started doing Bernie Baxter, not 2000, but like the 2007, 2008 year.

[49:55] We tried to drop off flyers at Party City. Yeah. And they wouldn't let us. Right. We never got to. but i did notice they had a line literally running the length of the store to try on costumes yeah because it was them and then the little local mom and pop uh costume shop that we used to go to all the time yeah um and that was it and then when spirit opened up there was a definite visual reduction in the amount of people shopping at party city yeah, And here's the thing, like, once, especially once Home Depot opened up, what did we go to for, to Party City for Halloween?

[50:41] I can't think of a damn thing. Um, burning canes. Oh, that's right. They were for a while there, but then we found an internet place that has higher quality canes. Exactly. They sold the canes at Shatter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, okay, Bernie Canes will be about it, and I don't think you're going to keep a business going that long by selling me $5 bamboo canes. No. So, yeah, Bernie Canes will be about it. I think you're right, because we never bought any decorations there. No, not in a long time. There were things we liked, but they were always priced so unreasonably. Yeah there were a few like whenever the flame bulbs and stuff first first came out i think they were the first place that had them and we waited to see if they went on sale yeah um but yeah i like we didn't buy a mask or anything like that they're too expensive and i, Too expensive, and the quality was too up in the air. I don't want to say it was, like, low-quality stuff, but it was very up in the air. Like, spirit, you're getting spirit quality. You at least know what the quality is. Yeah. You know what I mean? Where Party City, it was all over the map.

[52:01] Yeah, and Party City just got sort of backed into a corner because they really and truly, they had so much of their business between the balloons and between Halloween. Yeah. And they just got eaten alive by a competition that had more locations. Because once dollar stores start selling the balloons, it's game over. There's 8 billion of those. Yeah.

[52:25] I literally can walk to two dollar stores right now. Well, maybe not right now. It's a little cold. But in general, I can walk to two. Four. There are four within walking distance of us because there's one at woodland and de gaulle and one over by chuck-a-cheese oh i forgot about that one yeah yeah you're right four i can walk to four with it so four within a mile yeah and i consider a mile a comfortable walk yeah so yeah but nearest party city that was five six miles away that was all the way on manhattan yeah they're um they're much more difficult to get to for for sure.

[53:04] And now I will say the one thing I did like at Party City, we did buy a couple of times. I just thought of this. The prizes. Yes. They had that giant prize section with the bouncy balls and the jacks and the noisemakers and the little mods and it's like that. You buy for like a quarter of a piece. Yeah. Once again, I don't think you're going to make a multi-billion dollar company stand tall on those. Not the way they were selling them, especially. So, you know, on one hand, I feel very bad. I feel, who I feel bad for is these 6,400 full-time and 10,100 part-time workers that did work there as of 2021. I don't know how many worked there at the time of closing, but I'm still going to assume it's thousands, and I feel bad for them. Yes. Especially considering all this went down in the run-up to Christmas. Right. In the run-up to Christmas and at all the town hall meetings, everybody was telling the employees, we're getting better. We're back in black.

[54:09] This is our time. This is our year kind of thing. They didn't suspect anything until they just got shut down. You know, and then the funny thing is I also just watched a similar video about Big Lots.

[54:24] And they had the opposite problem of Party City. They went gangbusters during the pandemic because they sell furniture yeah and suddenly everyone was buying furniture they had like double triple profits in the pandemic years well yeah and then it went yeah because people had to stay at home and use the furniture instead of just looking at it on a daily basis man i mean i'm always sad to see and i mean the truth is and the bottom line for me is i do have a lot of fun memories of party city and halloween yeah admittedly none of them very recent no but i do have some very fun memories of their um like i said those i think they were placed with discover the flame bulbs before they became common yeah um and i remember a lot of the props that you see at home deep of that style of prop not the big 12 foot skeletons but the other stuff yeah a lot of that first appeared in our in our corner of the world at party city too Right. No, it's because Spirit has a weird relationship with this area. But then again, Spirit has a weird relationship with every area. Yeah. So, yeah, we're sorry to see Party City go, but honestly, they've clearly been on the struggle bus a very, very long time. Yeah.

[55:39] On that note, everyone, thank you very much for joining us for the past hour. Hope this was educational. Hope you learned something. Hope you had a little fun. Please do check out the rest of our stuff. We're at HauntWeekly.com. Haunt Weekly on Facebook and YouTube.com slash Haunt Weekly.

[55:55] Until next time, I'm Jonathan. I'm Crystal. And we'll see you all next week with more Haunt Weekly. I have no idea what we're talking about.