Here’s a cool little game for us Haunters- Scary Sleep Over. Basically, you’re the ‘haunter’ in this game, and your goal is to try to scare the guest out of the house as quickly as possible. You press buttons at the bottom of the screen to control the ’scare mechanisms’- and each game-hour that passes, a couple new tricks are available to you. However, if you use a scare too often, the guest gets used to it and it has no effect. Check it out- it’s a great time waster! I had to play it a few times, but finally scared him out of the house at 1:34am.

For those of you who missed out- we just posted pictures of the July Make & Take in the new Photo Gallery! The event was awesome- the food was incredible, the company was fun, and the demos and props were AMAZING!

Randy drove up from Tucson and brought all of us VORTEX LASERS! Man, these things are soo cool- added in with some fog and you’re all set! They form a ‘Cone’ of light that swirls with the fog that passes through. And yes, he just made them and GAVE THEM TO US- what a great guy!

Speaking of Fog- Specter brought his Vortex Trash Can Chiller for all to see. Why spend $300-500 on a professional one when you can build this yourself for around $20!

The Topic of the entire event were LED Fireflies. We each made a set, and tested out different strategies and sizes to determine the best effect. WOW these things are cool! We hooked them up outside and they worked perfectly! You’d have thought you were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in DisneyLand! Looking for a How-To? Charlton wrote one up and you can view that in the Discussion Forums.

Check out the Photo Gallery Now to see all the action!

We have a new feature added to our Discussion Forums- the Photo Gallery! Here Members can upload pictures of their haunts & props! We’ll also be adding pictures of all our events and Make & Takes! Check it out now!

Not a member yet? Join now- it’s Free, Fast, Easy, and open to anyone with an interest in Haunting and Special Effects! Make sure to check out the Discussion Forums- post questions about building props, events, haunts or share the knowledge you have with others! See you there!

Thanks for Charlton and The Haunted Report for this news item.

Knotts Berry Farm will add six new mazes for Halloween Haunt 2008, including a movie tie-in with the upcoming horror-thriller “Quarantine,” according to theme park officials.

The 36th annual Knott’s Scary Farm will take place on Wednesdays through Sundays nights from Sept. 25 through Nov. 1, 2008. The granddaddy of Halloween events will feature 13 mazes scattered throughout the Buena Park theme park, with early-morning construction currently underway in backstage areas.

The six new mazes for 2008:

> “Quarantine” movie tie-in
> Alien Annihilation 3-D laser tag
> The Labyrinth
> Slaughterhouse
> Club Blood
> Cornstalkers

The seven returning mazes for 2008:
> The Doll Factory (New in 2007)
> Killer Clown Kollege (New in 2007)
> Pyromaniax (New in 2007)
> Black Widow’s Cavern (New in 2007)
> The Asylum
> 13 Axe Murder Manor
> Lost Vegas in 3-D

The Ultimate Haunt fan site reports the Knott’s monster casting call begins Aug., 11, 2008.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer