LIVE Blogging from the Midwest Haunters Convention

Greetings Fellow Haunters
My name is Rex Hamilton and I am a long-time haunted-house actor from Cleveland, Ohio. It will be my pleasure over the next few days to bring you some of my thoughts and observations from the floor of the Midwest Haunters Convention (MHC) in Columbus, Ohio.

The 2007 MHC is the fourth year for this regional haunt show. The best source of factual information about the show is their official site: www.midwesthauntersconvention.com. The site of the convention is the Doubletree Hotel in the suburb of Worthington, OH about 16 miles due north of downtown Columbus. The hotel is located at the US Route 23 exit of Interstate 270.

Electronic registration for the convention’s special events (costume ball, bus tour and educational seminars) has been shut down. If you want to attend these events, you’ll need to register in person.

But don’t let the fact that you haven’t registered for anything keep you from driving to Columbus on either Saturday or Sunday. Why? Because general admission to the convention and the vendor exhibit areas is free to all.

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I arrived here in Columbus around 9 PM on Thursday and went straight to the hotel’s bar. The only haunter I found there was a good friend, Mr. Wayne Sealy, the owner of Mystery Manor haunted house in Omaha, Nebraska. I acted at Mystery Manor in 1998 and 2003. Simply stated, it is one of my favorites.

As we sucked down a couple of cold beers, Wayne chatted me up with all the changes he’s making to the Manor’s layout for 2007. (Mystery Manor will celebrate its 25th season in 2008.) Wayne has always looked upon a haunted attraction first and foremost as a theatrical event. He insists on actors who are skilled at improvisational acting. In return he’s creating custom costumes for his performers and having his 10 make-up artists (five teams of two artists) cook up great make-up schemes.
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The Ohio haunted attraction bus tour finally arrived back at the hotel at midnight. Their long journey took participants to The Horror Hotel in Chatfield, Ghostly Manor in Sandusky and The Haunted Hydro in Fremont.