The shows, produced by TransWorld Exhibits of Northfield, Ill., made their Las Vegas debut last week and if show producers have their way, it will be back - but not next year.

"We had a bigger turnout than we had last year," Eileen Oswald, vice president of business development for TransWorld, said of the inaugural effort.

"With the growth in the show, we wanted to see if we could spread our wings," she said. "When you take a show to a new location, you're always a little nervous about what's going to happen with attendance. But I think the reception has been good and we've gotten some West Coast participants that we may not have gotten at Rosemont (the Chicago-area convention venue where the show traditionally has been held) and we're gotten quite a few more names in our database."

The four-day show, which concluded March 19, includes more than 700 exhibitors and an estimated attendance of 10,000 people from 47 countries. The show has three distinctive exhibit areas - costumes, which run from the macabre to the scandalously sexy; haunting attractions, which include a wide range of animatronic displays and ghoulish visuals; and a party section that features a variety of non-Halloween displays for every festive occasion.

In addition to a trade show with displays titled "Maggot Mayhem," exhibitors showing off which toy chainsaws have the best sound effects and an assortment of hanging heads, the event included a series of panel discussions and guest speakers. Among the topics: "The Art of Haunting," "The Science of Haunting," "Selling Balloon and Party Products Online: It's Not as Scary as It Looks" and "Classic Scares, Good Old-Fashioned Gore and Things that Will Make Your Customers Scream without Breaking the Bank."

The show had a black-lit section that can demonstrate the full effect of sound, lighting and the hydraulics and mechanical movement can bring to a haunted house.

Most booth operators say business was brisk at the Las Vegas events and worries that people coming to the city would play instead of be in a business mode were unfounded.

"We actually found that there were a lot of locals that came to our booth," said Marsha Taub-Edmonds, vice president of Distortions Ultd., a Greeley, Colo., dark attraction and illusions producer.

Oswald said with local casinos getting more into the Halloween holiday for their own promotions that they were among the new attendees at this year's show.

Other industries sending representatives to the show were cruise lines, which provide their guests with holiday accents, amusement park chains wanting to keep with technological advancements in scaring people at special events at their theme parks and theatrical people looking for ideas in costumes and special effects.

Oswald acknowledged that the attraction of the Halloween show is a lot like the attraction of Las Vegas - participants enjoy the fantasy of having an alter-ego that is somebody that they aren't.

That's why Halloween has become one of the top non-gift-giving holidays of the season. Oswald said the $7 billion industry still trails Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day, but retail sales associated with those holidays center around gifts. Halloween, considered by many to be a holiday for children, is branching out into a more adult event with grown-ups enjoying dressing up in funny costumes or in sexy attire. Last week's show featured several fashion shows with models wearing outfits that will be on display in the months leading up to Halloween.

And that's where the problem lies for Las Vegas hosting the show in the years ahead, Oswald said.

A mid-March show is extremely late in the retail cycle, since costume suppliers need plenty of lead time to prepare to stock the shelves for the ever-expanding Halloween sales season.

TransWorld had a tough time getting a Las Vegas venue large enough to handle the Halloween show in 2009. Oswald said she knows the Las Vegas calendar already is jammed with major trade shows and events in January and February when producers prefer to stage their show.

So, the company canceled its option with the Sands Expo Center for next year and will return to Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, near O'Hare International Airport, in mid-January in 2009.

But Oswald said if Las Vegas Sands gets its new convention center addition built quickly or another sizable venue is available, the show producer is anxious to hear about it for the years ahead.

Richard N. Velotta covers tourism for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4061 or at velotta@lasvegassun.com.