Midsummer Scream scares up a horror-filled fright fest for every level of Halloween fanatic
For over a decade, Midsummer Scream has been dishing out the treats for Halloween fans at all levels of horror tolerance. This year, with an anticipated attendance of 50,000 over the fright-filled event Friday through Sunday at Long Beach Convention Center, the scale of the world’s biggest Halloween convention continues its trend of growing bigger and more dynamic every year.
Once again, Midsummer Scream will feature numerous panels, presentations and performances; a massive vending area with more than 350 exhibitors; Paranormal Pixie’s Pumpkin Patch, a child-friendly zone with activities and scare-free entertainment; the Black Cat Lounge, where guests can adopt a cat; the Screaming Room, which hosts a horror film festival; and, of course, the Hall of Shadows, wherein a number of installations and mini-haunted mazes offer thrills meant to rattle guests’ bones in a darkened section of the Convention Center.
The range of activities and featured guests is designed to cater to a range of horror fans — from those who find spooky stuff kind of neat to those who live and breathe by it. At one end of the spectrum are spooky arts and crafts for kids, magic shows and a guest panel featuring the creator and cast of the movie “Monster High.” At the other end are risque performances, professional haunt-industry tutorials and testimonials, and horror film celebrity panels. There is also programming that showcases inclusivity, such as the “Women Filmmakers Panel” and “Drag Story Time.”
All of the companies behind Southern California’s major haunted theme parks and attractions will be involved to varying extents. There will be sneak previews of this year’s Halloween attractions from Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest, Thirteenth Floor Entertainment (Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Delusion), and Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, among others. Universal will also host an interactive photo-op featuring its most notorious monsters, and, notably, Lionsgate is contributing Midsummer Scream’s first studio-produced walk-through experience in the Hall of Shadows. The installation is called “Gears of Fear” (named after the studio’s company logo) and will showcase elements from throughout its horror film catalog.
Midsummer Scream co-founder and executive director David Markland spoke with The Times about the partnership with Lionsgate to create the walk-through. “They came last year and did a phenomenal exhibit using ‘Saw’ props; they also held a panel around the legacy of ‘Saw,’ so we just built a relationship there,” Markland said. “They came in this year with a few different ideas. A number of the people that are at Lionsgate love Midsummer, and they pitched the idea of doing a maze instead of just doing a regular exhibit. So I put them in touch with Jon Cooke at Plague Productions, and they connected really well.
“It’s gonna be awesome for everybody,” Markland added. “We’re really excited to see it. It’s very elaborate, and I don’t know if it’s the largest haunt we have, by square footage or anything, but it feels like a theme park attraction.”
Naturally, it will be easy for Halloween fans to immerse themselves in the haunted atmosphere of the Hall of Shadows, but Markland and his team have also bestowed this year’s entire event with the unifying theme of “A Haunting,” which permeates everything including the promotional art (created by Suspirialand) that Markland said is inspired by old paperback mystery and supernatural novels and short story collections, as well as some of the programming and the official event after-party on Saturday — a celebration that has been dubbed “The Party for the Recently Deceased.”
The theme’s presence within the programming manifests on a number of levels. For local interest, there is a panel called “Haunted Offerings on The Queen Mary,” which includes the iconic ship’s resident paranormal investigator, Rebecca Knight, and other industry experts discussing its reputed haunted history. There is also a session called “How to Conduct a Seance,” hosted by L.A. psychic/astrologer/witch Renée Watt.
“How to Hunt Ghosts” features paranormal expert Lisa Morton discussing the history of ghost hunting and providing demonstrations of her industry’s techniques and apparatus. “Voices from Beyond” is another seance-themed presentation, which blurs the distinction between ethereal entities and AI (with featured guests that include actress Carolyn Hennesy [“True Blood”]). The famous Winchester Mystery House will also be featured in a presentation.
Finally, “Paranormal Activity” cast members Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat will host the “Paranormal Activity Podcast,” in which they will discuss their experiences working on the film as well as their upcoming podcast about supposedly true stories of demonic possession.
Anyone who has attended Midsummer Scream in the past can certify that half of the event’s spirit can be attributed to the horror fans who attend — many of them donning highly creative and original cosplays of everything from Freddy Krueger to a walking puppet theater (complete with a vampire Kermit and Miss Piggy show).
Those who dress to the nines and attend “The Party for the Recently Deceased” will have an opportunity to win $500 for the best costume. The party will include a screening of the new feature film “For Sale By Exorcist” (produced and directed by Christina LaMartina), a dance party with DJ Carlos Zavala, a listening party featuring the new LVCRFT album “Under the Covers,” photo ops, and an immersive experience (written and directed by Janson Lalich) called “Know Your Handbook: Game Show for the Recently Deceased.”
Markland is enthusiastic about the “Beetlejuice”- themed experience. “Anybody who’s coming to the party is considered to be dead, and they’re going to the netherworld,” he said. “Now, if you’re going to the netherworld, you need to go see your caseworker, and they really want you to review your handbook before, so we assume everybody’s read it and they know it.”
Given the large selection of programming options during Midsummer Scream — much more than identified herein — guests can download the event’s interactive app to peruse the numerous attractions, find details about each of them, and plan their own festival itineraries. When asked if he had any particular presentations that attendees should keep on their radars, Markland rattled off a few.
“Nothing gets on the schedule unless we’re really excited about it,” he said, “but some of the stuff that might be of interest and that people won’t want to miss includes a ‘Beetlejuice’ review with people who performed in the Universal stage show. We’ve got ‘Final Girl: the Musical,’ which is a Hollywood Fringe hit. Nick Alcaraz is this booming influencer/creator in the haunt or spooky space; he’s just one of those guys that shows up at events to sell his baked goods, and he has a line a mile long.
“One other talent that I want to call out is David Dastmalchian,” he added. “He’s going to be with us on Sunday only, and he will be interviewed by LeeAnna Vamp and then do a brief signing afterward.” Dastmalchian has acted in many genre movies and TV shows; he starred in the recent film “Late Night With The Devil”; he is the author of the horror comic series “Count Crowley”; and, as a horror fan, he made a special appearance at last year’s Midsummer Scream to moderate a panel on the haunted attractions of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment.
Because Comicon is taking place the same weekend, Dastmalchian — who has featured prominently in numerous superhero and sci-fi films — will not resume his role as a moderator; however, as a testament to the love for horror that exists not just within the hearts of festival-goers, Markland pointed out that Dastmalchian invited his friend Dana DeLorenzo — star of “Ash Versus Evil Dead” — to moderate in his stead.
Since its inception, Midsummer Scream has continued to grow, and it is no surprise that Markland has had to put a cap on ticket sales to prevent overcrowding at the Convention Center. And though the Midsummer team continues to bedazzle its guests with a sensory overload of Halloween and horror-themed delights, there is one thing that attendees can all be sure of: however frightful its various trappings, this event fosters a safe space for people of all ages and all walks of life to relish “A Haunting.”
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