Midsummer Scream brought together the horror community from all over the country for a lively weekend of frights and festivities in Southern California. The line wrapped around the Long Beach Convention Center early in the day for this sold out event. Horror fans poured into the building to explore the detailed attraction displays like Scary Mary’s elaborate pool scene from Dark Harbor and the busy vendor hall featuring favorites like Sanatorium Emporium, Zombie Gnomes, and the crew at Slashers Axe Throwing and Ales.
Entertainment was plentiful throughout the event. The pumpkin patch stage had family friendly options including the talented Psychic Buster, Lvcrft and one of my favorites, Mudd the Magnificent. Zombie Joe’s performed on repeat in their own horror theatre space. The Showfloor Stage had wonderful ongoing entertainment on rotation including Stage Fright Theatre. There were several wonderful musical shows including Monsterville, IT Musical Parody, Return of the Living Drag, The Shining and many many more. Beyond the performances there was also an after hours dance party with performances like The Time Warp including the audience.
I was able to experience several immersive theater pieces around the convention center, including performances by Force of Nature Productions, Stage Fright Theater, and Nevermore. FON Productions always makes finding their characters a scavenger hunt style adventure throughout the entire building. Stage Fright Theatre used social media to challenge guests to solve puzzles in order to know where to find performers for a secret immersive seance. Nevermore, new to Midsummer, had a booth with a mini escape room style puzzle experience that led to an actor driven experience to advertise their upcoming dinner theatre show. All were unique and fun.
The Hall of Shadows was also a major highlight. Eulogy did a wonderful job on the entrance. The Black Casket maze stood out with incredible scares and storytelling. Sid’s Twisted Cinema had large exciting set pieces and dedicated actors. Fear Farm brought the fear. Straite to Hale had beautiful set design. H&L’s Realm of Horror had great design and actors. Dreich brought the nostalgia. The Decayed Brigade slider show gave an impressive, high-energy performance to a packed crowd each time. It was also fun to chat with characters from Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas in their vignettes. From the Magic of the Jackolanterns’ bar to Clowns vs Skeletons to Haunted Carwash, each of the companies brought their own unique style and energy to the hall.
The panels and presentations were really informative this year. There were full musical stage shows, huge announcements, instructional panels, celebrity Q&As and more. Some of the most exciting announcements were the new location of Midsummer Scream for 2027, the Final Destination maze coming to Six Flags, Dark Harbor on the Queen Mary is returning with thirteen icon characters, the all new Fallen Angel maze is coming to LA Haunted Hayride and Delusion’s return to the Beckett Mansion. Amy & Melissa’s chainsaw shenanigans was a fun highlight at the 13th Floor Entertainment Group presentation. Matthew Lillard appeared alongside a few of his Scream co-stars answering questions onstage as well as making themselves available for autographs. There was way too much going on for me to see everything, but everything I did see was wonderful!
It’s exciting news that Midsummer Scream will move to the Anaheim Convention Center in 2027. Get your tickets early!
Thank you Midsummer Scream for inviting me! Be sure to follow @TheHauntGirl on social media for updates of next year’s convention along with more spooky season events this season.