It’s hard to believe it’s already been nearly two weeks since Midsummer Scream 2019. I swear it feels like I was just roaming the convention show floor just the other day.
If you’re unfamiliar with Midsummer Scream, it’s an annual Halloween and Horror Convention held in Long Beach, CA that brings together all of the spooky things you love about Halloween into a weekend-long “homecoming” celebration to kick off the season. You can experience a haunt in the Hall of Shadows, watch a horror movie in the Screaming Room, catch a panel presentation on your favorite horror franchises or theme parks, or shop the hundreds of spooky vendors on the show floor.
This was my third year covering the convention and each year it gets bigger and better, with the convention taking over the entire Long Beach Convention Center for the first time in the convention’s four year run. In fact, this year’s convention was so big I didn’t even get the chance to experience everything I wanted to because the event was so jam-packed with stuff to do.
The Show Floor
As mentioned previously, this year’s event was the largest to date and the main show floor was no different. This year’s convention boasted over 300 spooky vendors selling everything from artwork, to props, to toys and apparel and it also housed autograph signings with some of Halloween’s biggest names like Cassandra Peterson AKA “Elvira Mistress of the Dark,” Kimberly J. Brown from the Disney Channel’s “Halloweentown” movies, and this year’s special guests the Dream Warriors from A Nightmare On Elm Street 3.
The 2019 Midsummer Scream show floor took up nearly the entire lower level of the convention center this year and it took half of my Saturday just to browse the various vendors at the event. Midsummer Scream has attracted some of the best Halloween vendors out there and you could easily wipe out your bank account if you don’t show some restraint.
The Hall of Shadows
The Hall of Shadows is the section of the convention dedicated to all things haunted houses and this year the convention featured abbreviated versions of nearly 20 local haunts. We only had the opportunity to experience four of the haunts during Midsummer Scream 2019. Part of this was due to schedule, and part of this was due to a misunderstanding about a haunt that sent us on a wild goose chase in the convention center that I’ll get into in a moment.
My favorite experience of the four was the “Scream Queens” Tribute Experience that was put on by Lights Out Productions. The experience was based on the short-lived Fox television series “Scream Queens” and made you a member of Kappa house where you and the Chanel’s conjure up both season one’s Red Devil and season two’s Green Meanie.
If you weren’t a fan of the show I don’t think the experience would have had the same impact, but as someone who loved the series and felt it was taken from us too soon. It was a fun little tribute.
My second favorite experience was actually the one that derailed my time in The Hall of Shadows. It was called Jack’s Halloween JamBOOree Haunted Hunt and it was put on by Opechee Haunt. While we heard there was a scavenger hunt element to this experience we didn’t realize the scale of the hunt and this took up a good chunk of the time we had allotted to the Hall of Shadows.
Jack’s Halloween JamBOOree Haunted Hunt was an interactive scavenger hunt where you work as a team to find clues to help find Gus, the host of Jack’s Halloween JamBOOree who has gone missing. The hunt took us to various locations throughout the convention center. At each location, a key would trigger an interactive element that would give you a clue of where to go next until you eventually find Gus and learn more about his disappearance.
All of us in the group were noticeably disappointed when we realized we had actually got in line for a family-friendly scavenger hunt and not a haunt, but I won’t discount the originality of the experience. In fact, I would have loved to have had my kids with me when we did this. It was wholesome Halloween fun and something I would definitely take my kids to.
Panels, Presentations & More
Over the course of the weekend, Midsummer Scream hosted a number of panels, presentations, classes, and even live podcast recordings. While I didn’t make it to all of the panels I intended to, you can read my recap of a handful of the ones I did attend below:
- 10 Things We Learned About “The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell at Midsummer Scream
- 30 Years of ‘Tales from the Crypt’: 10 Things We Learned About the Series at Midsummer Scream
- New Maze and New Scares Announced for The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor at Midsummer Scream
- “Creepshow Coming to Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights in All-New Maze
This year the bigger panels were again packed with standing room only crowds lining the walls. While it was still chaotic, I have to applaud the White Bat volunteers for their efforts to try and keep lines organized this year. In 2018 that was one of my biggest gripes and while not perfect this year, communication was better and they definitely tried their hardest to keep lines organized, walkways accessible, and make the experience as painless as they possibly could considering the space they had to work with.
Lines did fill up quick this year with fans lining up at least an hour before each panel, so if you are looking to attend in 2020 definitely keep this in mind if you are set on seeing a specific panel.
The Grim Grinning Gala
As in years past, Midsummer Scream hosted a Saturday night party. This was the first year I attended the event, which this year was themed around Disneyland’s The Haunted Mansion, in celebration of the attraction’s 50th anniversary.
This years event featured a live DJ, bars, themed photo ops, fortune tellers, and a screening of The Haunted Mansion film with live commentary by director Rob Minkoff and producer Don Hahn. Overall this event was a lot of fun and allowed me let loose a bit with some of my fellow Halloween content creators. I was fortunate enough to have my party passes included with my early bird ticket order, but tickets to the party were just $20, which I think is a fair price if you’re looking for a night of themed entertainment with some of your fellow Halloween lovers.
A common complaint about this event is that the bar lines are long and the drink prices are high. While I would have to agree, I’ll stress that these aren’t something Midsummer Scream controls as all food and drink are run by the convention center.
Overall, Midsummer Scream 2019 was a lot of fun and I think the organizers hit the target of making this year’s event bigger and better. Though they’ve already announced Midsummer Scream 2020 for August 1 and 2. I really feel that this convention has gotten so big it could be a three-day event. I would love to see them open up a Friday for the Show Floor and Hall of Shadows and then do full convention days with panels and the like on Saturday and Sunday. Midsummer Scream 2020 will be the show’s fifth year, so I imagine they’ll have even more surprises in store for this milestone year. Stay tuned because you know All Hallows Geek will be sharing all the details for next year’s event as they’re made available.
Did you attend Midsummer Scream 2019? What did you think? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on social media!
