REVIEW: midsummer scream
AUGUST 19, 2022
review: midsummer scream
One of the biggest joys of our year is getting geared up for Halloween. Throughout the late summer we start to witness on social media the beginnings of builds for the upcoming haunt season. Whether it's a dark ride track being assembled in Riverside or a sneak peak at the exterior construction of a ghost town - the murmurs of what everyone’s been secretly creating quickly build into a roaring sound announcing the nearing haunt season. This time of year also marks the arrival of Midsummer Scream (MSS), the official inauguration of when our collective haunt community gets buckled in for another great Halloween season.
As we all know, for the past two years Midsummer Scream was postponed and instead manifested as multiple, smaller events. There was 2021’s “Awaken the Spirits” and the Christmas themed “Season’s Screamings”; and two Heritage Square events: the eerie, charming, and kid friendly “Cemetery Lane” and the bountiful outdoor daytime market, “Spooky Swap Meet”. While all of these events were impressive, they didn’t have the mammoth presence that Midsummer expands on year after year.
Taking place in its original location - the massive Long Beach Convention Center - this year's Midsummer Scream was as busy and packed as ever. The convention center was divided up into partitioned sections (Hall of Shadows, panels, and vendors) and we chose to immediately go to the Hall of Shadows - the blacked out wing that hosts all of the local pop-up haunts. Per MSS tradition we were greeted at the Hall’s entrance with the familiar sight of a breathtaking gateway built by CalHauntS (A group of haunt builders who meet once a month to share the secrets of prop-building) which took us through a haunted neighborhood where each home was built by members of the group. The themes of the homes were very diverse (The Purge, Gremlins, clowns, Trick 'r Treat) yet remained cohesive throughout. Each home offered multiple interactive elements, like shadows in the windows, scare actors, and even doorbells you could press to trigger lights and sound - reminiscent of a horror version of Disney’s interactive Toontown.
Within the Hall of Shadows itself were multiple pop-ups created by Realm of Shadow, Fear Farm, Dreich Society, Corona Haunt, Reichland Asylum, Santa Ana Haunt and Straite to Hale Productions. This incredible curation not only gave us a much needed haunt fix but also proudly represented a variety of Los Angeles areas and beyond, providing multiple examples of the amazing talent that we can look forward to later this year.
While the haunted houses were our favorite part of the event, there were also a wonderful variety of displays such as the black light cemetery by The Haunt with No Name… Yet, the creepy Bait Shop by Exquisite Corpse, the old tyme Halloween sideshow booth by The Quail Run Carnival, the somber and beautiful Day of the Dead walkthrough by Casa Calaveras, and Northern California’s Witching Auer presentation of “Halloween”.
We also enjoyed the multiple panels (most notably “The Original Monster Kids” panel hosted by Metallica's Kirk Hammett), performers (by our favorite shock theater Zombie Joe’s), meet and greets (We bought a customized, signed can of Captain Howdy's split pea soup from The Exorcist’s Eileen Dietz).
Midsummer Scream was a great celebration of all the horror talent that lives and thrives in the Southern California area. While Covid temporarily slowed the pace for all of us, we were thrilled to witness the powerful resilience of our local haunt community and its indestructible creativity.
VC
August 19, 2022
#midsummerscream #losangeles #hauntedhouse #hauntedmaze #halloween #horror #hauntsofla #mss
