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8/25/2025 0 Comments

Midsummer Scream 2025 - The Ultimate Halloween Warm-Up Is Better Than Ever!

Happy Halloween Everybody! We know a lot of you feel it's too early for Halloween, but for us, our favorite season never ends! And to prove that we have a great update for you from this years fantastic Midsummer Scream! We were at the event last Saturday and Sunday and were able to take in the amazing show floor, Hall of Shadows and of course some great theme park panels. 

​Let's head into the fog and check it out! 
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Welcome to Midsummer Scream 2025!

Midsummer Scream Show Floor

This year let's start off with the Show Floor. This is where you're going to find all of your favorite Haunted vendors as well as some displays from the likes of Universal Studios, LA Haunted Hayride, Fright Fest, Scary Farm and many others. This is typically where you'll find some amazing cosplay as you'll see below! 
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Haunted Hayride always in the house!
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We love the Spooky Swap Meet!
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Be sure to check out the LA Haunted Hayride this year! It's a lot of fun.
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Universal Horror had a fantastic booth right at the entrance to the show floor.
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It was incredibly popular all weekend ...
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A look at the Scary Farm booth before the giant killer popcorn arrived
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Fright Fest
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So much amazing merch to spend your money on
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And amazing cosplay at every turn
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Wonder if they found their dog
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Fright Fest Monsters
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Got my vote!
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A shirt made just for me!
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Hall of Shadows

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To us, the Hall of Shadows is the heart of Midsummer Scream. This is where you'll find all of the mini haunts from home haunts all the way to movie studios.
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And even displays for family-friendly events
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The Panels

Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest
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The panels (for us) kicked off with Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest! Mike and Mark gave us all the details for this years event.
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Knott's Scary Farm
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As usual, Knott's Scary Farm was on hand for a fantastic panel. No new maze announcements due to their nightmares revealed event a few nights later, but we did get announcements for two mazes entering their final season.
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Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 
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To cap off the weekend it was, as always, Halloween Horror Nights! Art came out with our hosts, but not really.
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John and Michael were here to break it all down. The first half of the panel consisted of pre-submitted questions from the crowd that shed some new details on this years houses.
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The second half of the panel featured Damien Leone and Phil Falcone who came out to break down Terrifier.
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Wrap-Up

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We hope you'll join us at Midsummer Scream 2026! 

I just want to send a shout out to the creators of Midsummer Scream. Rick, David, Claire and Gary. What you've created is truly amazing and even as the event has grown the past few years it still feels like a huge family. The fact that you all roam the event all weekend talking with people, taking pics and being genuine human beings is not lost on anybody. 

For us, we're always so thankful to be included in events such as this and the fact that you appreciate the input and coverage from a website like ours. There's something to be said for people who have a passion for all things Halloween being able to actually cover Halloween things. We will never forget what an honor it is! 

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​​If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on BlueSky, Instagram, Threads and YouTube
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8/5/2024 0 Comments

Midsummer Scream 2024 - The Ultimate Halloween Event Lives!

Happy Monday everybody and welcome to our update for Midsummer Scream 2024. It's been a week now since the event ended and it's taken us pretty much that long to recover. Of course, we did post some videos last week that will be included below. 

Before we get there I want to re-post a note that I put on our Facebook page 5 years ago today. Because it still absolutely holds true. 

August 5, 2019: 
Before we get too deep into the in's and out's of panels and more, just wanted to share a few thoughts on the experience of the weekend.

More than amazing panels, or fog, or mazes or aisles upon aisles of amazing things to spend all your money on, what I take most out of this past weekend is love.

People who have never been to any Halloween event or MSS are missing out. Halloween brought all of these people together. Some were there to see Theme Park panels. Others to learn about scaring, or just to shop.

But all were there because we love Halloween and all things that go bump in the night.

Not once the entire weekend did I see anybody acting out, everybody was polite, considerate and amazing. And it was CROWDED. We talked with people we know, and met so many new people just standing around waiting in line.

None of the actual horrors that exist out in the world made it's way into Midsummer Scream. I know it may sound hard to separate the two, but it's not. It's all about a shared love of horror and Halloween.

And it comes down to the 4 people in charge. They've helped to create a culture of love and acceptance that is at the core of the Haunt Community. And it's so amazing. - Gregg
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Hall of Shadows

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As always with our Midsummer Scream updates we're going to start with the Hall of Shadows. Because, to us, this is the heart of the event. And for the panels and announcements we are typically there for, this is really where it started for many of those haunters. With their home haunts. And there were some amazing ones this year. 
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This years entry was created by the one and only Fear Farm!

Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest Extreme 

Our first panel of the weekend was the Fright Fest Extreme Panel from our friends at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I'm not going to go into too much detail because we have a recording of the full panel, but this years event sounds amazing. 

I have to be honest, I was shocked that they're bringing back all of the previous mazes in addition to the new ones, but happy to see Aftermath getting a facelift. 
The park also had an awesome display on the show floor where we got to chat with a lot of the crew throughout the weekend. They're all super excited for this years event. 
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Queen Mary's Dark Harbor

A couple of months ago we were excited to be on The Queen Mary as they announced the return of the fantastic Dark Harbor. And we got some details about this years event! 
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First up was a quick history lesson about Dark Harbor.
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As they were planning for Dark Harbor 2024 they found a lot of props and costumes that had just been sitting on the ship since 2019. Some was salvageable. Some was not.
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Preparing for 2024 Dark Harbor photo shoots.
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The swings are back!
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And so is Lullaby!
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Some new and returning characters!
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In addition to the swings, they are also bringing with it a new fully restored Carousel.
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A new maze featuring the Ringmaster
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And of course it wouldn't be Dark Harbor without The Captain, but maybe The Admiral now? Hmm. =)
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Lots of returning food and of course bars.
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They then started discussing the classic B340 ...
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Which led into another maze announcement continuing the story of Samuel The Savage ... Breakout!
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And lastly, a new maze announcement. Infirmary.

Knott's Scary Farm

The other "announcement" panel we did was for Knott's Scary Farm, which didn't really have any announcements other than confirming that this will be the last year for Wax Works. 

While light on announcements, we did get a great deep dive into this classic maze from Daniel Miller. 
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We've included a video of Daniel's walkthrough of this classic maze.
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There were a few other things talked about at the panel including Entertainment and the return of The Hanging last year.
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What it takes to actually dress and get make-up on all of our monster friends ...
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And of course the overall atmosphere of Knott's Scary Farm
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All Knott's Scary Farm info for 2024 will be announced on August 22nd. We will unfortunately not be there but I'm sure it will be great.

Halloween Horror Nights

Of course the most popular panel of the entire weekend was Halloween Horror Nights, and we've got a few videos to share from that super long panel. We figured we'd break it up by topic for you. 

​Universal also had a pretty amazing set up on the show floor. 
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Show Floor

Let's end this look at Midsummer Scream 2024 with some of the show floor, some amazing cosplay and just general pictures throughout the event. 
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Our HHN Panel Crew!! Some legends here. And then me. =)
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Would be remiss if we didn't send a shout out to all of the amazing White Bat's. One of the biggest things we heard about previous events was the crowd control for the large panels (namely the HHN panel). This year it was flawless. Congrats everybody!
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Make your plans to visit Midsummer Scream in 2025! And we'll see you there!

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​​​​If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and YouTube. â€‹
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6/2/2023

For Three Full Days, Hall of Shadows Haunted Attraction Zone Returns to Midsummer Scream

With Theme of ‘Dungeons & Demons’, Renowned Dark Zone Features More Haunted Attractions, Photo Ops and Entertainment Than Ever Before 
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LONG BEACH, CA — When Midsummer Scream, the world’s largest Halloween and horror convention, returns to the Long Beach Convention Center from July 28 to 30, its centerpiece will be the Hall of Shadows, a massive dark zone that features a stunning array of haunted attractions, interactive photo ops, and live entertainment as creatures lurk and screams flow from the swirling fog.

All passes for Midsummer Scream include admission to every attraction within the Hall of Shadows, which for the first time ever, will be open to guests all three days of the fan convention: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One- and three-day passes to Midsummer Scream are available now at www.MidsummerScream.org. Additionally, guests holding the Gold Bat VIP pass will receive “fast lane” access to most attractions within the Hall of Shadows, bypassing general admission standby queues.

“As we celebrate horror games of all types this year at Midsummer Scream, the theme of this year’s Hall of Shadows is ‘Dungeons & Demons,’ which pays homage to the OG ‘monster’ game that we all grew up with and still love to this day: Dungeons & Dragons,” says Rick West, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Midsummer Scream. “We’ve invited our haunters this year to let their imaginations run wild, and where possible, to incorporate some kind of gamification or interactive element into their Hall of Shadows creations. Everyone is excited and hard at work to bring fans the most epic Hall of Shadows yet!”
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Guests will enter this year’s Hall of Shadows through ancient ruins filled with traps, treasure, and classic D&D monsters, thanks to the talent of the always amazing CalHauntS team. Roll for initiative and step lively into the darkness ahead — guests who linger too long are in danger of becoming a permanent fixture of this ancient dungeon!
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Emerging into the foggy expanse of the Hall of Shadows, guests are free to explore and engage more than a dozen spooky attractions, elaborate displays, and frightening photo ops at will, created by some of the best haunters in Southern California… and beyond. Among them:
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  • Popular cosplay photographer Rawl of the Dead will be on hand throughout the weekend taking complimentary pictures of guests as they fight to survive a zombie apocalypse;
  • Straite to Hale Productions invites fans to seek out spirits within their Winchester Mystery House-inspired walk-through experience, which is sponsored by the world-famous mansion in San Jose;
  • The Pizza Planet Truck and Art’s Sideshow are joining forces to create a Disney-inspired display that’s been taken over by Chucky, resulting in anything but a fairytale ending for the delivery driver;
  • The Dreich Society will take guests on a terror trip through the Fifth Dimension with their Twilight Zone-inspired haunt;
  • Derry’s very own Mr. Floats will taunt and haunt visitors playing games of chance in his CarnEVIL Games zone, along with an assorted crew of nightmarish characters;
  • The Ghostwood Manor home haunt will present Pharaoh’s Hall, an Egyptian-themed walk-through that will have visitors crying for their mummies;
  • The Haunt With No Name… Yet returns with its elaborate Celtic cemetery “yard display” that remains a decades-old home haunt fixture in Los Angeles each Halloween;
  • Santa Ana Haunt will initiate visitors into the terrifying cult world of Kormos and their blood-crazed rituals;
  • The Haunted Harvest makes its Hall of Shadows debut as they introduce fans to the Notflix Killer in an after-hours encounter inside a closed Hauntbuster Video store;
  • Tunnel of Terror, SoCal’s favorite haunted car wash, will treat fans to a 360-degree photo booth experience filled with terrifying monsters;
  • Coble Haunter will be on hand with an all-new attraction, daring fans to take a stroll through their old-school haunted house where evil dwells;
  • Fear Farm, who hold the title of tallest Hall of Shadows façade ever (24.5 feet in 2022) returns this year with a brand-new castle-themed attraction, creeping with evil creatures — and a built-in tavern that will be accessible to all guests 21 years and older;
  • And for the first time, Hall of Shadows plays host to an out-of-state haunt — Wicker Manor — who are bringing the terror from Colorado to Long Beach for everyone to enjoy!
In addition, the Decayed Brigade will present three shows daily both Saturday and Sunday on their massive Hall of Shadows “runway,” as they thrill hundreds of onlookers with high-energy sliding maneuvers and pulse-pounding stunts in a slider exhibition like none other!
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All of that and more will be waiting in the darkness of the Hall of Shadows for fans when the doors to Midsummer Scream 2023 creak open the evening of Friday, July 28, in Long Beach. To receive breaking information about Midsummer Scream, fans can sign up for a digital newsletter at MidsummerScream.org or follow Midsummer Scream on Instagram and Facebook by searching @midsummerscream. 

About Midsummer Scream
Midsummer Scream is presented by David Markland (Co-Founder/Executive Director), Gary Baker (Co-Founder/Executive Producer), Claire Dunlap (Co-Founder/Producer), and Rick West (Co-Founder/Creative Director). Their goal is to showcase the diversity of Southern California’s haunt and horror community as a welcoming beacon for fans around the world to converge on Los Angeles for a weekend of excitement, networking, and non-stop spooky fun!

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If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. ​
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