Midsummer Scream kicks off Halloween Season with a bang - Part Two

Written by Gregg Condon
Pictures by Matthew Nelson (Good pictures) and Gregg Condon (Bad pictures)

Since Six Flags Magic Mountain has a panel today let's take a look at the awesome decorations in their booth. 

So many amazing things to see on the show floor. 

We spent most of the morning hanging out in the Hall of Shadows and checking out the Decayed Brigade show. Be sure to check out our video of the show below. 

Hanging out with Sally from Fear Station 

​Soooo ... story time. My son turned 18 in February. And I know many of you have met him, and he's kind of quiet, until you get to know him. 

We have a great father/son relationship, but more than that we are really good friends. I was only 22 when he was born so because we hang out, play games, go to theme parks, etc. We've always just loved hanging out with each other. 

This story begins as we headed out of the show floor to check out the kittens that were up for adoption ... innocent enough right? 

So right next to the Kittens were the art galleries, etc, so we figured we'd check them out. And in this area was a show called "Urban Death". The show was JUST letting in so we figured we'd check it out. I did see that it was 18+ but (and this is TOTALLY my fault) I didn't really check out the description. So we headed in and the doors closed and the lights went out. 

What followed was a show I would have probably found intriguing if I wasn't standing next to my 18 year old son. A show that he probably would have found intriguing if he wasn't standing right next to his father, and 150 strangers. 

How to describe the show, it was a bunch of vignette's of what I assume is their normal show. Each one lasting 30-60 seconds. Some were funny, some disturbing, some made you think, and some, yes, contained nudity. 

It was definitely one of those weird things and when we left the show I don't think either of us said a word to each other for awhile. 

But the good thing was, as soon as it was over it was time for the Fright Fest panel!!

​So lesson, Mom's and Dad's ... check the description of things before you go in. And kids, make sure your Mom's and Dad's check the description. 

It wasn't that it was inappropriate for him, we don't shelter him like that, but it was just, as I said above, awkward. But it gave a great story and there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage done. ;) 

It did make me want to see their full show though, so job done Zombie Joe's!! Hope we get to see you in October. 

Let's check out the Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest panel ... 

Before we get to the panel, let's talk about the event for a minute. 

Fright Fest was an event, for the first 15 or so years was kind of an afterthought of Halloween events. While I've been an (almost) yearly visitor to Knott's Scary Farm for a long time, I'll admit I didn't go to my first Fright Fest until the mid 2000's. 

And it's not hard to imagine that if Magic Mountain had a similar panel at a similar event 5 or so years ago, it wouldn't have been as well attended as this one was. This is a HUGE tribute to the amazing changes they've made to the event. 

Just back in 2012 we were invited for a backstage tour of the Willoughby's Haunted Mansion re-do and that was really the start of the amazing transformation of this event. (one of these day's we'll revisit that tour in a Throwback Thursday post)

All of this is to just say THANK YOU to the management of SFMM for putting the $$ and talent into Fright Fest. And we can't wait to see what's coming this year. 

​Let's get on with the panel. 

What's a panel without a few friends? 

During the panel they announced an all new Maze - Aftermath 2 which will be located in the location where Deja Vu was as well as the all new Suicide Squad Scare Zone in DC Universe. 

For more information you can check out the official press release as well as our Six Flags Magic Mountain update from yesterday. 

The majority of the panel was spent talking about the history of Knott's Scary Farm, which is always amazing to hear. For those of us who didn't go in those early years (or weren't around then) it's amazing to hear the stories of how they did what they did. 

There was also a huge portion spent on talking about how they create the audio effects for the event. Which I absolutely loved. I could listened to Adam talk about audio stuff for hours, and have already offered to buy him a beer after Haunt this year and do just that. Hope we can do that and maybe record it and have some fun talking audio stuff. 

Then came announcement time. 

First, Paranormal Inc is coming back (no surprise there) with a few minor changes, but nothing major. 

Infected is also coming back with some pretty significant changes. 

But the biggest changes announced were the elimination of individual skeleton key rooms in a set number of mazes. Instead there will be 4 "skeleton key experiences" scattered throughout the park called Slasher, Prey, Visions and Zozo. 

Slasher

• Step into an 80's slasher horror film
• The Angel Maker Killer is on the loose
• Will you become the next victim? 

Prey

• Navigate a hay maze with only a lantern as your guide
• Mutant beast are around every corner

Visions

• Investigate the Sarah Marshall Greene Witch Trials with the Paranormal Inc Team
• Use the Phantom Finder augmented reality device to discover hidden clues from items in the museum 

Zozo

• Are spirit boards just a myth? 
• Can you summon the demonic entity Zozo? 

To say we're excited about what we heard so far from Knott's Scary Farm is an understatement. We love these intimate types of experiences and if they don't take away from the other mazes, even better. 

We'll find out more from Knott's Scary Farm on the 25th during their preview event. Cant' wait. 

And with that there's the end of our Midsummer Scream coverage for 2016. It was an amazing event (not just an amazing first year event). Thanks to the entire crew for allowing us to play even a small part in the success of the event and I know there is going to be amazing things to come from this event in the years to come. 

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