Midsummer Scream, or the Official Start of Halloween Season 

Every year, Halloween aficionados converge on the Long Beach Convention Center at the end of July to celebrate the official start of Halloween season. There, one can find everything from haunts in the Hall of Shadows, vendors in the main hall, horror celebrities signing autographs in the autograph section, special effects, merchandise, and just about anything you could want to get you in the Halloween mood in one place. There’s a panel room where this year many showed what they have been working on, but also discussions on issues affecting Halloween and horror fans, there are live podcasts recordings in front of audiences, food trucks, art, even a cultural exhibit around Day of the Dead, and a cat relaxation area with cats and kittens to play with and adopt.  

Midsummer Scream has been around for years and has become THE go-to convention for horror fans outside of the fall season. It’s always crowded, but it’s not overcrowded like say SDCC. There’s a ton of art on display and for sale, there are special makeup effects demonstrations that are always fascinating, and you can pick up everything from movies to specialty pastries on the show flow. This is one of the best-rounded shows one can attend in terms of entertainment value and shopping experience.  

This year was a different experience for me as I was going with the intention of both covering the event and showing this whole new world to a friend who was not familiar with this type of convention. I took a SDCC and Tiki convention regular and dropped him right in the middle of the biggest Halloween/horror hybrid convention without much prep. To his credit, he did great, and all the photos seen in this article are his. Letting him take the lead on photos allowed me to take my time and check out more of the booths, more of the vendors, and talk with friends old and new. We got to stop by and chat with Eileen Dietz, meet the fine folks at Topstone Horror, get a hug from Del at Dark Delicacies, see all the best horror cosplay out there, get to meet new artists, see some incredible works of art, spend some time waiting for the cat room and giving up as the line just wasn’t moving. I even got to go in the Hall of Shadows for the first time as I had someone with me in case anxiety took over or the flashing lights blinded me (health issues can be a bit of an issue with haunts). We started our day with culture in the Casa Calaveras room and ended the day with tired feet and happy horror hearts. We unfortunately missed a few of the shows, the film rooms, and most of anything not happening on the vendors’ floor due to time constraints being only able to attend one day. Nonetheless, tons of fun were had and next year’s convention can’t come soon enough.  

Enjoy the photos by Daniel Stafford and keep your eyes on Midsummer Scream socials and website for next summer’s convention dates and tickets presales.