Frolicking Through Midsummer Scream
Midsummer Scream 2024 in Long Beach, California is the beginning of SPOOKY SEASON for us Southern California peeps. Although I believe some start decorating for Fall as soon as July 5th, I simply CAN’T. It’s too soon for me, but attending a Halloween themed convention? HELLS YES!
Of course my Frolicking Chronicles media pass was greatly appreciated. My twin and partner in Frolicking Chronicles, Roni, and I picked up our passes promptly at 4pm then headed to Ruth Chris’s Happy Hour before our allowed entrance time at 6pm. Our plan was to check out HALL OF SHADOWS. This is where companies that put on haunts are invited to showcase their mini set-ups for the upcoming season. We enjoy going through the mazes on Friday night because it’s a smaller crowd.
LIONSGATE!!! WOWZA! Of course, we would expect nothing less than spectacular from an entertainment company. Here’s a peek at the email we received:
“This year, Lionsgate will be debuting Gears of Fear Maze activation, located in the Hall of Shadows, making us the first film studio to create a walk-through experience in this area.
Included in the Gears of Fear Maze’s experience, you will recognize SAW’s Tobin Bell’s voice throughout along with IPs such as SAW, My Bloody Valentine, The Cabin in the Woods, The Strangers: Chapter One, Never Let Go, and The Crow!”
This maze was positively extraordinary for so many reasons. It felt like walking through a horror movie time warp.
Saturday we decided to get a later start because we wanted to conserve our energy for the AFTER-LIFE party. This is also our "visit to the EXHIBIT FLOOR" day to say hi to our favorite vendors and shop at new ones.
The exhibit floor is probably the most energetic spot. With cosplayers from your favorite spooky or horror films and actual haunt scare actors roaming the floor. There were also a lot of magnificent photo ops.
The big news is Queen Mary Dark Harbor is back with brand new mazes and speakeasies. You can find out more at https://darkharborhalloween.com/. The event starts September 20th and rolls through November 2nd. They will also have a Dia de los Muertos celebration. We attended the panel and it was beyond cool to meet the recurring scare characters and be introduced to new ones. The audience reactions confirmed that this is a MUST DO if you’re in the Southern California area during this time.
By Sunday we were summoning some frolic energy because it had been a long weekend. The one panel we didn’t want to miss was Nikk Alcaraz (https://www.nikkalcaraz.com). He became famous on TikTok and my twin had been dying to meet him. He has a frightfully fun cook book coming out this fall. Be sure to check him out if you haven’t already. He has a lot of fun content and can be found on YouTube too.
Finally, a SHOUT OUT to the Scooby Doo Team who let us be a part of the Mystery Gang.
You can check out the maze with us on our YouTube Shorts .
You can make your plans now for Midsummer Scream 2025- the dates have been announced as August 15th - 17th, in Long Beach, CA. Visit midsummerscream.org for more info.
Will you make plans to attend next year?
Keep it spooky sibs,
Tamantha*
