[CONVENTION REVIEW] Midsummer Scream

The largest Horror Convention in Southern California is not only overwhelming but downright exciting and we were lucky enough to cover the event for the 2nd year in a row. Let’s talk about the shenanigans my team and I got into during the weekend which over 3 days and between 5 people wasn’t an easy feat. Panel times changing, guests cancelling appearances, record breaking attendance, crowds like I’ve never seen before and the amount of COSPLAY was incredible.

Photo by: Jennifer Acuna

We picked up our media badges and waited impatiently to get in and see what we needed to cover. The convention center is 400,000 sqft and was filled with wall to wall activities, shopping, shows and even live actors walking around interacting with guests offering photo-ops and giving out free tickets for their respective haunts. You had the fan favorites like Knott’s Scary Farm, Queen Mary Dark Harbor, LA Haunted Hayride and Six Flags Fright Fest teasing us with what was to come for spooky season. One of my favorite aspects of Midsummer is the community that surrounds the event, not only do the actors have a chance to play around with their characters but they give us a sense of dread in the best way.

Of course any trip to Midsummer Scream means you go through the Hall of Shadows which you can read about here! It’s always a must stop for us to see local haunts that put in time and effort and even conjure up some great scares. We also covered some panels over the weekend and it was difficult to only choose a handful since there were so many to offer! Horror Nights was of course the big draw on Sunday night and Jeneffer was able to attend the panel for us! She grabbed some fantastic photos of John Murdy giving us all the juicy details for HHN 33 Hollywood. The big announcements from Midsummer Scream were Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first film which was huge! John did reveal some smaller tidbits that weren’t supposed to be revealed which is always fun and the panel was a great way to end the weekend.

And to finish things off, let’s talk about the show floor because my god there was so much to see and do! The amount of vendors they included this year felt like it was doubled and there were plenty of friends who sold out of almost all their inventory, it was a beautiful thing to see. Some highlights were Paramount Scares who had a Jason Voorhees photo-op which is always fun to see the big guy lurking around. Mystic Museum who always bring the fun to every event they attend and they brought their beloved Krypt Keeper who was stolen from their storefront but was returned thanks to the horror community! We also visited Art’s Sideshow and looked for ghosts with Ghostbusters LA.

This is our 5th year attending Midsummer Scream and it’s become a yearly tradition for us. We’re always grateful to the Midsummer Scream team for knocking it out of the park every year, to every volunteer who bust their butts to make this event happen, to the haunts and actors who make sure we get enough screams to last us until spooky season and of course to all the guests who keep coming back year after year. 2025 is going to be another fantastic year and we can’t wait to see what Midsummer does next!

Words by: Krystina Alfonso

Photos by: Krystina Alfonso, Angie Gonzalez, and Jeneffer Acuna