[CONVENTION REVIEW] Midsummer Scream

Midsummer Scream is an annual horror convention hosted in Long Beach, California and attracts thousands of horror-loving fans over its three-day weekend. At the convention, you can spot a number of horror, and horror adjacent, celebrities, content creators, and personalities. Everyone from legends like Elvira, to content creators such as James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca of Dead Meat on YouTube. There's also a number of panels that cater to interests of all types; whether you're into haunts like Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, drag shows, or panels exploring what it's like being a BIPOC creator, Midsummer Scream has something for everyone.

Photo by Joshua Johnson

This year we saw the Truth or Scare game show hosted by the fantastic Barry Under Your Bed and Lucy Baal. They invited audience members on stage to guess the correct horror trivia, and even had a round of "guess that butt" for good measure. It was hilarious, and puppets are always a fun time.

After that we saw, what is most likely the biggest panel/show of the entire weekend, the fantastic Return of the Living Drag hosted by the always drop-dead glamorous Peaches The Christ. This year featured new and returning performers such as Oceana, Mr. He Slasher, Autumn Lynn, Cream, Luxe the Drag Queen, and featuring a drag king, Cosimo. The performances were hilarious, spooky, and fun in all the right ways. Peaches also produces Terror Vault in San Francisco.

Photo by Brandon Garvin

After walking around the show floor and taking in all the sights and sounds of the convention we took note of the Mystic Museum which had a big build-out that included several photo-ops from their Mystic Museum/Slashback Video/Camp Horror store in Burbank, California. They brought the 90s slasher photo opportunity, and a hedge maze reminiscent of the film The Shining.

For day two, we bought a couple pins that the profits went to Kitten Rescue LA, but also gave us front-of-the-line access to the Black Cat Lounge. The Black Cat Lounge is a place where you can hang with adorable kittens and play with them. After taking pictures of some amazing cosplayers, we wound down with the final big panel of the convention which was Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. They showed off an all-new Latin-American themed house called “Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America”. This new house features El Sibón of Columbian/Venezuelan folklore, Tlahuelpuchi from Aztec folklore, and La Lechuza. The house will lead to the El Terror de Las Momias scare zone, featuring mummies of Latin-American origin.

Midsummer Scream seems to outdo themselves year after year, and always has something interesting and fun for genre fans to experience. There were people of all ages and walks of life at the convention, and it goes to show that horror is truly for everyone.

Article by Brandon Garvin