Inside Midsummer Scream 2024 – Part 1

The Long Beach Convention Center buzzed with an electrifying autumnal energy as Midsummer Scream 2024 opened its doors to a sea of horror fans and Halloween lovers. From July 26th to 28th, this grand celebration welcomed a record-breaking 50,000 attendees into a world of spooky wonders and terrifying treats. In this two-part series, Erica Vilkus explore the scares, the sights, and the star-studded panels that made Midsummer Scream an unforgettable experience. Get ready to dive into the eerie excitement and discover why this convention is a must for for anyone that takes Horror or Halloween seriously.

Midsummer Scream 2024 is one of the largest Halloween and horror events in the United States. 50,000 darkly inclined folks packed the Long Beach Convention Center the weekend of July 26th-28th to indulge in spooky treats of all kinds. Of course, a horror-focused event is bound to have its fair share of scares and laughs but the Long Beach Convention Center felt (un)alive and electric the entire weekend.

Saturday was completely sold out which is very impressive considering that the San Diego Comic Convention was running simultaneously. We ran into many attendees who were even splitting their time between the two mega-events. This shows that horror is as popular a genre as ever and the fans are still obsessed. Truly nothing can stop horror aficionados from getting their season started. The California heat, traffic, bustling crowds, and malfunctioning fire alarms were not stopping the droves of attendees, many of which were in full cosplay!

The event was organized into four main parts: presentations/panels, the Hall of Shadows, the exhibitor hall, and live performances/screenings. Attendees could keep track of all this through the Midsummer Scream app which we found to be invaluable and helped us make the most of our time there. There was something or everyone and it was easy to spend the whole day bouncing from one area to another.

The Hall of Shadows was like a miniature version of Halloween Horror Nights. With multiple haunts like, Fear Farm: Duskfall Hallow, Santa Ana Haunt: Haunting Ground, and Realm of Shadows: Labyrinth of Lost Souls. Jon Cooke and Plague Productions also presented the massive walkthrough; Gears of Fear: Explore the Legacy of Lionsgate Horror. Convention-goers were led through the worlds of Saw, The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), Cabin in the Woods (2011), and the yet-to-be-released The Crow (2024). The house had a Cabin in the Woods style interactive feature outside of the Hall of Shadows that made the experience even more unique. Each section of the haunt was a complete immersion into these horrifying flicks. It was hard to decide what to look at between the designs, some items of which were used on screen in the films, and where the next “killer” would pop out. By the time we exited the house our hands were shaking but we made sure to add all the films to our watch/rewatch list.

Outside of the Hall of Shadows is the exhibitor hall hosting over 350 vendors ranging from creepy craft coffee to high-quality sfx products. Gold Bat pass holders got early access to this area and it is a must for browsers who need a little more decision-making time. When all attendees were let in, it did become a bit of a madhouse, but the vendors handled it well. Many of the small businesses present have been slinging spooky goods for years and it was heartwarming to see so many of them are still thriving after COVID and the tough economic period that followed.

One wall of the hall was reserved for celebrity guests ready to meet fans, take pictures, and sign merchandise. Special guests included cast members from genre gems like Paranormal Activity (2007), The Black Phone (2021), and M3gan (2022) along with icons Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Peaches Christ, The Boulet Brothers, and John Kassir (Voice of the Cryptkeeper, Tales from the Crypt) among many others. There was a good mix of guests from across all media including the big screen, comic book pages, podcasts, and horror news. Yet another way the folks at Midsummer Scream offered something for every type of horror fanatic.

If this wasn’t enticing enough, many of these guests also took part in presentations and panels throughout the weekend which we will cover in the next article, so stay tuned! And be sure to keep up with all things Midsummer Scream at midsummerscream.org and on their social media @midsummerscream.