This past weekend in Long Beach, Southern California Halloween and horror fans convened for Midsummer Scream 2023, which brought together all the best that the genre has to offer in this corner of the country. And represented at the event were the popular Halloween theme-park makeovers Knott’s Scary Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, plus a panel about Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie.
The big panel on Saturday at this year’s Midsummer Scream was for Knott’s Scary Farm, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year– the event began back in 1973 as Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt. During this presentation, we learned about a big “Legacy” tribute gift shop, plus a very cool interactive lantern that will be available at the haunt, and we were introduced to a new character called The Keeper (inspired by the legendary Sinister Seymour), who will host a new maze. We also learned about the return of the Knott’s Scary Farm announcement event, which is coming to the park in late August.
Watch Knott's Scary Farm presentation at Midsummer Scream 2023:
Then on Sunday afternoon, Disney presented an officially sanctioned behind-the-scenes discussion of its new Haunted Mansion movie with the film’s editor Phillip J. Bartell and producer Jonathan Eirich. During this informative chat moderated by the hosts of “The Boo Crew” podcast, we learned a lot of fun tidbits about the making of the film.
Watch "Haunted Mansion" movie behind-the-scenes panel at Midsummer Scream 2023:
Lastly, late Sunday afternoon we were treated to one of the biggest presentations of them all– the one for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Horror Nights creative director John Murdy came out to thrill the crowd with a preview of the 2023 event, complete with the reveal of a new haunted house and additional details about another one that was previously revealed.
Watch Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Studios Hollywood) presentation at Midsummer Scream 2023:
Next let’s check out some images from Midsummer Scream 2023. Below you can see the line of attendees waiting to get in on Saturday morning, plus the traditional inflatable black cats that greeted us as we entered the Long Beach Convention Center (behind a giant “Shaqenstein” statue promoting Shaqtoberfest at the Queen Mary) and the table that was set up by Disney for Haunted Mansion in the lobby.
Of course what would a Midsummer Scream event be without legendary Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr, who was once again on hand to sign autographs for theme-park fans at the Haunted Orange County booth.
I also took the time to watch the panel for 13th Floor Entertainment, which was moderated by actor David Dastmalchian (The Boogeyman) and featured announcements from the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, Delusion (my favorite SoCal immersive Halloween event), and of course Shaqtoberfest.
And no visit to Midsummer Scream is complete without a walk through the Hall of Shadows, which this year had a very well-executed Dungeons & Dragons-inspired theme. There were also some really wonderful and inspiring amateur haunts set up in this area, plus a Chucky takeover of the Pizza Planet truck and a sneak peek at the extremely cool-looking “Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns” Halloween event coming to Los Angeles this fall.
A slumber party-themed party on Saturday night saw a great costume contest and a winner whose fantastic outfit was inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Naturally I had to visit Midsummer Scream’s popular Black Cat Lounge, where attendees could adopt kittens and older cats who needed homes, or simply donate to the Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles.
Overall this year’s Midsummer Scream was an absolute blast, with another big highlight being the opportunity to meet Knott’s Scary Farm’s memorable new character The Keeper.
Midsummer Scream takes place annually in Long Beach, California. For additional information and to stay up-to-date on information regarding next year’s event, be sure to visit Midsummer Scream’s official website.