Midsummer Scream Unveils The Hall of Shadows 2018

Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA

While most ghoulies only stir during the fall, the folks who put together haunted attractions and nightmares are scheming all year round.  And this morning, Midsummer Scream--the biggest Halloween convention in town--unveiled yet another offering of terror for this year's event.  Just as it did last year around this time of year, Midsummer Scream announced the line-up and offerings for this year's eagerly anticipated Hall of Shadows. 

Logo courtesy of Midsummer Scream.

This year's Hall of Shadows is once again larger than ever, and for the first time, it will be located in its own actual hall adjacent to the main exhibition hall.  With more mini-haunts, more performance stages, and a professional scare zone put on by Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest, this unending haunted park is an attraction in and of itself.  

Also back is Decayed Brigade, performing several shows daily, plus a separate dedicated performance area featuring unique shows of the macabre theme.  It's shaping up to be a delightfully spooky highlight for a Halloween festival that continues to get bigger and better.  And it will all come to fruition on the last weekend of July, kicking off this year's Halloween season!

Guests wander through last year's Hall of Shadows at Midsummer Scream.

From the press release:

MIDSUMMER SCREAM UNLEASHES BIGGEST HALL OF SHADOWS EVER AT LONG BEACH CONVENTION CENTER THIS SUMMER

Terrifying Dark Zone Expands in 2018 to Include More than 15 Haunted Attractions, and Scare Zone by Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest

LONG BEACH, CA - Midsummer Scream, the world’s largest Halloween and horror convention, is thrilled to announce a larger Hall of Shadows dark zone than fans have ever experienced before. Throughout the July 29 - 29 weekend, guests will have the opportunity to explore the enormous Hall of Shadows dark zone, which will include more than 15 haunted attractions and displays, a scare zone bursting with monsters from Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest, a live performance stage, and more than 30 specialty vendors.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, CalHauntS is returning once again to create an elaborate entry façade for Hall of Shadows; this year, guests will venture into the crumbling ruins of Castle Frankenstein, featuring a pair of 14-foot-high turrets, a sinister laboratory, and classic monsters lurking in the shadows, ready to frighten guests brave enough to enter their domain.

The Hyde Street Massacre returns to the Hall of Shadows for 2018.

Once inside the Hall of Shadows, fans will find more than 30 exhibitors, showing off their companies and wares in the dark - Light Up Masks, Haunted Orange County, The Cromwell Estate, and Stroke of Midnight Studios, to name just a few.

A performance stage has been added to Hall, which will feature variety acts throughout the weekend, from Twirly the Clown, and Mudd the Magnificent, to a titillating Horror Fashion Show by Ama Lea's Poltergeists and Paramours.

Mable lurks with Mable's 6 Feet Under at this year's Hall of Shadows.

For the first time at Midsummer Scream, the Hall of Shadows will feature a scare zone from a major theme park. Leaving the vendor and performance stage area, guests will venture through the fog and navigate 50 feet of the most frightening monsters Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest can conjure under the direction and expertise of makeup master Scott Ramp and his team of talented artists.

Beyond the Fright Fest scare zone, Midsummer Scream visitors will find more than 15 haunted attractions and displays waiting in the 76,000 square feet of darkness. Several popular haunts will be returning to the Hall of Shadows, including Mable’s 6 Feet Under, Dead Zone 805, and Hyde Street Massacre. The Hall will feature many new experiences and participants as well, including the home haunt by Murder House Productions from Thousand Oaks that took the community by storm last Halloween - a highly-detailed fan tribute to the cult classic film Trick ‘r Treat.

Dead Zone 805 brought a preview of their then-upcoming escape room to last year's Hall of Shadows. What will they bring this year?

Gantom Lighting & Controls has partnered with Midsummer Scream, offering lighting assistance for many of the on-site haunts, as has Fog It Up!, which is supplying complimentary fog juice to each of the attractions in the Hall of Shadows; both companies will help in giving fans a theme park-quality experience they won’t soon forget.

“Hall of Shadows has become a cornerstone of Midsummer Scream,” says Rick West, the convention’s Creative Director. “The lineup of not just amazing haunted attractions, but live entertainment and dedicated artisans we have for our expanded Hall this year is truly exciting. Returning guests will be wowed by how much bigger the Hall has become as we continue to create Halloween Night in Southern California inside the Long Beach Convention Center in the middle of summer. This is our love letter to haunt fans and the community!”

Among the creatures that will be lurking in the darkness within the Hall of Shadows are members of the Decayed Brigade, which returns for its third year at Midsummer Scream to delight audiences three times daily with “sliding” shows that demonstrate their incredible agility as scareactors at several of the Southland’s major Halloween events each fall.

The Decayed Brigade will perform amazing acrobatic feats in the Hall of Shadows once again this year.

Guests holding Gold Bat Weekend Passes get early access to the Hall of Shadows each morning at 10am, an hour before the venue opens to the general public. Gold Bat Passholders will also enjoy priority access to each walk-through attraction in the Hall, bypassing the standby queues.

More detailed information regarding Hall of Shadows can be found here, on the official Midsummer Scream website at MidsummerScream.org.

Opechee Haunt featured a tech-laden mini-haunt last year and is also back again this year.

Midsummer Scream’s 40% off pre-sale ticket discount is available through April 30. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, now is the time, because once the sale is over - the deep discounts for this year’s Midsummer Scream will forever rest in peace! Hardcore fans also have a VIP ticket option - the Gold Bat Weekend Pass, which is only $85.00 while supplies last (not discounted). The Gold Bat Weekend Pass grants early entry to the Midsummer Scream vendor show floor and Hall of Shadows an hour before the public each day, a collectible credential and lanyard, and a limited-edition Gold Bat enamel pin. It also gives passholders priority entry to Main Stage, Hall of Shadows haunts and attractions, and other components of Midsummer Scream all weekend-long. Supplies are limited, and the Gold Bat Weekend Pass option will sell out.

Midsummer Scream is expected to draw more than 20,000 fans to Southern California during its July 28 - 29 run at the Long Beach Convention Center. The show will feature more than 250 artisan vendors on a massive show floor, the beloved Black Cat Lounge adoption and cuddle area, live entertainment throughout the venue, world-class panels and presentations, educational seminars and classes, a large-scale Saturday night costume party, a bigger Hall of Shadows haunted attractions experience zone than ever before, and thousands of spooky cosplayers in elaborate costumes!

About Midsummer Scream

Midsummer Scream is presented by David Markland and Claire Dunlap of Black Cat Orange (formerly CreepyLA Productions), Gary Baker, Johanna Atilano and Rick West of Theme Park Adventure. Its goal is to showcase the diversity of Southern California’s haunt and horror community as a welcoming beacon for fans around the world to converge on Los Angeles for a weekend of excitement, networking and non-stop spookery! Be sure to follow Midsummer Scream on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Periscope for breaking updates and information.