Midsummer Scream 2022: The Hall of Shadows
Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA
After a quick Knott's announcement interlude, we're resuming Midsummer Scream updates with a trip to dark, spooky domain of the Hall of Shadows. Our personal favorite part of the entire convention, the Hall of Shadows is a haunted amusement park featuring a variety of haunted displays, haunted house walkthrough's, and even some frightful theatrical set-up's designed to get guests into the mood for fall! This offers the independent and home haunters featured in the Hall of Shadows a chance to showcase their amazing for work for those who may have missed their limited October runs.
This year, the Hall had 14 total attractions--down a bit from 2019's count of 17, but still a good amount more than the nine attractions that the original Hall of Shadows debuted. But the footprints of the mazes were larger than ever--in many cases, nearly identical to the full size October iterations--and the quality of presentation more spectacular than ever. Occupying nearly half of the entire convention center show floor, with spacious confines for circulation and queueing, the Hall of Shadows was an impressive experience and a can't miss for the convention. Lets explore each of the residents in the first Hall of Shadows since the pandemic!
CalHauntS Presents Midsummer Estates
It has become tradition for CalHauntS to craft a fantastic and immersive thematic entranceway to greet guests entering the Hall of Shadows. Last time around, it was the Tiki Terror entry portal. The year before, it was an impressive Castle Frankenstein creation. And in 2017, it was a gloomy and eerie graveyard row. (Lets not also forget the fun Christmas Scarol entryway they did for the Hall of Yuletide Spirits last December!)
Freddy Kreuger is one of many scary residents at Midsummer Estates!
This year, CalHauntS channelled the spooky joy of Halloween with their Midsummer Estates entry area. A street lined with spooky houses--echoing the ambiance of haunted attractions like the L.A. Haunted Hayride's Trick Or Treat maze or last year's hit Cemetery Lane attraction, Midsummer Estates featured houses dedicated to horror icons like Freddy Kreuger and the Gremlins, a fun mash-up of Scooby Doo and the Purge, a Trick 'r Treat facade, a display dedicated the Santa Clarita home haunt, Clown Town (which also served as a memorial to creator Javier Cano, who sadly passed away earlier this year), plus traditional themes like a creepy cabin, a pumpkin house, and a house of hell. Each was spearheaded by CalHauntS members who also create favorite home haunts we've visited in the past, including but not limited to contributions from folks behind Rotten Apple 907, The Farm Haunt, Samhain's Lot, and more!
This Trick ‘r Treat facade was really well decorated!
The entire display was absolutely fantastic--brimming with vivid detail and a wonderful autumn holiday ambiance. The only downside was that it was almost too well done--providing a trove for guests who wanted to stop and take photos of or with the facades. Midsummer Estates was certainly a hit with the Instagram crowd and the haunt crowd in general, and it was a fantastic introduction to the Hall of Shadows!
Bones' Gulch
This year, the minds behind Beware the Dark Realm, The Farm Haunt, and Restless Souls Manor are teaming together to create a new professional haunt for the L.A. Sherrif's Department Museum up in Castaic, at the Jack Bones Equestrian Center. Entitled Bones' Gulch, this attraction promises to be an incredible production from three all-stars who have created amazing haunts on their own. For Midsummer Scream, the familiar facade from The Farm Haunt stood in as an advertisement and teaser of what's to come. The Bones' Gulch team was also on hand to talk about their work to any interested passers-by and help advertise what is sure to be a Santa Clarita Valley wonder!
The team for Bones’ Gulch pose for a photo.
Casa Calaveras Haunted Walk-Through Art Experience
We first experienced the Casa Calaveras attraction last December at the Seasons Screamings Hall of Yuletide Spirits. The colorful and vibrant Día de los Muertos theme was an utter joy to walk through and behold, with intricate sculptures and art pieces celebrating the Mexican culture around the dead. For the summer version, Casa Calaveras once again returned guests to the love story of José and Gloria, featuring a bond so strong that it continued beyond this life and into the next. Casa Calaversas was similar to its Christmas iteration, but without the winter dressings. But it was a very special and heartfelt display to enjoy!
It’s José and Gloria’s wedding day in the land of the dead!
Realm of Shadow presents Hamre Manor
Back in 2019, Realm of Shadow's first appearance at the Hall of Shadows featured a preview of their October production, Temple of the Fallen God. The Midsummer Scream version was enticing by itself, and the full version later that year was one of our favorite surprises of the season. This year, Realm of Shadow's Hall of Shadows entry was a recap, bringing last fall's Hamre Manor back from the misty dead to once again haunt those brave enough to walk through. The layout of the maze followed most of the full version's beats, incorporating last year's impressive lighting and laser effects, scares from different directions, and unnerving imagery. There was also a new tweak making reference to Vecna's clock chiming, which fit well within the morose haunted house environment.
What supernatural horrors lurk inside Hamre Manor?
Realm of Shadow will be back at Trinity Christian School for their fall haunt this year. While there's been no confirmation on whether this year's setting will return guests to Hamre Manor, explore a new story in the same location, or take on a different storyline altogether, whatever RoS produces is sure to be a great experience!
The Dreich Society presents Nightmare
Longtime Hall of Shadow veterans The Dreich Society brought a new theme this year. For the first time, in lieu of a cinema facade with a movie-themed walkthrough, The Dreich Society opted for a different theme in their production, Nightmare, which visits feudal Japan and engages guests in close encounters with ghostly samurai and shadowy spirits and horrific demons. While the blow-up Pikachu on the facade of the maze may not have suggested anything serious, the vibe of the maze was actually pretty dark and haunting--almost literally! Our trip through Saturday didn't seem to quite catch all effects working, but a walkthrough again on Sunday allowed more photos and more lighting and full production. One unique scare came from a scareactor rolling beneath the floor of an elevated Japanese house section of the maze, rapping at the plexiglass floor for an unexpected startle. And although the theming for the maze was somewhat sparse, the Dreich Society did engage a more intimate feeling experience.
The Dreich Society borrowed from Japanese horror references in their Midsummer Scream maze!
Reichland Asylum
Another veteran of Midsummer Scream's Hall of Shadows, Reichland Asylum once again returned with its towering sanitarium facade and invited guests to enter and discover the twisted, psychotic secrets of the unhinged Crawford family. Unlike their walkthrough in the Hall of Yuletide Spirits last December, this version was much grimmer and drab, taking guests through facilities of decay and relying on the deranged scareactors to animate each space. Fortunately, the patients at Reichland Asylum are among the most entertaining haunters out there, and their twisted antics provided an entertaining trip for guests who braved Reichland's halls!
Reichland Asylum started out gloomy and drab and ended with vibrant, terrifying color.
Santa Ana Haunt presents Shades of Hell
A literal last-minute discovery on Halloween night in 2020, Santa Ana Haunt has quickly made a name for itself as a very well thought out, psychologically paced, carefully choreographed haunted house that mixes some great theatrical effects and synchronization with a variety of jump scares and a host of great theming. Their first-ever Hall of Shadows entry was another of several home haunt reproductions of their 2021 haunt. Truncated compared to last year's full walkthrough, Shades of Hell nonetheless impressed with its foreboding church facade, creepy and disturbing scareactors, and excellent use of lighting and audio to enhance the fear and anxiety of climactic moments.
Santa Ana Haunt’s Shades of Hell took guests through all sorts of horrors and haunting psychological frights.
One of our favorite rooms was a simple passageway lit only by a multitude of small circular lights that seemed to be orbs emanating from the walls, turning on and off with the soundtrack but seeming to imbue a spiritual force out of the very walls themselves! A figure huddled in the corner could only stair helplessly with psychological trauma. It was a nice nod to the sensory play that last year's full maze subjected guests to, in order to keep them on their heels and unable to anticipate what might come next!
The Quail Run Carnival
In a notable change of pace, newcomer Quail Run Carnival presented--not a scary haunted house walkthrough or spooky display--but a fun, whimsical, family-friendly booth making reference to the classic, vintage Halloween carnivals of decades past. With two booths where guests could play carnival games to win some sweets for prizes, this part of the Hall of Shadows was ironically the most illuminated of all. But it was a great change of pace from the other gloomier and doomier creations.
The Quail Run Carnival was a big change of pace from the other attractions.
This was much more family-friendly.
And the cheerful, vintage aesthetic was really enchanting!
There were fun games for all!
Fear Farm
In the past, Reichland Asylum has stood literally tall as king of the Hall of Shadows facades, with its impressive, 16 foot tall entry into the Reichland facilities. Well, this year, Fear Farm--the spooky haunters up in Phelan who have been making a quality push to make themselves more known over the past few Midsummer Scream events like Awaken the Spirits and Seasons Screamings--said, "hold my plywood" and decided to construct an even more towering castle facade that literally reach up to just below the bottom of the trusses that support the floor above the cavernous Long Beach Convention Center floor area! Even though Fear Farm's maze was located at the far back corner of the space, its presence could not be ignored by anyone passing through.
The tallest facade ever at the Hall of Shadows, thanks to Fear Farm!
Carving out the atmosphere of an abandoned, jungle-covered ruin, Fear Farm's unnamed haunt took guests into a realm of darkness and horrid creatures waiting to claim new victims. With a solid density of scareactors and some creative scare tactics--including a unique execution of the laser swamp with the lasers above head height and allowing a monster from above to reach his oversized claws down at unsuspecting guests (an awesome tactic we had never seen before)--Fear Farm really showcased an incredible passion and creativity that we love to see. While there were plenty of amazing "mini" haunts at the Hall of Shadows this year, Fear Farm's ended up being our favorite, and we're going to have to force some time to head up to Pheland to visit their actual haunted attraction this October!
Corona Haunt presents Tales of Halloween
Last year, the Corona Haunt celebrated their 10th anniversary of haunting, but it was only our first time being able to experience one of the creations. To try to make up for it, we attended both their Halloween and Christmas haunts, and we loved the Horror Nights-style vibe and sophistication of their productions.
The Corona Haunt’s love letter of Halloween made a return two weeks ago at Midsummer Scream.
The HHN-style jump scares were in full effect and efficiently used!
For Midsummer Scream, Corona Haunt once again brought back their 2021 love letter to all things October, entitled Tales of Halloween. Though this version wasn't exactly the full haunt layout from last year, it was pretty close! With scenes like the skeleton ghoul in the graveyard, the witch hag in her cavern, and the chamber of jack-o-lantern guts, Tales of Halloween showcased how much the holiday means to the creators of the Corona Haunt. The trigger-scares done in the style of Halloween Horror Nights were not overdone given the reduced layout, and the theming and environment was top notch. We can't wait to see what Corona Haunt has in store this fall!
The Witching Auer presents Halloween
We had never heard of The Witching Auer before our trip to the Hall of Shadows this year, but after seeing their excellently executed Halloween display, we were left questioning why we had not been aware of them until now. Well, turns out it's because this husband-and-wife team is located up in Atwater, in Merced County, basically parallel in latitude as San Jose, meaning they're actually a Northern California haunt, not a Southern California haunt. Nevertheless, their work was highly impressive. A recreation of the infamous Myers house was set with projections showcasing iconic moments from the original movie, paired with audio from the film to heighten the drama. To the left, a little set of the stairway with little Michael Myers in his Halloween suit could be seen, with a television screen showing some clips from Halloween and a Judith Myers tombstone accompanied the set. A door adjacent to the stair suggested the potential for a walkthrough, but chains in front blocking guests from continuing in clearly showed that this was a heartfelt fan tribute and display for the classic horror film. Kudos go out to Ben and Emily Auer for their fine craft!
The Myers House is a tragic and dark, dark place.
Exquisite Corpse presents Redwater Vol. 1
And then there was Exquisite Corpse, which pulled off one of the great pivots of the weekend with their on-the-fly modification of Redwater from a haunted walkthrough to an immersive theatrical show. We visited Exquisite Corpse a couple of years ago in its first year after splitting off from Twisted Minds Productions, when creator David Coleman fashioned a very immersive yard display with the hopes of growing it into a full haunted maze the following year. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Redwater wasn't able to go live last year, so the Hall of Shadows provided the first opportunity to truly explore the fictional Louisiana town of Redwater.
The town of Redwater is full of unknown and unseen horrors.
And then COVID struck. Or rather, it struck enough of the cast that the production had to make a late change from a haunted house to a haunted show. David had to record and re-animated a significant portion of the the production in one afternoon, cutting segments of the walkthrough and turning it more into a presentation of a mysterious evil picking off residents of the town one by one. The remaining cast that was not forced to drop out did a great job adjusting their performances from that of interactive scares to that of acting in concert with the pre-recorded audio.
The cast did a terrific job pivoting from scareactors to just plain actors!
Set in 1985, at and around Big Joey's Bait & Tackle Shop, the story features Obadiah, Elijah, and Beauregard Manning; children of the infamous and crazed scientist Dr. Joseph R. Manning, set out on a strange and macabre journey to find their recently missing father. However, this doesn't seem to go well, as the three of them seem to be picked off by morbidly ravenous creatures that might be connected to the mysterious power surges that rack the seemingly cursed fishing village. The artfully directed performances definitely whet people's appetites for a full attraction that will hopefully be able to finally make its debut this year!
Straite to Hale Productions presents Casket Creek
The last of the home haunts bringing back last year's creations, Straite to Hale Productions was another top attraction over Midsummer Scream weekend. Their Casket Creek haunted walkthrough took guests through a spooky and wicked Western town, with a cast of colorful and insidious characters, fantastic sets and facades, and a nice mix of motion-triggered and live scareactor startles.
Casket Creek is a cursed and cantankerous place!
Casket Creek was one of our favorite haunts last Halloween when we visited, showcasing high-caliber lighting and audio, theming, and immersive storytelling. The creators behind the haunt, Ron and Mark, have also been assisting the Winchester Mystery House with their October layover the past couple of years too--a strong nod to the quality of their work. For those who couldn't make it to Straite to Hale's haunted house last fall, this was a terrific chance to see what they missed and a good incentive to add it to the haunt itinerary this year!
The Haunt with No Name... Yet
Finally, The Haunt with No Name... Yet returned with another marvelous, serene, magnificently dressed cemetery scene for Midsummer Scream. Similar to what they presented at Seasons Screamings last December--but without the winter dressings--this lovely graveyard display was full of sumptuous detail, rich lighting, atmospheric sound effects, and even a phantom apparition lurking about. This is one haunt that's been around for a pretty long time, that we haven't had a chance to visit during Halloween season, so we appreciated the opportunity to see it again at the Hall of Shadows!
An eeriely gorgeous graveyard scene from The Haunt with No Name… Yet… and still!
That wraps up this update on this year's Hall of Shadows. It's absolutely mind-blowing how much these talented creators were able to set up within the limited time they were allotted and break it all down Sunday evening after the event. The quality of the Hall of Shadows continues to grow--a testament to the incredible Southern California haunt scene. Appearances by veteran favorites and new creators highlight the depth of talent and serve as a great advertisement for their Halloween-obsessed work. And the long lines for the haunts showed how welcome they were—the Gold Bat passes definitely proved their value, especially after the General Admission guests were allowed in!
Those who missed out should mark these fantastic haunts for visits this fall. The home haunts in particular only run the last or last two weekends of October, so make plans accordingly! If you haven't seen them before, they're well worth checking out! In the meantime, our 2022 Midsummer Scream coverage will continue next with a look at some of this year’s entertainment offerings!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
