Two weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending Midsummer Scream 2018, the annual Halloween festival and horror convention in Long Beach, CA.
We had such an amazing first time attending in 2017. We were looking forward to Midsummer Scream 2018 since we exited the convention doors last year.
That’s a year’s worth of anticipation brewing, so our expectations were high.
Midsummer Scream 2018 did NOT disappoint.
It was bigger. It was better. Midsummer Scream 2018 sets the bar extremely high for Halloween events.
READ: “Midsummer Scream 2018? Here’s What You Need To Know!”
The Long Beach convention center was packed from wall to wall with sights to indulge your Halloween and horror cravings.
The Hall of Shadows, an 80,000 square foot Halloween theme park in the dark, was our favorite feature this year. The space and ‘theme park in the dark’ concept was fully utilized, and haunters stepped up their game with their mini-haunts. The colors under the black lights, cosplayers roaming the floor, and art displays made for so many fantastic photo opportunities, too.
But we made a mistake.
Storytime:
Like we said, we had been looking forward to this for an entire year, but we should have followed our own advice and planned ahead.
We knew we’d be meeting so many fellow Halloween lovers and didn’t want to show up empty-handed. We wanted to have a little token of gratitude for friends and all those who worked so hard to bring the convention to life, and we worked for hours making and filling little treat bags filled with goodies to hand out.
The Mrs. had to travel that week and landed jet-lagged and exhausted just a few hours before we were supposed to arrive at the convention.
We had to Uber there, and we could only attend one day this year. The pressure was on.
All these factors combined made us so unbelievably late getting there.
And our little treat bags? Almost all of them were completely crushed and busted from the cramped car ride there.
By the time we finally showed up, there were only a few hours left before the convention started to wrap up for the day.
We made a mistake by not planning ahead and underestimating the grand scale of this year’s convention. You cannot fully take in all the glory of Midsummer Scream in a few short hours.
But once we walked into the building, none of that mattered.
The Midsummer Scream creators captured that magical spirit of Halloween, and it was impossible to focus on anything but how impressive and magnificent the event was.
If you’re a Halloween or horror fan and haven’t been, we cannot recommend it more highly.
Start planning for next year’s Midsummer Scream now. It’s an experience you will not want to miss.
And just because we were late doesn’t mean we didn’t treat ourselves to plenty of Halloween and horror merch from the 200+ vendors presenting their goods this year. There’s always time for shopping, right?
Check out our haul and some of the artists we had the pleasure of meeting this year.
Did you attend Midsummer Scream 2018? What was your favorite part? What tips would you give to a first-time attendee?
Let us know down below!
Now I feel like I understand why I didn’t feel like I at least grabbed a glimpse of you guys this year! D: Wow! I can’t believe you did the event in just a few hours. There is so much I loved about MSS this year, but I think getting to meet a lot of the halloween people I’ve been following and interacting with on Instagram in person was a major highlight! I’ve already been planning out my own little treat bags for this year!
Since I didn’t get to catch you, I’m curious what goodies were in your little packages?
This was my second year attending, but I’d definitely recommend first-timers to either stay close to the event to not have to worry about parking or uber/lyft. I heard the parking garage filled up super early and there were lots of people saying they were late coming because they couldn’t find a place to park. But maybe more than that, encouraging a clear bag for quick passing through the security checkpoint. That slowed things down the most getting in were the bag checks. And with a baby, we were one of those guilty parties to add to the wait with a big old diaper bag to rummage through! >.<;;;; Sunday we were smarter when we packed all our essentials in a clear stadium bag and we flew right through compared to Saturday.
And water! Pack water bottles and comfy shoes if you can! Those are my tips!
Chelsea! yes!
We are so bummed we didn’t really get a chance to see anyone too. It was mad hopping from booth to booth just trying to squeeze it in with the time we had left. I’m sure we seemed crazy to anyone who did catch a fleeting glimpse haha 🙂
Our little bags just had some candy or stickers… not sure if we’ll do it again this year, but time will tell.
Your tips are perfect! I heard parking was definitely a challenge too, and that’s a great idea to breeze through security! I think our treat bags raised a flag and slowed us down this year, so if we do them again, clear packaging is the way to go!
Hoping to meet you and your family this year! Hoping you dress as Elvira again!
I will definitely be returning as Elvira in 2019. I just can’t decide if my little one should do a repeat performance as in training or if I need to up my creative game for her. >.<;; fingers crossed we'll get to catch you too!