Another Con
In the early morning, my husband and I loaded up our grey car with snacks and steaming cups of coffee, beginning our two hour journey into the north. Our destination, the Long Beach convention center for the Midsummer Scream festivities. As a chairperson for Horror Writers Association San Diego Chapter, I had signed up to volunteer at our HWA booth to spread the news and good cheer of our beautifully supportive organization, and I’m not being any kind of facetious. Believe it or not, the horror writing community is an inclusive, dear, fun, and amazing group that I am very proud to belong to.
So my husband and I made the trek to the convention center to join in on the fun.
Bopping Around the Booths
The first major display we encountered included a twenty foot tall skeleton reaching over a rocking haunted pumpkin head. I’m sure I was simply beaming when I entered the convention center, which, as according to my husband, “looked like Party City during Halloween time on steroids.”
He wasn’t wrong.
It was like being in a giant warehouse dedicated to all things horror. There was a booth selling coffin-shaped speakers. A few brujerias selling their crafts. Horror mask makers. And even Linda Blair was there autographing.
My favorite display was Casa Calaveras, which was an interactive walkthrough experience telling the story of a couple who passed before they were wed, but their death was just a part of their tale. In the afterlife, they married, celebrated, and went on to honeymoon in Japan. It was very sweet and it was absolutely gorgeous.
Though many attendees were dressed as monsters, the people at the convention were fantastic. I had so many fun conversations with my fellows at the booth, with fellow attendees, but my favorite part was skipping around the haunted house displays with my husband.
How about you? What are your favorite horror displays? Have you ever attended a horror convention? I’m a part of a planning committee for next year’s StokerCon in San Diego, which I’m very much looking forward to and will tell you all about in future posts!
Thank you for reading and see you next time!
