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Monsters, Ghosts and Goblins Take Over Long Beach for Third-Annual ‘Midsummer Scream’

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Hall of Shadows Midsummer Scream

Boils, ghouls, goblins and monsters came out in hordes for the third annual Midsummer Scream Convention. Midsummer Scream has called the Long Beach Convention Center home since it started back in 2016. With an endless array of talent, creativity, pop culture, and massive show floors, Midsummer Scream kicked off convention season with epic proportions.

Located smack-dab in the heart of Long Beach, California, Midsummer Scream brings horror to the port beach city. While the location is beautiful – with views of the ocean located just across the street – the congestion from traffic is a true horror.

After driving around for 30+ minutes, we were able to find a parking structure a couple of blocks away. The traffic was crazy! I firsthand witnessed an accident ensue while trying to find a place to park. Needless to say, the traffic had people in shambles.

Once inside, the atmosphere was delightfully spooky. From the moment you reached the entrance to Midsummer Scream, the sight of costumed guests welcomed us. With an abundant amount of space, this array of spooks was fun for the whole family.

Slashback Video Mystic Museum

Vendors from all through the country flock to display their unique works of art. Props, makeup, home goods, and fashion are just a few of the items that can be found in the 224,000 square-foot space.  

Scattered in between the endless aisles of merchandise laid the hidden gems: limited edition works of art, signed posters, and professional grade effects makeup. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

Props Midsummer Scream

Within the confines of the massive Halloween tribute was the Hall of Shadows; a separate wing full of scare mazes put on by haunters, theme parks and the likes. This years was the biggest.

The lines were long and the walkthroughs lasted only minutes; a taste of what is to come in October.

The fan favorite: a tribute to Trick ‘R Treat, complete with scenes that looked like they were pulled straight from the film. With some lines taking longer than 45 minutes, we were sadly unable to walk through them all.

Scare Maze Midsummer Scream

Classes offered guests the ability to learn from the masters themselves. Photo opportunities with celebrities like Kimberly J. Brown and the fan favorite Elvira were also available. Panels and Q&As with cast members of Hocus Pocus and the minds behind Halloween Horror Nights were among the popular offerings.

With so much to see, Midsummer Scream delighted even non-horror fans. There truly was something for everyone.

Horror Made Here The Conjuring Midsummer Scream

With a small bag full of goodies, I commenced my trek back to my car. My cold, black, heart, filled with chilling warmth from all the glorious sights.

Midsummer Scream might still be new to the convention world, but if this year showed us anything, is it is not one to be missed! 

For more on Horror and Comic Conventions, click here to view our past coverage!

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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