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Hall of Shadows – Haunted Attraction Zone Returns To Midsummer Scream!

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When Midsummer Scream, the world’s largest Halloween and horror convention, returns to the Long Beach Convention Center from July 28 to 30, its centerpiece will be the Hall of Shadows, a massive dark zone that features a stunning array of haunted attractions, interactive photo ops, and live entertainment as creatures lurk and screams flow from the swirling fog.

All passes for Midsummer Scream include admission to every attraction within the Hall of Shadows, which for the first time ever, will be open to guests all three days of the fan convention: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One- and three-day passes to Midsummer Scream are available now at www.MidsummerScream.org. Additionally, guests holding the Gold Bat VIP pass will receive “fast lane” access to most attractions within the Hall of Shadows, bypassing general admission standby queues.

“As we celebrate horror games of all types this year at Midsummer Scream, the theme of this year’s Hall of Shadows is ‘Dungeons & Demons,’ which pays homage to the OG ‘monster’ game that we all grew up with and still love to this day: Dungeons & Dragons,” says Rick West, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Midsummer Scream. “We’ve invited our haunters this year to let their imaginations run wild and, where possible, to incorporate some kind of gamification or interactive element into their Hall of Shadows creations. Everyone is excited and hard at work to bring fans the most epic Hall of Shadows yet!”

Guests will enter this year’s Hall of Shadows through ancient ruins filled with traps, treasure, and classic D&D monsters, thanks to the talent of the always amazing CalHauntS team. Roll for initiative and step lively into the darkness ahead — guests who linger too long are in danger of becoming a permanent fixture of this ancient dungeon!

Midsummer Scream 2022 – Long Beach Convention Center.

Emerging into the foggy expanse of the Hall of Shadows, guests are free to explore and engage in more than a dozen spooky attractions, elaborate displays, and frightening photo ops at will, created by some of the best haunters in Southern California… and beyond. Among them:

  • Popular cosplay photographer, Rawl of the Dead, will be on hand throughout the weekend, taking complementary pictures of guests as they fight to survive a zombie apocalypse;
  • Straite to Hale Productions invites fans to seek out spirits within their Winchester Mystery House-inspired walk-through experience, which is sponsored by the world-famous mansion in San Jose;
  • The Pizza Planet Truck and Art’s Sideshow are joining forces to create a Disney-inspired display that’s been taken over by Chucky, resulting in anything but a fairytale ending for the delivery driver;
  • The Dreich Society will take guests on a terror trip through the Fifth Dimension with their Twilight Zone-inspired haunt;
  • Derry’s very own Mr. Floats will taunt and haunt visitors playing games of chance in his CarnEVIL Games zone, along with an assorted crew of nightmarish characters;
  • The Ghostwood Manor home haunt will present Pharaoh’s Hall, an Egyptian-themed walk-through that will have visitors crying for their mummies;
  • The Haunt With No Name… Yet returns with its elaborate Celtic cemetery “yard display” that remains a decades-old home haunt fixture in Los Angeles each Halloween;
  • Santa Ana Haunt will initiate visitors into the terrifying cult world of Kormos and their blood-crazed rituals;
  • The Haunted Harvest makes its Hall of Shadows debut as they introduce fans to the Notflix Killer in an after-hours encounter inside a closed Hauntbuster Video store;
  • Tunnel of Terror, SoCal’s favorite haunted car wash, will treat fans to a 360-degree photo booth experience filled with terrifying monsters;
  • Coble Haunter will be on hand with an all-new attraction, daring fans to take a stroll through their old-school haunted house where evil dwells;
  • Fear Farm, who hold the title of tallest Hall of Shadows façade ever (24.5 feet in 2022) returns this year with a brand-new castle-themed attraction, creeping with evil creatures — and a built-in tavern that will be accessible to all guests 21 years and older;
  • And for the first time, Hall of Shadows plays host to an out-of-state haunt — Wicker Manor — who are bringing the terror from Colorado to Long Beach for everyone to enjoy!

In addition, the Decayed Brigade will present three shows daily both Saturday and Sunday on their massive Hall of Shadows “runway,” as they thrill hundreds of onlookers with high-energy sliding maneuvers and pulse-pounding stunts in a slider exhibition like none other!

All of that and more will be waiting in the darkness of the Hall of Shadows for fans when the doors to Midsummer Scream 2023 creak open the evening of Friday, July 28, in Long Beach. To receive breaking information about Midsummer Scream, fans can sign up for a digital newsletter at MidsummerScream.org or follow Midsummer Scream on Instagram and Facebook by searching @midsummerscream. 

Midsummer Scream 2022 – Long Beach Convention Center

About Midsummer Scream

Midsummer Scream is presented by David Markland (Co-Founder/Executive Director), Gary Baker (Co-Founder/Executive Producer), Claire Dunlap (Co-Founder/Producer), and Rick West (Co-Founder/Creative Director). Their 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 spooky fun!

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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