Midsummer Scream 2019 : Shopping & Haul

Who’s ready for my Midsummer Scream 2019 shopping haul? No convention experience is complete without a trip through the show floor and the goodies found within it and Midsummer Scream was no exception. The exhibitor show floor was completely at the top of it’s game this year. There were over 350 vendors to shop for whatever your spooky little heart might desire.

One thing I definitely admire about Midsummer Scream (and why I keep coming back) is that there is always something for everyone. You could love the really gore horror side of Halloween or the super cutsie very kid friendly version. There’s going to be a wide range available for any category you might classify yourself with.

There was just. So. Much. To see.

I don’t think I even caught it all. I feel like next year, it doesn’t matter what panels are happening when (unless Cassandra throws me a curve ball. XP), I’m spending as much of the first day as needed window shopping, photographing and card collecting so that I catch everything!

Something I especially appreciated was the “themed” areas. This year, there were three to be found, which made finding things in those particular criteria very easy to locate. We had the “Corridor of Creepy Creeps” which was Haunted Mansion themed, the “Tiki Terror!” which fit in all the mugs and polynesian influence one could want, and Elvira’s “Macabre Market” made a come back with a much better picked name.

Disappointingly, I was not so hot with taking exhibitor photos this year. However, my pals Miranda of Spooky Little Halloween and Christy of Halloween-Haiku took great pictures of some of their favorite finds, but you can find even more via Instagram from those that were way better at photographing everything. So instead, you’ll get business card photos. >.<;;

🕸 Tiki Terrors! 🕸

• The Art of Doug Horne
  • I’ve long admired Doug’s art of universal monsters and horror icons enjoying a tiki bar setting with a cocktail in their hands. It was a totally different seeing his work in person. I wanted it all. Especially his wicked skeleton piranha mug.
• Jeff Granito
  • We were THE first people to preorder Jeff’s black cat mug, which was one of my must-buys for the weekend. His booth was amazing and I fell in love with the glowing gliclees. You can bet we picked up a handful of things to add to our tiki room.
• Outl1n3 Island
  • These guys had some really adorable mugs and jewelry. They were really nice and told us all about their mug creation process. Their photos don’t do their work justice. Each of their pieces is hand made and has so much detail, making each one 100% original. I’d love to order one of their Trick or Treat mugs before Halloween arrives.
• River Delta Trading Co.
  • These guys had really adorable blow darts, displays and boards that I intend on picking up for our tiki room in the future!
• Sex and Monsters
  • I was NOT expecting to love this vendor as much as I did! Some of his art is a little too…exotica for my tastes, but I ADORED the tiki recipe prints!
• Sweet Siren Designs
  • The creative genius behind the jewelry I wore for my Tiki Elvira. She has a very fun collection of items. I swear, I’m going to make that tentacle skirt mine some day soon! I loved getting to chat with her and the whole process for designing my jewelry was super fun!

🕸 The Main Show Floor 🕸

• Abracadaver (haunt props)
• BoneWare (skeleton plasticware)
• Bun in the Coven (child & maternity spooky wear)
• Classic Horror Shop (event backdrops, costumes & props)
• Coolsville USA (spooky sunnies & cobweb shelves)
• Creepy Kingdom (podcast)
• Derek Vukusich (amazing charcoal art & resin casts)
• Drew Rausch One Stop Spooky Shop (unique art & pins)
• ECTOxO (ghostbusters products)
• The Fiends (child friendly spooky show)
• Geek Thirst (really cool sailor moon pins)
• Haunted OC (haunted mansion displays & swinging wake host)
• Hero Complex Galaxy (pop culture pins)
• Hilary’s Vanity (Halloween umbrellas)
• IMAFOOLISHMORTAL (haunted mansion backdrops & replicas)
• Infinity Escape (escape room demos)
• Krampus Los Angeles (Krampus gathering & events)
• Mary J. Hoffman (adorable spooky art)
• Mystic Museum (oddities & curiosities)
• RainbowGlitterStar (witch services – picked up for sister)
• The Shape of Fear Cosplay (hilarious calendar)
• Steve Minty (can’t remember why I have this card!)
• Witch Doctorate (witchy education – picked up for sister)

🕸 Honorable Mentions 🕸

These are people I didn’t get business cards from…for some bizarre reason (even though I thought I grabbed them) and forgot to take a picture of, but I wanted to at least swing by their booth to say hi because I follow them on social media. So, instead, I quietly cruised through their wares and didn’t say a word…like the weirdo stalker I am… =_______=

• Bat in Your Belfry
• Cartel Ink
• Edyn Rashae
• Lady Moon Co.
• Lively Ghosts
• Lucky Hellcat
• Rhode Motijo

🕸 The Haul 🕸

Now…I’m sure you might be wondering….”Chelsea, you sure put a lot of ‘Can’t wait to buy that later’ on your list of vendors, but what did you actually walk away with for your Midsummer Scream 2019 haul?”

I originally had a huge budget, and I was planning to go wild, but due to some life circumstances, my spending budget ended up being a fourth of that initial size. So, I kind of had to preplan my purchases.

My Midsummer Scream 2019 Haul

Of course, I had to get the Midsummer Scream tiki mug. I love Midsummer Scream’s mascot and he turned out too perfect as a tiki mug. A big round of applause to Muntiki Imports for their awesome work. I also picked up the Tiki cat pin designed by Jeff Grantio. It’s also very gratifying to add my gold bat pin and badge to my convention collectables.

My husband swung by Jeff Grantio‘s booth first thing after getting our passes (I was getting Elvira-fied) to order the second MUST BUY on my list, Jeff’s black cat mug. This mug is a beauty and I can’t wait to see which color eyes ours will have! The mug preorder came with an exclusive print and pin only available to the first 150 preorders that we got to take home that weekend, which was a very nice treat to have while we wait for the mug’s arrival.

We also ended up going back on Sunday to get his Midsummer Scream 2019 pin exclusive, but that meant we had to spend an x dollar amount…so we got a glass cutting board PERFECT for tiki cocktail prep and two pillow covers. Turns out we also got a free print, so I picked out the skull one which had a great combo of tiki and day of the dead vibes to hang near my Halloween Tree when I put it out this year.

Once I was all dressed up, I insisted on making a beeline to Drew Rausch’s One Stop Spooky Shop. I had put in a commission with him and couldn’t wait to see it. Drew was too spooktacular and made a big presentation out of showing me the print. My spider queen is amazing beyond words and she now looks down on me from my workspace. I have been eying Drew’s awesome tombstone frames since last year so that was another part of my purchase in addition to the two pins I didn’t have of his yet. (although it looks like he has a version of the ghost that glows in the dark now!)

I wasn’t planning to buy Cassandra Peterson‘s Elvira Mistress of the Dark blu-ray, but I needed an excuse to be in her autograph line, and I didn’t see the option to pay for a selfie until after I bought the disc. But I’ve been meaning to add it to my collection anyways! Plus, I got a free pin since I was dressed as Elvira. 😀

While in Elvira’s Macabre Market, we also stopped by Geeki Tiki’s booth and discovered that they had chocolate bars with real rum flavors! So we had to pick up one of each kind. 😉

Last, but not least was my purchase from Booger Vampire. I’ve fallen in love with Mary’s art and characters and I’ve been in need of a coin purse. Isn’t this one so me?

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What goodies did you get your hands on at Midsummer Scream?

Don’t forget to check out my Midsummer Scream 2019 review and the panels and performances I attended during the event.