Midsummer Scream 2026 – A Love Letter

Chasing the high I experienced at Midsummer Scream 2026 this past weekend, I decided to write a love letter in celebration and in reflection. This year marked 10 years since the world’s largest Halloween and Horror convention opened its show floor to Halloween lovers. As of this moment, I am feeling honored that I got to be a small part of it’s history for yet another year.

Ten years as a consistently growing and successful event is nothing to underplay. To set the scene, I am a seasoned convention attendee. In my Junior high school days, I began attending my first anime conventions. These weekends were complete with cosplays and poorly thought-out travel decisions. Which then expanded into volunteering at the very same convention, traveling out-of-state to cons, getting experience as a booth cosplayer for an anime network. Eventually, I expanded my horizons into the anime/comic/horror convention Comikaze. This convention served the spooky dose I was craving in place of anime ones.

Then, Spooky Little Halloween wrote about Halloween conventions existing. Midsummer Scream was listed as one in my neck of the woods and I bought tickets. When first attending Midsummer Scream in 2017, I was 20 weeks pregnant with Little Monster. At the time, I thought there couldn’t really be a community like my anime one for Halloween. From the moment I stepped onto the show floor, I was greeted by one of the best convention experiences ever. There was no turning back.

“I Can’t Believe I Almost Missed This”

As I mentioned earlier, the decision to attend Midsummer Scream for 2026 was unexpected. With a new job under my belt, there was no way I was getting the full weekend off. However, when I received an email confirmation for a media pass, my husband practically pushed me out the door. I am so glad he did. On Friday afternoon, I sat amongst friends before the event opened. We were hiding out in a hotel lobby waiting for the doors to open. Suddenly, I was hit with the thought, “I can’t believe I almost missed this”.

And that thought is still echoing. Unlike blog posts of my past MSS experiences, this year’s is less what it’s like with family in tow and more of what happens if I made it a last-minute decision. The feeling that this is an event almost as magic-filled as Halloween night is still vibrating through me. Whether you got to enjoy the full weekend complete with early badge pickup or had the pleasure of only 24 hours, you know what I mean if you’ve attended. What Midsummer Scream has built is something very unique and like nothing I have experienced at any other convention.

Like many conventions, there is always a variety of vendors, activities, panels and more to experience. However, the main thing that keeps bringing me back are the people. Each year, I love that I get to add one more person to my list of spooky friends to check in with over the weekend. This year, despite the brevity of it all, I managed to not only hook up with my usual coven, but connected with old friends I hadn’t been able to see in more than a year. For long-time online friends, I finally clicked with those I had promised to connect with.

I cannot help but feel feel like one of the boys from “The Halloween Tree”, rushing to connect at the crossroads, donned in different “costumes” to enjoy a special event few understand to the level we all feel. I believe those that love Halloween have always longed for a community and Midsummer Scream has done a beautiful job of bringing us all together to really feel like one in whatever space you are with your passion for the holiday.

What Can You Do in 24 Hours?

Before I jump into that answer, I should clarify what I mean when I say 24 hours. It does not mean the total hours I spent at the event. I drove from Northern California on Friday morning to arrive at my hotel in Long Beach by 12:30pm. On Friday, the event doors were open from 6pm to 10pm, then again on Saturday from 11am to 6pm. I left the convention center around 5pm on Saturday to be back home in time for work on Sunday.

My advice after such a whirlwind weekend? Have a game plan! Not to sound like an advertisement, but the Midsummer Scream phone app is your ultimate companion. It has been the best tool to use each year it has existed. I knew I would not have the convenience of being able to explore the vendors in full. The week leading up to the event, I favorited all of the vendors I wanted to hit up. In turn, I easily found them on the show floor by referencing their booth number. As such, I assumed I could come across new vendors on my hunt for my regulars. This did, in fact, prove true!

In addition to vendors, I had the make the grueling decision to pick my panels, if any. Three made it onto my list, with me able to attend two of them.

So on Friday evening, I shopped and ran into Halloween friends. On Saturday, I attended one panel then shopped a little more. And finally, I wrapped it up with the drag show and a final chance encounter under the great pumpkin in the Hall of Shadows.

Not too much to report on, but such a flurry of fun all the same.

Attending “Firsthand Hauntings from Mansion Caretakers”

Always a sucker for ANYTHING Winchester Mystery House, I could not pass up attending this panel which was described as follows:

For the first time ever at Midsummer Scream, witness an exclusive preview of Firsthand Hauntings: Stories from Mansion Caretakers. Beyond the mansion’s famous legends lie the stories few have ever heard. Hear firsthand accounts from the caretakers who expeirence unexplained phenomena while working behind the scenes at America’s most mysterious home.

This delightful panel happened at the same time as the Scream anniversary panel. I am certain it was one of the biggest contributors to the lower attendance, but I feel that this panel was not done justice by it’s description. However, I understand that I have a bias since anything Winchester is going to pull me in. Regardless, what this panel actually contained was a true gem. The team has been collecting interviews of various staff both current and past to share their experiences while working on the property. The end result was a delightful 30 minutes of anecdotal accounts. What I loved most is that this was just staff sharing their stories. No attempts to prove anything. No fueling the wild tales that have distracted from the history. Just shared moments.

It was so beautiful and I cannot wait to see this grow as they collect more interviews from team members. It was mentioned that plans to stream the video are still in the works with no public release yet. As I find out more, I will be sure to share it here on the blog. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to plan a visit to the Winchester Mystery House. Experience your own anecdotal account of the property. Then come back here and share it with me!

Sponsoring “Return of the Living Drag The Musical”

For the second year in a row, Sips & Spirits acted as a sponsor for what’s become one of mine and my husband’s favorite experiences at Midsummer Scream. Back in 2022, the Drag Show made it’s debut on the Promenade Stage. We were lucky to be 3 rows in. It was a packed house with standing room only and attendees turned away for lack of room. We have attended every year since. Last year, we found out it was possible to be a sponsor for the show. Excited to give back to our queens, we jumped at the opportunity. When asked if we were interested in doing so again this year, we didn’t hesitate to sign up.

Every queen always brings a load of energy. It was easy to tell everyone had fun getting creative with the musical theme. You wouldn’t think there are so many horror-themed musicals, but these queens didn’t have to dig deep. Every number was extremely fun. Although, I have to say my favorite bit was Sips & Spirits getting a shout out during the show. Once I got home, I noticed that we had been featured on the sponsors section of the playbill too. I didn’t know that was going to be a thing, so I absolutely geeked out over it.

Did I pull off Midsummer Scream as an Impromptu Trip?

Short answer? Yes. I did make it possible. However! If you can pull off attending all three days, I strongly stand by doing that instead. I have been many a time, knew what to expect and I still felt like I missed so much. The irony of that? Because I was in a rush to make the most of it. I didn’t once get to swing by Pixie Hollow, my family’s favorite stop on the Vendor Floor, nor get to order a cocktail from the themed bar in the Hall of Shadows. I almost didn’t even find the themed bar in the Hall of Shadows!

For anyone who finds themselves easily overwhelmed by days surrounded by tens of thousands of people, a shorter trip might be more for you. Personally, if I don’t have a time limit, I don’t mind the crowds and prefer to enjoy conventions more leisurely. There’s so much to discover at an event like Midsummer Scream and even having three days never feels like enough to me.

Will I Continue to Attend Midsummer Scream with big changes in 2027?

Almost immediately at it’s conclusion, Midsummer Scream announced that next year, it would be moving locations from Long Beach to Anaheim for 2027. Although I will miss the familiarity of the Long Beach area, I think this is a long overdue move for this event. I cannot say I’m thrilled about it as I will miss all the local spooky things hidden within Long Beach (I’m looking at you, Queen Mary and 4th Horseman). However, I think that moving to the largest convention center on the west coast will be a welcome change for attendees that have been feeling like the crowds have outgrown the Long Beach convention center.

As of right now, yes, my family and I are planning to attend Midsummer Scream 2027. I did grumble about it changing locations to my husband when I first learned of it, but I am excited to see how the event continues to grow in a space that allows it to. I’m already formulating my plan for next year to bring you the coverage I couldn’t this year and am eager to continue sharing my experiences with both just myself and with my family attending this convention.

Top Ten Moments from the Weekend (in no particular order…)

Before I move on to plans for 2027, I wanted to compile a list of the top 10 moments. These were just a few fragments that made this past weekend so special:

10) Grabbing a drink at the Observation bar on the Queen Mary on Friday night. A couple next to me planning to attend the next day start chatting with me about favorite scary movies.

9) FINALLY connecting with Josh, author of the Hall-lore-ween book series! Had to give the biggest hug.

8) The first person I run into when entering the convention center doors was Barry Under Your Bed. It was thrilling that he was my first conversation through the doors. It has become a secret mission of mine to at least see Barry on the show floor each year. I was so honored to be recognized by him. It was such a bummer I couldn’t stick around to watch the musical on Saturday.

7) Encountering Lucy Baal when preparing to leave for home on Saturday. I had just finished up meeting with a friend and had decided it was time to call it quits when I spied Lucy. He was so lovely to chat with me a moment and even posed with me for a photo.

6) Doing a Halloween blow mold swap in the parking lot of the Queen Mary Saturday morning with The Punkin Shop. Long story, but this was a vibe I was so in on! Plus we got to gab about our jumping spiders, so bonus treat for me!

5) One of the LA Haunted Hayride characters walking with me quite a ways on the show floor until I finally gave in and conversed with him. Those scare actors ALWAYS know I’m trying to avoid conversation because they’re just SO good at creeping me out.

4) Skeleton Sam deciding that just towering over me for a photo wasn’t enough and that he needed to get under the brim of my witch hat from my less than five foot height.

3) Spooky Little Halloween leaning over to me on Friday saying how great it was that I could come. She then followed with how it made the weekend feel complete. Our core group can get a bit big and I can sometimes feel like the “impostor” because my branding isn’t Halloween 24/7. I know I’m always welcome. That’s what I love so much about the Halloween community in general. But there’s just something about someone just randomly saying “I’m glad you’re here.” ❤️

2) Attending the Winchester Mystery House panel on Saturday morning. Not only did I run into Halloween Horror Haiku right before getting in line (and got to save her a seat right in front), this panel was so beautiful. The description did NOT do it justice. I was so happy to attend a panel to a NorCal location that really deserves even more love than it already gets. WMH is so much more than it’s haunt season and I wish more people would venture to it outside of the spooky season.

1) Texting Fat Bottom Girl Bakes that I’m at the Hall of Shadows and getting ready to leave, only for her to text me back that she’s about to enter the Hall of Shadows so I say, “Let’s meet under the giant pumpkin”. Which we did and it was the most beautifully Halloween moment ever. When else would you get to tell a friend to “meet under the great pumpkin”?

The more I think on it, the more magical moments beyond these few come to mind! It is impressive that I managed to make so many wonderful memories in just a short span. If you feel so inclined, I would love for you to leave at least one of yours in the comments too!

Until next year, I will continue to reflect on the fun over this crazy quick yet very full weekend!