Midsummer Scream is This Weekend

Midsummer Scream takes place this weekend, July 26th - 28th, at the Long Beach Convention Center (Long Beach, CA).?The event features an exhibit floor?with over 300+ spooky vendors, The Hall of Shadows mini haunts, Screaming?Room, panels, presentations, performances, Paranormal Pixie's Pumpkin Patch children's zone, Black Cat Lounge, Saturday-night party, and more. Tickets are on sale now. A record-breaking 50,000 Halloween fans are expected to attend this year.?

This year's Hall of Shadows celebrates "Spirits and Legends" with mini haunts and experiences for guests to enjoy. Enter through a?dilapidated ghost town created by the team at?Fear Farm, and go on to experience over a dozen spooky attractions. Lionsgate,?in partnership with Plague Productions, will present?Gears of Fear: Explore the Legacy of Lionsgate? Horror, inviting attendees to come face-to-face with the studio's greatest madmen & monsters. Survive?the kill room of a psychopathic madman with Scream Warriors - an immersive audio experience from LVCRFT & Christopher Young. Join the Mystery Inc. crew with The Dreich Society: Scooby-Doo and the Carnival of Chills. Visit a Celtic cemetery with The Haunt with No Name... Yet - Now With More Ghosts!?Popular photographer Rawl of the Dead returns with a new pop-up photo experience. Enter the exclusive Warehouse 6 with Santa Ana Haunt: Haunting Grounds?and Happy Hauntings Bar. Encounter familiar monsters around each corner in a one-of-a-kind photo-op walkthrough haunt with?Pizza Planet Truck & Art’s Sideshow: The REAL Sideshow!?Try not to?wake the dark denizens of?Realm of Shadow: Labyrinth of Lost Souls. Take a spooky & unique photo with the?Haunted Car Wash: 360? Photo Experience. Celebrate CalHauntS' 20th anniversary with?CalHauntS: Phantom Express. Get a sneak peek at the beauty of hand-carved pumpkins & displays coming this fall with?Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns Los Angeles Preview. Face a mysterious force that lurks in a cursed mining town with?Hellizondo Haunt: The Incident at Hope’s Edge. Cheer on your favorite sliders at the daily performances from Decayed Brigade. Celebrate?Día de los Muertos with?George Newnam’s CASA CALAVERAS: A Walk-Thru Art Experience. All this and more await in the Hall of Shadows dark zone. Get your tickets to Midsummer Scream today to experience all the chills & thrills.

Theme Parks

Nightmare Fuel: Nocturnal Circus?will entertain guests at this year's Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando (Orlando, FL).?Step up to a dark circus and get trapped in a thrilling spectacle of pyro and aerialists to the beat of pulse-pounding rock rhythms. This is the fourth version of the Nightmare Fuel show, which premiered at HHN Orlando in 2021.?Halloween Horror Nights runs?select nights?August 30th - November 3rd. Tickets are on sale now.

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Crime

Russ McKamey, owner of McKamey Manor, was arrested last Friday on domestic assault charges. According to a Lawrence County arrest affidavit, McKamey allegedly assaulted?his girlfriend. He posted a $1,000 bail and has been ordered to have no contact with the victim. His initial court appearance is scheduled for August 6th in Lawrence County General Sessions Court.?

U.S.?Haunts & Events

A new fall tradition presented by Medpace is coming to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Cincinnati, OH): Jack O'Lantern Glow. This immersive walkthrough experience will feature over 5,000 hand-carved pumpkins and fall displays along a half-mile trail in the zoo. Festive food will be available, including pumpkin spice hot chocolate, apple cider spritz, pumpkin beer, and caramel apples. Jack O'Lantern Glow will take place on select dates October 3rd - 31st. Tickets are on sale now for $25 per adult (ages 13+) and $20 per Child (Ages 3-12), with Cincinnati Zoo Members receiving $3 off all general admission tickets.

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Retail

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! Sam's Club will debut a new 10.5' Airblown Inflatable Archway based on the classic 1988 film Beetlejuice this Halloween season—transport trick-or-treaters into the afterlife with the titular Ghost-with-the-Most and iconic sandworm. The archway is now on sale?online?for $199.94. Target?debuted some of its 2024 Hyde & EEK! Boutique collections online this past week. Feel transported back to the 80s with the punk rock, disco vibes, and electric hues of the Neon Thrills Halloween collection. Embrace a mysterious woodland style with?Dark Forest Decor. These new additions and many returning favorites are available for purchase online and will come to store shelves in the coming weeks.?

Film & TV

Warner Bros. Pictures released the second trailer for the highly anticipated Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The trailer gives fans a better taste of the upcoming film's plot and glimpses of all the new and returning ghouls Lydia and her daughter, Astrid, will face as they journey into the afterlife.?Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?will be released in the U.S. on September 6th, 2024.

SoCal Halloween Haunts & Events

Oogie Boogie Bash (Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, CA) ?August 25 - October 31

Halloween Horror Nights?(Universal Studios, Universal City, CA) September 5 - November 3

Fright Fest Extreme (Magic Mountain, Valencia, CA) September 7 - November 3

Knott's Scary Farm (Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA) September 19 - November 2

The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor (Long Beach, CA) September 20 - November 2

Howl-O-Scream (SeaWorld San Diego, San Diego, CA) September 27 - November 2

Reign of Terror (Thousand Oaks, CA) September 27 - November 2