What to Know
- Midsummer Scream
- August 15-17, 2025
- ”The world’s largest horror and Halloween convention” will return to the Long Beach Convention Center with hundreds of vendors, spooky mazes, and star-studded panels
The bags of miniature candy bars — well, most of them, anyway — are still sitting in the pantry, awaiting the trick-or-treaters of 2024.
The uncarved pumpkin is sitting in the middle of the kitchen table and votive candles? Those must be purchased.
And all of the nostalgic TV specials, the ones that make it really feel like the eerie season? We haven’t even really begun to watch those just yet, not with Oct. 31 still several days away.
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And yet? Plans of a most whimsical and wicked variety are already bubbling in the 2025 cauldron, the cauldron that holds all of the amazing and eek-inducing events that creepily crop up around Southern California.
One of the biggest celebrations has just unveiled its 2025 dates, all to give ghoulies from our region, and well beyond, the opportunity to haunt hotel sites and book ahead.
It’s Midsummer Scream, the outsized expo that’s billed as “the world’s largest horror and Halloween convention.”
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
The huge three-day monster meet-up will once again land at the Long Beach Convention Center, though returning fans should note that Midsummer Scream will unfurl a few weeks later than in past years, with a mid-August engagement.
Call it a weekend that’s a little bit closer to the Halloween season, meaning the desire to roam pop-up mazes, shop horror-themed vendors, and learn about the big theme park haunts will only be more fervent. Nice: The Hall of Shadows will be back and the purrfectly adorable Black Cat Lounge, too.
Keep an eye on the Midsummer Scream social pages for ticket on-sale dates, chilling announcements, and how to stay in the scary center of all the action.
Something to enjoy sooner, though? The expo is behind the Spooky Swap Meet, a springtime marketplace that pops up at Heritage Square Museum right around Half-O-Ween (so late April/early May).
And even sooner than that?
The Midsummer Scream team is sending out a weekly email featuring things to do for Halloween 2024 around Southern California, from haunted houses to theater events to festivals made for family fun.
Eager for more information?
It’s right here, Halloweenies.
