Season's Screamings 2021: General Recap

Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, CA

Happy new year! Wait, we’re already nearly a week into the new year? Wow, time flies. Well, today, we’re taking care of 2021 business by recapping the first-ever Southern California Christmas haunt convention, the punnily named Season’s Screamings, put together by the same folks that bring you Midsummer Scream and also produced Awaken the Spirits earlier last summer! Hosted by the same Pasadena Convention Center that featured the pop-up Halloween convention in August, Season’s Screamings was a three day celebration of things spooky and festive—a Nightmare Before Christmas-esque collision of two holidays.

Welcome back to the Pasadena Convention Center!

The event stretched across three days last month, from Friday, December 17th (a half day) through Sunday, December 19th—a format that Midsummer Scream will be matching when it makes its twice-delayed fifth anniversary run later this year from July 29th through the 31st at the Long Beach Convention Center. Due to scheduling conflicts, we were only able to attend Sunday’s edition of Season’s Screamings, but we still had a fun and entertaining time!

The L.A. Haunted Hayride had a bit of a presence welcoming guests to a rare non-Halloween Midnight Falls!

The format was a familiar one to those who attended Awaken the Spirits, though everything was concentrated in the main building instead of branching into the neighboring one. There were various photo ops inside the venue, plus a main stage for panels and presentations, multiple halls for vendor and exhibitors, and even a “Hall of Yuletide Spirits” featuring Christmas-themed mini-haunts—the first to return to a horror-type con in in two and a half years!

Guests could also enjoy “Christmas Scarolers” from time to time, featuring wonderful voice talents from Force of Nature Productions, who crooned morbid and delightfully dark version of traditional Christmas carols. These talented singers were a fantastic batch of entertainers that provided a wickedly whimsical spin to the event, and I wouldn’t mind some form of pop-up or roving live entertainment at future Midsummer Scream events!

The Christmas Scarolers from Force of Nature were fantastic.

Their alternate lyrics to traditional Christmas carols carried a lot of dark humor!

Exhibitors

Like other conventions, Midsummer Scream’s Season’s Screamings allowed a variety of vendors in the haunt and haunted entertainment industry to feature their wares and sell or market merchandise. This time around, the halls were slightly rearranged, with only one stage for panels and presentations and the vendors located in both Hall A and B and in the main circulation corridors.

We enjoyed seeing familiar friends from outfits like Grey Phantom Designs, Decayed Brigade, Revenge of the Nerd, Mystic Museum, Jeff Granito Designs, Force of Nature Productions, Art’s Sideshow, and more. With so many options in horror memorabilia, Season’s Screamings was a great place to get in that last bit of holiday shopping for the favorite ghoul in people’s lives! The vendor halls were relatively quiet on Sunday, which—during a pandemic—was actually a little reassuring. The extra space was a nice contrast to the usual crowdedness of Midsummer Scream, though we understand that Saturday was busier.

There was plenty to see from vendor at Season’s Screamings.

People

Another favorite part of any convention is people watching, and Season’s Screamings definitely provided creatively dressed guests—though not to the usual density of the August convention. There were plenty of Christmas versions of recognizable horror icons, from Sam from Trick ‘R Treat and Ghostface to Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers. Some guests also had their original characters, like a puppeteer who seemed to have a great time interacting with Jeff Heimbach’s (HorrorBuzz) Barry.

A pair of holiday Sams not quite Trick ‘R Treating!

We all thought Barry was the horror con horned monster, but Barry met someone even… well, you know where the joke is going.

Of course, what’s a dark holiday convention and people dressing up without Krampus? Both of the full days at Season’s Screamings, there was a Krampus walk featuring participating Krampus actors parading through the halls, showing off their best naughty child kidnapping spirits. It was pretty neat to see the difference iterations and renditions on this increasingly popular Yuletide demon!

The Krampus Walk paraded through the halls on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Either way, they were here! So hide your kids!

Panels

Like all conventions there were also plenty of informative and entertaining panels at Season’s Screamings. Unlike Midsummer Scream’s other events, this edition only featured one stage’s worth of panels, and without the usual haunt season line-up to provide breaking news, the panels were more about niche topics and fandoms. The stage crew once again crafted a fantastic set and backdrop, with Christmas spirits and snow scenes and a lovely village set-up on the stage—plus a few evil elves in front of it!

The stage set for Season’s Screamings was fantastic.

During our Sunday visit, we enjoyed the Halloween 2021 round-up and the Muppet’s Haunted Mansion discussion, the first of which provided a great recap of the SoCal haunt season last year and the second of which provided fantastic insight and Easter egg secrets into the production of the fantastic Muppets Halloween special.

Rick, Shawn, Chloe, and Josh: the scary sitcom you never thought you needed!

The Halloween round-up featured Rick West, Shawn Marshall of Parks and Cons, actress-turned-haunt-superfan Chloe Noelle, and Josh Quillin, creator the amazing Epic Home Haunts documentary. From the pro haunts like Knott’s Scary Farm, Halloween Horror Nights, Fright Fest, L.A. Haunted Hayride, and Delusion, to the overwhelming amount of amazing home haunts in SoCal (a big shout-out was given to The Pirates Cave Haunt, which seemed to be a consensus number one home haunt this year), this was a sprint through the many Halloween attractions available in the Los Angeles market. It was actually entertaining to have Quillin, who lives in Florida, present and unable to contribute much to many of the attractions, but his presence was very much explained at the end of the panel, when he announced that there would be a sequel to his much-beloved documentary, this time focusing on DOZENS of home haunts. That’s right, Epic Home Haunts: Chapter 2 is coming!

There was big announcement news for *Epic Home Haunts.*

The Making of Muppets Haunted Mansion closed off Sunday and featured Midsummer Scream Executive Producer David Markland in his first-ever emcee role at a con. But in reality, he was a simple mediator and prompter for direct Kirk Thatcher to entertain the audience with all sorts of behind the scenes stories and insights into the making of the Disney+ film, which surprisingly was shot almost entirely in front of digital sets ala The Mandalorian, with only three scenes featuring physical sets. But the panel was loaded with revelations of fun Easter eggs and details created for the movie, and it was clear that the Muppets Now crew in charge of producing this venture had a lot of great fun with that process!

The capper on Sunday was a talk on the *Muppet’s Haunted Mansion*, which unfortunately had some dropouts from some of the other creators and ended up being a conversation between host David Markland and director and weekend nautical George R.R. Adams cosplayer Kirk Thatcher.

The Zach Galligan interview by The Boo Crew was a great way to kick off the Sunday schedule. Hearing his story of landing the role of Billy in the iconic Gremlins movie was a riot—especially when he revealed that his crush on who would turn out to be his co-star, Phoebe Cates, led to his getting the part. As he regaled, Zach’s part was a natural fit, because he didn’t have to do any acting. His emotions were all genuine!

An interview with *Gremlins*’ Zach Galligan kicked off Sunday.

Also rounding up the afternoon line-up was a panel on the Ghost Stories of Christmas Past, with historian Lisa Morton, and Krampus: The Devil You Don’t Know, diving deep into Krampus lore with Krampus LA founder Al Ridenour.

Working through different facets of lore in Krampus: The Devil You Don’t Know.

Hall of Yuletide Spirits

We’ll go more into this in a follow-up update, but what horror con would be complete without a hall of mini-haunts? Awaken the Spirits notably did not include the usual “Hall of Shadows”-type attraction last August, due to concerns about the Coronavirus and close-quarter conditions. But with Season’s Screamings landing in what was originally anticipated to be lighter pandemic conditions (this was before the recent Omicron surge too), the holiday haunt was able to feature four small haunted mazes, one haunted art walk, and several other immersive and beautiful attractions.

The interiors was shrouded in a spooky blue, with snowflake projections gliding around the floor. Various ghouls could be seen roaming the grounds, and though we didn’t see any active scares in the general thoroughfares, the haunting figures did add to a cool ambiance.

Yes, the Krampus could be found in here too!

Occupying the cavernous space of Exhibit Hall B, with plenty of distance between each haunt, the Hall of Yuletide Spirits first greeted guests with a wintry scene produced by CalHauntS. Entitled “A Christmas SCarol,” this entryway featured a Victorian storefront that might seem familiar to visitors of this year’s Rotten Apple 907 on one side and a ghostly graveyard (featuring, among other items, props from The Farm Haunt) with spirits haunting passers-by! Different ghosts of Christmas times waved and shuddered and beckoned, evoking an eerie ambiance that certainly set the mood for the hall!

The CalHauntS entryway was spectacular as usual!

A Dickensian theme was clearly appropriate.

There was a mixture of mini-haunts and more static displays and attractions around the Hall of Yuletide Spirits. SpeedZone presented a photo op for their holiday Krampus Golf attraction, similar to their Haunted Mini Golf in October. There was also a Krampus Bar that offered refreshments for guests. And The Haunt with No Name… Yet provided a beautiful and incredibly photogenic Christmas graveyard scene.

Krampus Bar for those looking to imbibe.

At the back end of the Hall of Yuletide Spirits, Casa Calaveras’ “Holiday Fiesta” attraction was a Navidad overlay of their beautiful and vibrant Día de los Muertos display that they have produced for years. Guests could join José and Gloria in celebrating the season! Just next door, Mr. He presented an interactive installation entitled “Y2002K,” in which guests were invited to write down a stress from the past year to discard and literally deposit into a “vent” and thus allow them to “vent” their negative energy away. After the past two years’ of pandemic life, even the most cautious and conservative person couldn’t be faulted for being frustrated with this situation, and Mr. He’s display provided great cathartic release.

Casa Calaveras’ beautiful Holiday Fiesta walk-through.

Mr. He poses in front of the Y2022K installation.

On the actual mini-haunt circuit, Season’s Screamings was able to procure four SoCal home haunts (one loosely, as it’s become basically commercial) for guests fright and delight. Reichland Asylum presented “A Very Mathias Christmas,” hosted by everyone’s favorite deranged inmate and a very kidnapped Santa Claus. Insane Clown Productions featured The Cabin, a foray into the terrifying woodland abode of a serial killer. The Dreich Society stuck with its movie theme with “Holiday Fear,” featuring a holiday party put on by the Nakatoimi Corporation. And Fear Farm’s “Gingerbread House of Horrors” was short and sweet, featuring a towering gingerbread man who just wanted to bake guests alive and make each into a “cooky.”

A Very Mathias Christmas for explorers of Reichland Asylum!

Insane Haunt Productions presents The Cabin!

Fear Farm’s Gingerbread House of Horrors hosted guests for a nice snack.

Happy holidays from the Nakatomi Corporation!

All in all, it was a fun event to enjoy the weekend before Christmas, and while this didn’t feel quite encompassing of a three-day event, the more relaxed atmosphere and environment was a welcome change of pace compared to the hectic, “gotta get to everything” pace of Midsummer Scream. Season’s Screamings definitely showed that there was a market for immersion in wintry nightmares, and it will be back this year again! Tickets are not on sale yet, of course, but mark your calendars for December 2nd through 4th at the Pasadena Convention Center. It’s sure to be a holiday hoot!