by Dot Cannon
Zombies stalked their prey. Screams–and laughter–resounded through the darkness. Practitioners of the “dark arts” of monster makeup, haunt creation and horror fiction shared their expertise.
In other words, attendees of ScareLA™ 2018 were having a great time, the weekend of August 25th.
Los Angeles’ first Halloween convention celebrated its sixth anniversary, that weekend, by going “dark”.
They became the world’s first all-dark convention, with a Halloween pop-up theme park! Their 2018 theme: “Descend Into Darkness”.
And here are our “top ten” favorites, from attending both days of ScareLA™ 2018.
#10 The music!
Singer Ban Sidh showed attendees a scary good time with his opening set on Saturday, as we waited for ScareLA™ 2018 to begin.
Well-crafted music (xylophone-line notes evoked rattling skeletons; growling bass sounded like a soon-to-be-unleashed monster) plus imaginative lyrics for songs like “Necronomicon” and “Who Goes There” put everyone in the right, fun-spooky frame of mind.
On Sunday, the Mitchell Sanitorium Rocky Horror Mini Show demonstrated shiver-inducing vocal talent in a fun and edgy performance that mashed up elements of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” with “Rocky Horror”.
And even after the lights went up on Sunday at 6:00, The Rhythm Coffin was still expertly rocking the “scare” vibe. We left to the sound of werewolf howls from their appreciative audience!
#9 The Krampus parade.
Several times, throughout the two days, attendees would hear the jingling of bells. But the sound didn’t herald the arrival of St. Nick.
Instead, his darker cohort, the Krampus, was onsite–in various incarnations. Saturday’s parade of Krampuses (Krampii?) was a definite highlight of the afternoon.
#8 The impromptu scares.
“EEEEEahahhhahahaha!” was our reaction, more than once, walking through the darkened haunt zone. Roaming “monsters” were sneaking up behind attendees as they waited in line for the haunts. And they were good at what they did!
One zombie, in particular, startled us into a scream, and laughter, multiple times.
After the first time, we decided to put our own scare talents to the test. Slipping up behind her, we unleashed our best monster “ROOAAARRRRR!”…
…and she didn’t even flinch. We were obviously dealing with a professional (who then demonstrated her proficiency in the art of the “boo” scare, several more times throughout the weekend!).
#7 A sense of community.
Behind the makeup demos (which were spectacular), the haunts, VR opportunities and the panel discussions, was a real sense of a community where people loved what they were doing–and gave back.
Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats had a “snuggle area” where, for a fee, local “scaries” could cuddle with a kitty. (Not surprisingly, a number of these furry “familiars” had found new forever homes by the end of the weekend!)
The UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation was talking with visitors about defeating a real-life, hateful monster.
And at the Crypt TV booth, “The Look-See” monster was on hand as visitors wrote down a “piece” of their lives they wanted to release…
…then did so, by crumpling and tossing it on the floor.
#6 The panels.
Due to getting to record our podcast live at ScareLA™ 2018 (a personal-favorite “first” in and of itself!), we didn’t see as many panels as usual.
But one that we did see, stood out: the “Haunters: the Art of the Scare” panel, moderated by filmmaker Jon Schnitzer, on Sunday afternoon.
Jon, who directed and produced the hit Netflix documentary, spent four years creating the project.
Now, he had gathered haunt professionals Shar Mayer, Donald Julson and Josh Randall, along with actor Jessica Cameron, all of whom appear in “Haunters”. Joining them was composer Alexander Burke, who created some of the music heard in the documentary. (Alexander, who has worked with Fiona Apple and David Lynch, also composes haunt music.)
And each panelist offered a look inside his or her experience in the haunt profession.
“Haunts are a lot like children,” offered “Nightmare on Loganberry” creator Donald Julson. “Some you’re proud of, some you’ve very disappointed in.”
In “Haunters: the Art of the Scare”, Donald’s overwhelming passion appears to be creating his haunt. But as the panel started, he quickly brought up another priority: being a dad. Since the making of the documentary, he now has a two-year-old.
“I haven’t seen my son for five days and it hurts my heart.”
For the “Haunters” documentary, Alexander composed “Donald’s Theme”, at Jon’s direction. This particular piece of music came with a backstory.
“I met Donald in sixth grade,” Jon said. “He invited me over to his house and his brother was wearing a mask and…tackled us. I said, ‘I’m not coming to your house ever again’.”
Donald and Jon would go on to become best friends–and to create a haunt together, as sixth-grade students.
And the memories of Donald’s bullying brothers and their childhood came out in the music of “Haunters”.
Discussing the directions he gave Alexander, for creating “Donald’s Theme”, Jon said, “I wanted there to be toy instruments. Children’s toys, like his childhood.”
Donald mentioned that Alexander had composed music for his “Nightmare on Loganberry” haunt.
“(I asked him and) he goes, “Yeah, I can do it in a couple of hours,” Donald said. “And I was like, ‘what?’ Because (that kind of project) takes me days.”
Given that short turnaround, Donald said, he didn’t expect the music to be particularly good.
But, on hearing Alexander’s finished product, “The hair stood up on my back.”
“It was easy, because Donald was so specific,” Alexander responded. “When someone’s very specific, it gives me more room to play.”
Going to the extreme–or not?
Early in the panel, the subject of controversial extreme haunt “McKamey Manor” came up. “Haunters: The Art of the Scare” devotes considerable–and graphic–footage to “Manor” attendees’ experiences.
Jessica said, despite the YouTube videos and the fact that the “Manor” (until recently) had no “safe word” for participants to say, in order to leave, she wanted to go through the experience.
When Jon asked why, she replied, “I think it just looks like so much fun. I’m like the worst-case scenario…I’ve been pushed to so many things in my life that I kind of want to do it, and I think I could.”
“It’s the only haunt I threw up in while I was filming it,” Jon commented.
Haunting, said veteran haunt performer/teacher Shar Mayer, walks a fine line. “You want to get that scare into someone, but you don’t want to (take it to) the point where they have a nervous breakdown.”
Shar, who’s been a haunt professional for four decades, is currently teaching haunt classes and performing at Fullerton’s The 17th Door Haunted Experience. Due to her extensive background in the haunt industry, aspiring haunters from all over the world have begun to contact her.
“I am starting to (hear from) people in New Zealand…(and in Japan),” she said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of haunt actors that want to step up their game. It’s such an honor that they reach out to me.”
And Josh Randall, co-creator of extreme haunt “Blackout®”, touched on the challenges he and his partner had faced duirng their first year.
Due to “Blackout®”‘s intensity, Josh said, other members of the haunt community did not embrace their model.
“We reached out to other haunts, offering them free tickets…and they responded with a cease and desist letter,” he said.
However, Blackout® has a “safe word” which attendees can say, at any time, to have the experience stop. In addition, Josh said, he and his partner Chris have gone through Blackout® themselves, to get a good sense of what their guests will experience. Eventually, things changed.
“Several traditional haunters, that spoke up being anti-Blackout®, have now accepted that model.”
And he and Chris had proved that creating an effective haunt on limited resources is possible, Josh continued.
“The first Blackout (we did), no joke, the budget was $800,” he said.
“The creative process is, create something that’s effective. The question is, what can you actually make happen?”
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This is Part One of a two-part series. Here’s the link to Part Two.