by Dot Cannon
(Graphic courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission. Art ©2015 by Bill Rude.)
Interactive zombies, ghosts, bone-chilling terror, creeping fog and sticky candy are about to make an appearance in Pasadena.
And it’s all part of a can’t-get-enough Halloween celebration–in August.
ScareLA, Southern California’s first Halloween convention, happens August 8th and 9th in its brand-new venue: the Pasadena Convention Center. This special event, now in its third year, is going to combine panel presentations, workshops, live entertainment, and some good, not-so-old-fashioned scares.
“We’re going to have over 100,000 square feet of scary summer fun,” ScareLA co-founder and Executive Producer Lora Ivanova said. “Every year, as we grow, the bar gets higher, (so) one of the hardest challenges we’ve had is outdoing ourselves. The biggest challenge we’re facing is reinventing (ScareLA) every single year.”
Reinvention, 2015-style, includes the recently-announced addition of voiceover actor Peter Renaday to ScareLA’s “Disembodied Spirits: Voiceover Experts” panel presentation, on Sunday afternoon. While his name may not be familiar immediately, Peter’s work has probably given you a chill or two: he is the “Ghost Host” on Disney’s popular 1970s Haunted Mansion record!
(Last year’s panel, on the creation of the “Haunted Mansion”, featuring Alice Davis and Disney legend Bob Gurr, and moderated by “DoomBuggies” host Jeff Baham, was topnotch, but ScareLA is certainly equal to the challenge of surpassing even that!)
On the panel front, a sequel is in the works for 2014’s hit panel “Making Monsters”. On Saturday afternoon, August 8th, at 1:30, art directors from Southern California’s biggest Halloween attractions will be on hand to discuss the creative side of “scary”. Their panel, called “Making Monsters: The Art of Terror”, includes Chris Williams, from Universal Studios’ Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights; Lara Hanneman, from Knott’s Scary Farm; JJ Wickham, of Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor; and Mark Wing, from Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest.
In addition, each of these attractions will be giving a separate presentation during ScareLA 2015. Expect the announcement of lots more scream-inducing and fun Halloween scenarios for this autumn!
But–you don’t have to wait till autumn, for a good, fun scare. ScareLA is a highly-interactive event, which incorporated “terror trucks”–mini-haunts on wheels–into last year’s edition. This year, in their new venue, they’re advertising eight different haunted attractions–including a Southern Gothic soiree hosted by Lucifer himself, and a virtual-reality haunted experience.
Practice your best scary scream, though. The “otherworldly” creatures and denizens of the dark aren’t confined to just the attractions.
Look for all kinds of eerie individuals to be roaming the 200+ vendor exhibit floor, both days, for a photo opportunity or merely a friendly, “Boo!” (Not to mention, for 2015, ScareLA is introducing another innovation. ScareLA 2015 hosts a world premiere of the first convention-wide zombie infection game, APOCALYPSE!)
While a number of the advertised workshops on ScareLA’s website already show “full”, some spaces are still currently available for class sessions, including Saturday’s “Stupidly-Simple Distressed Costume Creation Techniques” and Sunday’s limited-space “Boo Camp 101” (we love that name!) for haunt actors. Though admission to most ScareLA events is free unless noted otherwise, some workshops may charge for materials.
And don’t miss the exhibits. Last year, we especially loved seeing Hollywood makeup/special effects professional Larry Bones, of Bone Yard FX, create this costume. 
This year, he’s back with a new interactive exhibit, “Angels and Demons”!
Also new this year is an opportunity, if you’re a single “scarie”, to meet your “scaremate”, as ScareLA hosts Saturday evening’s “Monster Dating”, for monsters of all orientations. Practice your best Gothic dance moves, and plan on having a scary good time!
One more addition we can’t wait to see? An attempt at a Guinness world record! Sweet and Sticky Candy lists their “Candy Craze” and that they need “1000 monsters” to help them set a record at a time to be determined. At this point, that’s all the information we have on this part of the event–but it promises to be fun, and we’ll certainly update you as we get more details.
While a great time will be the order of both days, ScareLA, ultimately, is all about ideas.
Lora says her goal, with ScareLA, is to give Halloween “creatives”, from all over the world, a platform to meet, interact and learn from one another. “We want to make sure that we’re building a great community, not only on the West Coast, but also worldwide,” she explained.
“We’re hoping to, as a whole, create a better Halloween, and make it more fun, and safer, and more engaging for everybody involved.”