by Dot Cannon
(Photograph courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission.)
Eeeeeek!—I’m scared.
Or will be, this Saturday and Sunday. And really looking forward to it.
This Saturday and Sunday, August 8th and 9th, ScareLA looms out of the mist, bringing the third edition of Southern California’s first Halloween convention to Pasadena.
(Photograph courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission.)
Skulking through the Pasadena Convention Center will be all manner of zombies, ghosts, ghouls and other “scaries”. Attendees are dared to experience onsite haunts like the “Goblin Foundry”, new this year. Performances will include the LA Rocky Horror shadow cast doing the “TimeWarp”–again, and twice. More than 100 haunt attraction creators and 200 “dark delight vendors” will crawl out of the darkness to send chills down the spines of more than 10,000 attending “monsters”.
Terrified you’re going to miss something? That’s not an unfounded fear. On Saturday, the “scare titans” of Southern California–Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, Knott’s Scary Farm and Six Flags Fright Fest, will be talking about “Making Monsters: the Art of Terror” on the main stage. And that’s just ONE of a scary-good lineup of program events!
(Photograph courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission.)
There will also be hands-on workshops on everything from cosplay to “Boo Camp 101” basic horror acting techniques–as well as going pro with your Halloween Haunts. And the exhibit floor may leave you screaming with delight; their offerings range from chocolate “brain” cupcakes to prosthetic makeup and info on LA’s best “haunts”, for Halloween and otherwise!
Better get out your dancing shoes and your best costume, and get ready to party with the monsters, too. There’s a “Bloody Ballroom Party” on Saturday night that promises to be a hoot.
Among the events to which I’m most looking forward: the “Legend of Disney’s Hatbox Ghost” panel, on Saturday; experiencing the “Trapped in a Room With Your Nightmares” escape room; and the brand-new Guinness World Record attempt, on Saturday evening at 5:30. This is co-sponsored by ScareLA and Sticky Candy, of Hollywood–and they need 1,000 monstrous participants to help them open 1,000 bags of Halloween candy at the same time. (Interested? You must have a ScareLA ticket to participate, but this event’s free with your admission. You can register here.)
(Photograph courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission.)
Just like last year, ScareLA’s 2015 edition is going to be crammed full of monsters and “scaries”. Their “Fear Freak” and “Scare Student” passes have already sold out, and a number of the workshops are full, according to their website. But the workshops I’ve mentioned in this post are still listed as having space, at this point, and general-admission tickets are still available. (But, no guarantees! I seem to remember that even the general-admission tickets sold out last year.)
(Graphic courtesy of ScareLA, and used with permission. Art ©2015 by terrifyingly-talented retro horror artist Bill Rude.)
So, if you would like to attend, check out this link–and let me be the first to say: Boo! (Enjoy!)
ScareLA 2015 happens Saturday and Sunday, August 8th and 9th, at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 East Green Street between South Marengo and South Euclid, in Pasadena. You can pick up your badge or purchase tickets at 10:00 am, both days, and the doors open at 11:00 am.