With only weeks before the start of the Halloween season, the Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group detailed what’s coming to all of their Southern California attractions at Midsummer Scream.
The Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns returns with a new location this year, at the botanical gardens in Rancho Palos Verdes. There’s a new Enchanted Hollow area, using the latest in technology to make it feel more alive. And because of the new layout of these gardens, the trail is now twice as long, around a mile in length now.
Delusion is also returning, this time at the Variety Arts Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which is being used as an ideal theme for their story this year, titled Harrowing of Hell, based on Dante’s Inferno and the nine circles of hell. This was also a chance to debut a new merch store at delusionmerch.com, which is already live in case you want a head start.
The LA Haunted Hayride is now in its 17th year. This time around, they’re focusing back on the earliest of days, bringing back old iconic scenes. They’ve even resurrected some of the best of the old music by digging through their vault of over 400 unique scores. Everything is more consistent in theming now. Even the tractor and loaders will be themed for the event. And the wagon itself will have timed stops on the route for cinematic, choreographed events.
A big highlight is an apple cider and donut store, that is themed to a fictional company that will be richly themed and invite guests to walk through it all. The reasoning for the theming is to keep guests there all night, and not just immediately leave after finishing the mazes.
Janelle Monáe’s maze returns, but accompanying her will also be Elvira. A mainstay at Knott’s, she’s now found a home in Los Angeles!
Somehow, she’s taken over Monty Revolta’s old house (Who also is returning, because it wouldn’t be the Hayride without him). Her voice will be played throughout the hous,e and they teased an appearance by her a few times throughout the season. Exclusive Elvira merch will also be available. And it’ll be at all 13th Door locations, too, so you don’t need to be an LA-native to get in on Elvira’s fun. She’s taking over a lot more than just the house, too. Even the merry-go-round will be named after her dog, Gonk. It was described that everything there will be ‘marinating’ in Elvira.
And, for the first time, 13th Door is in charge of the Winchester Mystery House. Titled “Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House“, they’re intending on making a theatrical, story-based event. Jokingly billed as “Only 5 and a half hours away” to the southern Californians, the story will be set in 1924, three years after the death of Sarah Winchester, and the mysterious new owner. Each night, they hold a Halloween Masquerade, which you can get an invite to, but they’re limited. There are three main attractions that each contribute to the night’s story. Inside the house is Masquerade of Shadows. The greenhouse will play host to The Root of All Evil. The Final Descent will be found in the basement. They were light on details about the story, intending for guests to learn about it themselves, organically. They did hint about it tying into the Houdini seance, however.
Tickets for all of their events are available now at thirteenthfloor.com.
