Nathan the CatLady moderated the 13th Floor panel at Midsummer Scream this year, covering four of their Halloween events around Southern California.
While nothing new was mentioned, The Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns is returning this year to the South Coast Botanic Gardens, where it was recently relocated. Affectionately described as a palate cleanser, it’s easily the most family-friendly attraction of the bunch. We attended last year and loved it. It’s perfect for a date night stroll, or to get out with the kids and have them chase smoke bubbles as you look at wild sculptures carved into countless pumpkins.
Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House is also returning this year. The biggest change is their move away from the 3-part narrative. Instead you can roam around the property and experience the story in any order that you see fit. The story is now in 1926, four years after Sarah’s death, and the butler is trying his damnedest to keep the property tended to. His son, Harry, is missing, while the gardens have a new character, Miss Nightshade, while someone known only as “The Collector” is patrolling the dark corners with a sack of something mysterious.
They’re leaning more into the festival vibes this year and expanding the footprint even more, making use of both basements, and adding an optional “Hide and Seek: The Lost Children” activation, alongside a Seance with a hidden speakeasy.
Delusion is returning to its roots this year, in more ways than one. It’s back to the old Beckett Mansion location, and moving back to a 10-minute entrance time instead of last year’s brief 5-minute experiment.
This year you’re helping investigate the “Den of the Mosquito,” helping Woodrow Wilson and his crack team, who have found bloodless corpses around the bayou of 1920 New Orleans. This mansion is home to a vampire brothel.
And if you crave even more of the story, the VIP upgrade gives you a chance to become a swamp monster, in a curious turn of the tables against other guests.
Finally, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has a lot going on this year. Elvira is returning, as is Monty Revolta. One of the other icons, Herschel, has revealed he has a twin brother, Alister, who is an evil pyromaniac who was banned from the premises in 1981.
There will be a new opening scaremony, along with a new maze titled Fallen Angel. This will be a tribute to the deviant Sunset strip culture of the 1980s. The band Fallen Angel was known as the loudest band on the planet. Right before their midnight show, a terrible mishap caused the entire band to perish in a blaze, but a local radio station has played snippets from their final dress rehearsal every Halloween night. This year, fans have taken that recording and are using it to resurrect the band, and they intend on possessing your body to come back.
There will also be a séance on the site to help dig into the mystery of why Midnight Falls relives the same Halloween night over and over.
And if that wasn’t enough, the event now has a liquor license, which will open up many more options for how you can enjoy the evening.
More information, including ticket availability for all of 13th Floor’s entertainment offerings, can be seen here.
