Killer clowns, monsters, evil elves and bloody Santas roamed the halls of the Pasadena Convention Center over the weekend as the second installment of the Season’s Screamings horror convention returned to the venue Dec. 2-4.
“The energy is super crazy and so positive. Everybody seems to be in good spirits and we’re just so excited,” said David Markland, one of the co-founders of the Halloween and horror themed convention on Saturday morning, as hundreds of fans lined up around the venue waiting for the doors to open.
“I think as soon as people walk in the door they will feel the Christmas spirit, and then a little bit of the spooky Christmas spirit,” he added.
Season’s Screamings is the smaller version of the annual Midsummer Scream, which took place at the Long Beach Convention Center July 29-31, attracting about 30,000 fans of all things horror.
This holiday-themed version included vendors selling all sorts of horror-themed goods, the Hall of Yuletide Spirits, a dark corner of the convention center that housed mini haunts from producers of annual walk-thru attractions, celebrity appearances and panel discussions.
Here are some of the horror highlights of the event.
Shop until you drop dead
Whatever their horror needs were, this convention had visitors pretty much covered with more than 200 hundred vendors selling all sorts of horror-related items. There was Halloween-themed artwork for sale by artists like George Labrada’s, a tattoo artist who has turned his horror-related tattoo designs into stickers, pillows, blankets, keychains and T-shirts.
“Pretty much all of the designs are what I tattoo,” he said. “It’s my first time vending here and it’s been pretty exciting. People here seem to really like horror,” he added.
Halloween props were also popular as people shopped for fake weapons like knives and axes, high-end masks, artwork, Christmas tree ornaments emblazoned with images of horror movie killers, classic movie DVDs and even soap shaped like severed hands and heads.
Some famous faces
Lines formed early to get selfies and autographs from celebrities like Keith David, who appeared in films like “The Thing,” “They Live” and more recently Jordan Peele’s thriller “Nope,” as well as Henry Thomas, the star of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and writer and director Mike Flanagan, whose credits include “The Haunting of Hill House” and “ Doctor Sleep.” But the real stars were the various roaming monsters that creeped around the convention hall including a few bloody Krampus creatures, a couple Michael Myers characters dressed in Santa outfits, the Grinch, sporting a blood soaked face, evil elves, a bloody reindeer and several evil clowns.
“I’ve been chasing all the cosplayers around to get selfies,” said Alhambra resident Cecilia Campos, after taking a picture with a red-headed evil clown walking on stilts.
Hall of spirits
One of the most popular spots was the Hall of Yuletide Spirits, a separate room at the convention center where the lights were turned low and the fear factor was turned up extra high. As patrons walked into the entryway, which was lined with strings of holiday lights, that’s as cheery-festive as things got because they were immediately surrounded by monsters.
An evil Santa and an angry-looking reindeer that walked on two legs were nothing compared to Art the Clown, the evil mime-inspired killer from the “Terrifer” film franchise, who cracked his evil smile as he posed for pictures with fans. One of the more popular haunts within this space was a clown-themed walk-thru by Woodland Hills-based Valley Fright Nights, which handed guests 3D glasses as they walked through a colorful and jump scare-filled clown maze.
“It looked like everything was coming at you. I couldn’t tell which were real clowns and which were fake until they jumped at me. I screamed the entire time,” said Los Angeles resident Ted McNeil as he stumbled out of the mini haunt.
Season’s Screamings Holiday Horror Convention
When: Friday, Dec. 2-Sunday, Dec. 4
Where: Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena