We had a great time at the 2nd annual ScareLA Halloween Convention at the Reef LA building in Los Angeles, CA. The event spanned the entire weekend and saw a huge number of exhibitors showing off their wares as well as numerous panels, classes, and makeup demonstrations. If you are a fan of horror movies, Halloween, haunted attractions, or simply looking for something cool to do on the weekend, I highly suggest you check the show out in 2015. Last year’s convention saw attendees pour over one floor of the building. This year’s offering was a whole lot bigger, breaking the experience up into two floors – one dedicated to exhibits and panels and another hosting various classes.
Attendees looking to get a little pre-Halloween fright could easily do so by experiencing some of the small haunted attractions brought in for the event. For instance, the folks at Perdition Home haunt in Yorba Linda, CA brought a small walk-through maze to give folks a taste of things to come. The highly-talked about ALONE haunted experience even had a miniature version of their attraction. Attendees could sign up at a small, seemingly-simple exhibitor desk. When questioned, the person manning the desk would not divulge where in the building the experience took place, further adding to its mystery. Having recently had surgery and being un-willing to subject myself to ALONE’s hands-on experience, I passed on it… this time.
With regards to the event’s various panels, attendees were not disappointed as ScareLA hosted some great ones. There were panels by the folks at Knott’s Scary Farm, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, and a lot more. It just wasn’t the big haunted attractions that showed up either as there was a whole panel dedicated to the smaller “home haunts” to be found in Southern California. My personal favorite panel of the event was one dedicated to the 45th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion. This panel was moderated by Doombuggies.com creator Jeff Baham and featured Disney legend Bob Gurr (who designed the Doom Buggy and Omnimover systems) and Alice Davis (wife of the late Marc Davis, who served as one of the artists/designers of the ride).
Overall, our 2014 ScareLA experience put us in the Halloween mood and almost makes us wish-away the rest of August so we can hit the September haunted attractions that are going to be popping up. We would like to thank the ScareLA event directors for helping make our coverage possible.
