ScareLA to Go Dark (by Dimming the Lights)

One truism about conventions, those hall-filling extravaganzas that boast booth after booth after stop-here-and-see-our-stuff booth?

They're incredibly bright.

They may not be brighter than the sun, but you can say they're well-lit, thanks to a plethora of overhead high beams and fluorescent tubes that leave nothing on the convention floor in doubt: You'll see it all.

But a true thing with Halloween?

Shadows go a long way in creating an eerie allure, and mysterious corners help further the fright, and places that may or may not hold spots where phantoms can lurk add to the fun.

So it should be no surprise that ScareLA, a colossal Halloween convention, will be turning out the lights when it settles in at the Los Angeles Convention Center over the final weekend of August 2018.

Settles in, like a spider might in the center of a large and lovely web.

What does this mean, that ScareLA will be "turning out the lights"? Will an entire convention will flip the switch so few things can be seen?

Nope, it won't go pitch dark, not nearly. But attendees can count on "cinematic and themed lighting throughout" at the scare-tacular, which started in 2013 and has continued to grow, ghoulishly.

ScareLA honcho Lora Ivanova says that the team is working on "a fully immersive environment," one that will sweep guests "straight into an atmosphere of All Hallow's Eve."

"Think of it as a show within a maze within a convention within a theme park," says Ms. Ivanova. A goal? To completely convey the spirit of Halloween through the wider experience.

Tickets to the Saturday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 26 event, which is billed as Summerween?

You can scare yours up now.

But better start psyching yourself up, if you want to step into a convention that's on the lowlit and atmospheric side.

What monsters await? What thrills are ahead?

Best peer ahead into the shadows and pools of darkness as you wend your way through this wickedly fun 'ween scene soon to haunt DTLA.