What to Know
- Dec. 2-4 at the Pasadena Convention Center; $30 and up
- 200+ exhibitors selling ghoulish goodies made for giving
- Special guests, walk-through haunted experiences, and lots more
Any calendar can tell you that Halloween and Christmas are less than two months apart, but, at least in some minds, the chasm that separates the late-in-the-year occasions is far wider.
And yet?
People a century or two ago did love a good ghost story when the yuletide arrived — the enduring success of "A Christmas Carol" tells us so — and modern mash-ups like "Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas" show that both holidays can live harmoniously, side by side.
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Here to further prove this plucky point is Season's Screamings, from the team behind Midsummer Scream.
The horror-meets-the-holidays happening takes place over three days, much like its summertime sibling, but there are some notable differences between the two conventions.
A principal difference? Gingerbread-scented scares, twinkly terror, and cute stockings that may or may not have pointy teeth are some of the sights you might encounter while calling upon Season's Screamings, which will frightfully unfold from Dec. 2 through 4 at Pasadena Convention Center.
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
Prepare to peruse the ghouly goodies made and/or sold by over 200 vendors, including those offbeat items that might be perfect to present to your best pal, the person who loves scary flicks, at your annual Christmas gift exchange.
Special presentations, appearances by some of horrordom's best-known actors, the "Peepshow Menagerie Holiday Burlesque Show," a Holiday Horror Film Showcase, a panel celebrating The Grinch, a presentation pondering the legacy of "The Shining," and a Krampus Run are on the sweet 'n spicy schedule.
A Friday ticket is $30 while a Saturday or Sunday ticket is priced at $37.50 (plus an additional fee). Want to do the whole weekend? There's a $60 pass for that, or a $90 VIP option, should you want to be put on the "Naughty List" (yep, there are perks).
Cracking open a cracking ghost story on a starry winter's night? It's an atmosphere-laden, oh-so-longstanding tradition, one that continues to goosebump-up our holiday-obsessed worlds.
Finding these two ideas wickedly and wonderfully woven through a mondo expo that's more spice than sugar is thrilling, as thrilling as finding a festive phantom tale made for savoring, and shivering over, when Christmas is nigh.
