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This has become a favorite post-trip ritual: dumping out the contents of my suitcase and taking inventory of all the small business finds I made at Midsummer Scream.
I tend to go for smaller things at this event to make them easier to pack: enamel pins, stickers, and the occasional piece of clothing.
This year’s haul features a lot of my longtime favorites, so I’m excited to dive in and share them with you. As always, the hope is you’ll discover a new-to-you small business to fall in love with.
(Because let’s be real: all of this is WAY cooler than anything you’ll find at a big box store!)
Halloween Haul: Midsummer Scream 2025
It was quite the haul this year! Lots of black and orange. Lots of books. And lots of keychains.
My first purchase of the weekend was this 10-inch from LVCRFT of their 2024 release, “Halloween Hop.”
Another must-have for me this year: snagging a cup from Catfight Coffee. After deeply regretting missing out on one in 2023 because I didn’t want to drink coffee in the evening Friday…somehow, I managed to walk away with three.
My mood until further notice, courtesy of Bat in Your Belfry.
Another must-have of the weekend: the latest Halloween countdown calendar from @hallowwoods.
I also picked up Matt’s new T-shirt design for 2025: Forever Halloween! Keep an eye on his website for it to be added soon.
Yeeeees, those are absolutely Labubu accessories you spotted. Sigh. I have officially joined the trend after Lauren from The Punkin Shop gifted me one. I couldn’t resist her accessories after that!
I audibly gasped when I saw the Spooky Florist booth…and was immediately SO sad I couldn’t take home a bouquet…but I grabbed some stickers to make up for it.
More Halloween fun: I couldn’t pick just one of Rhode Montijo’s bumper stickers…so I got all three.
After too many years of admiring it online, I finally picked up a copy of Drew Rausch’s “My Blacks Don’t Match” as well as the first issue of his “This Place is Full of Fiendish Things” comic.
I also grabbed these two enamel pins from Drew — I love his take on the “I support Halloween” ribbon and the Halloween Cowboy is a personal fave after meeting him in 2019.
Hiding under ALL of these goodies is the new Mid-century Macabre dress from Black Mast. This was also a must-have after falling in love with Brandon’s shop and my Midnight Mischief dress I bought at Creep It Real OC last fall…and then wore ALL Halloween season.
In 2023 I came home with the BIG bag of spooky shit from Memento Mori Goods. This year, it was the little bag and this every day is Halloween keychain. So cute!
More keychains from The Punkin Shop! I’ve been loving adding this kind of stuff to my spooky purses as well as my every day handbags. I’m extra excited about the cookie because I bought two more for my two new besties in Minneapolis. (I thought they were a fun throwback feel to best friend necklaces you piece together.)
If it’s not clear this born-but-ran-away Texan is a BIG fan of Y’alloween…consider this your notice. As soon as I walked by this tote bag and pointed it out to James, I knew it was gonna come home with me. Design by the fantastic Discount Cemetery!
Andrew spotted this gem and walked me back to the table to check it out. A pink-haired witch? Yes please!
But the real irony was I’d bought the second book in this series from Moss Lawton back in February when I was in LA and stopped by Dark Delicacies before it closed this spring. Meant to be!
I was thrilled Spooky Cat Press was back at Midsummer Scream this year. It was SO good to see Sandi and meet some of her team. She was kind enough to gift me these two journals to take home.
I know: I’m not the typical Fangoria reader as I still build my love of horror…but I had to grab this issue for one very special reason.
EEK! This is one of two magazine ads I have out this fall.
Another stop Andrew and I made together was the Horror Writers Association booth where I picked up this book! As a spooky ghoul who loves 60s music, the cover design leapt off the table at me.
Here’s the book description:
Bradan grew up in Camelot and grew famous during the Summer of Love. He’s nearly immortal, a talented musician, but only a mediocre magician.
That’s unfortunate because he’ll need more than pretty lyrics to confront a psychopathic Celtic warlord and a Welsh god hell-bent on collecting souls. They’ve also near-immortal and Bradan clashed with them 1500 years ago. They haven’t forgotten.
Theirs is a duel through history with savage fights in Camelot and Renaissance Florence. Now it’s 1967 and they’ve found him again, and they lead an army of specters intent on murder. Bradan’s only friends are his haunted motorcycle, his lunatic band-mates, and a witch with uncertain loyalties. There won’t be much love this summer unless Bradan defeats a warlord and a god. And his friends die too if he doesn’t win this fight.
One more Punkin Shop pick: the bag of tricks design in witchy purple. This bag is sooo soft and delicious. I can’t wait to use it this fall!
Including in my haul because I paid a pretty penny for this silly plastic cup to only drink club soda from it at the after party…but I had to have one! I love a Halloween party with a cup. 😉
Last, but certainly not least, this Midsommar-inspired black cat from Abbybelle found its way into my carry-on for the trip home. I’m not usually big on cat decor, but this one was too cute…and will absolutely live on my living room bookshelves year-round.
Which item would have come home with you?
Let me know in the comments! I always love hearing what items resonate with people.
If you liked this, be sure to check out my 2025 recap of this year’s event.
You can also find past Midsummer Scream hauls here:
