Monsterpalooza 2024
Oh, hello there! Time we begin shaking off some cobwebs, as spooky season draws near! For this quick review, we’ll be giving an overview of a spooky convention staple and our own experience attending. Keep reading, if you dare…
Monsterpalooza is a convention that celebrates the art of monsters and special effects makeup. It features displays, exhibits, workshops, panels, and vendors related to horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres, with a particular focus on makeup effects, creature design, and prosthetics. It's a gathering place for makeup artists, special effects professionals, enthusiasts, and fans of horror and creature effects to come together, share their work, learn from each other, and celebrate their passion for the craft.
We attended Monsterpalooza for the FIRST TIME EVER this June. We had attended the Son of Monsterpalooza and had a good time, but knew we wanted to check out the main event to really get a feel. We only attended the Saturday for this event, and felt that was enough to do and see everything we wanted. This was held at the Burbank Convention Center which we have attended conventions at before and knew that there would be limited parking structure parking (so arrive early!) and knew that vegan food options would be within walking distance. We highly recommend walking over to Naughty Vegan Panda any time you’re at a con at this location.
For us, we felt that the panels offered were lacking and also just not that interesting for us on the day we were attending (although not to say that some people were probably STOKED on the panels, so be sure to always check programming!). We also aren’t the kinds of people who pay to do meet and greets, and that seems to be a really big draw of this particular convention. I do really appreciate that they set the celebrities and creators up in largely a different traffic area than the vendor floor which helps with the overall chaos of so many people waiting in lines. (Side note that I did make prolonged eye contact with Skeet Ulrich and that was a special treat) I find with both Son of and Monsterpalooza that there is some vendor overlap with Midsummer Scream, but I really appreciate that there is a diversity between the two. There are vendors that I never get a chance to catch that attended Monsterpalooza this year and overall was just a really fun shopping experience!
Now, for where Monsterpalooza truly shines - the creatures. I loved the expansive stage setup in the center of the vendor floor where artists were applying full creature SFX and makeup for you to stop and just watch the craft unfold, or walk around and check back in a couple hours. I appreciate that the actors then walk the floor to really show off the craftsmanship of these entire looks. I also found that the cosplays in general were quite refined; this is clearly a crowd that knows how to make monsters come to life. They had a ‘museum’ that various artists submitted work for which was in a separate room off of the vendor floor that I thought was a wonderful touch albeit the lighting in there was a jump scare (not the kind we like!). The line to enter was long but moved quickly, and I appreciated the additional highlight of artist and monster creation.
All in all, we had a great time! We don’t feel we need to attend both Son Of and Monsterpalooza each year, but definitely want to add the main con to our yearly spooky lineup. Have you attended one or both? Let us know if the comments how you think this con stacks up!
