Camp Creep It Real OC 2023 - Highlights
Camp Creep It Real OC located on the property of the Heritage Museum of Orange County, CA took place September 16th and 17th. It was a magical and horrifying weekend full of cosplayers dressed up as characters from their favorite horror movies, an outdoor market full of spooky vendors, a museum which housed props used in the first two Hocus Pocus films, celebrity guests and more.
The theme for Camp Creep It Real OC as one would imagine based off of the title, was Summer Camp themed. It was very reminiscent of Friday the 13th with workers dressed up like camp counselors. Some of them were deceased looking while others looked like they had been turned into zombies. The costumes really tied it all together for me. Walking through the beautiful grounds of the Heritage Museum paired with the monsters roaming around made it feel like you were in Halloween Town. This event wasn’t catered to that specific Disney film but to another popular one, Hocus Pocus. In the Heritage Museum, they had screen used props, scripts, storyboards, behind the scenes photos and physical pieces of film from the first two movies. The museum was free as long as you had your admission into the event. Some of my favorite things in that museum were the storyboards and artwork. They had scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the movie on display which was neat. My second favorite thing was seeing all of the screen used spell books. They all had a slightly different look to them which I thought was interesting. They also had the “virgin candle” which is the first thing you see when you walk in. I thought that was funny. It wasn’t lit so that’s good. I don’t know much about the history of the Kellogg House that housed this museum, but it felt haunted which added to the spookiness.
This property was larger than I had expected. There were so many vendors selling horror themed shirts, bags, candles, jewelry, dolls, and pretty much anything you could think of. I was having one of those dilemmas where I either wanted to buy everything or buy nothing. It was a bit overwhelming. I didn’t end up buying anything, but I took a few business cards. My friend who went with me bought some really cute Haunted Mansion Mickey ears. I stopped by a few familiar booths I had seen at other horror events like The Frightful Company who had their new Haddonfield sweatshirts on display. I stopped by Toxic Doom’s booth and checked out some of their new t-shirt designs. I pretty much went into every single booth and it always surprises me when I go someplace like this and their merchants or vendors don’t repeat. There was a wide array of products there. Also in the vendor area were some hearses. I got to look inside a few of them. Some of them had open caskets with fake dead bodies in them. Not too far from the hearses was Mr. Floats with his big red balloons and his truck setup to meet and greet his fans. Mr. Floats is his own character, however, visually everyone knows this cosplayer as a Pennywise the clown look alike. I met him at Midsummer Scream, so it was fun seeing him again at this event. I made horror themed friendship bracelets that I wanted to hand out to a select few people. He was one of them. I went over to him and presented him with it and he wanted me to put it on him so I did. There’s never a dull moment when you’re with Mr. Floats.
There was a lot of live entertainment happening throughout the day. They had a DJ, a live band, and a magic show. I was not there on Sunday, but I guess they did a Hocus Pocus panel with some of the cast from the original film. On Saturday, they had actors Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw and Jason Marsden there to sign autographs and take photos with the fans. It was cute seeing everyone dressed up as the Sanderson Sisters and Dani to take their photo ops with Max, Allison, and Thackery Binx. I saw on instagram some people even brought their kittens to share with Marsden who played the beloved black cat Binx in the movie. This event was pet friendly, so I saw so many dogs in costumes. Here I thought people cosplaying was my favorite thing to see at horror events, but seeing dogs dressed up like clowns or wearing funny outfits has now become my new favorite thing. There were also food trucks on the property as well as vendors selling sweet treats like cookies and cupcakes. There was no shortage of adult beverages as well.
The crowds weren’t too bad when I went until it got to be later in the afternoon. Some of the Creep It Real events are free, but for this one you had to pay to get in which makes sense because you want to enjoy yourself and not be packed in like sardines. They are doing another event in November called Creep It Real Festive which is a holiday themed horror event. Those tickets are already on sale. Overall, I had a fun time exploring the Heritage Museum, shopping, meeting new people, and just enjoying being outside in perfect overcast weather surrounded by 2 of my favorite things: old haunted houses and monsters.
