Hollywood Gothique

Well, the first weekend of the Halloween season started not with a bang but a whimper. Neither Spooky House nor the Thousand Oaks Haunt met their scheduled debuts on September 30; you’ll have to wait until Friday, October 7 to see either or both of those haunts.

At least their websites posted some warning about the delay, thus saving haunt-goers a wasted trip. Not so fortunate were those who went to Fright Fair this weekend. To be fair, this combination of harvest festival and Halloween haunt was open for business — at least, the daytime family-oriented festival was. The nighttime, adult-oriented “fright fest” was another matter, with only one of its attractions, the corn maze, open. The helpful girl behind the counter semi-assured us that the haunted house maze would be open next week but hedged a bit by adding “cross your fingers.”

Still, if you’re a family with kids, we have to recommend the Halloween Harvest Festival part of the presentation, which did seem to be appealing to its target audience quite handily. There are several attractions open during the day: faux-rock climbing, a daytime (i.e., less scary) version of the corn maze, a hay ride, a haunted trail, and other gentle rides for tots.

Also, you can buy tiny pumpkins, ears of corn, and Halloween decorations, or take your picture with any of a trio of ghoul statues.

Now, if only they can get the haunted house open by Friday…