Community Halloween Haunts
Theme Parks - Haunted Houses - Yard Haunts - Community Haunts - Haunts for Children – Other Halloween Events - Halloween News - Halloween Photographs - Halloween Video
There are many ways to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles, ranging from elaborate Theme Park Halloween Attractions and Professional Haunted Houses to wild Halloween Parties and Street Fairs to humble Amateur Yard Haunts and safely spooky Halloween Events for children. Somewhere in between are the Community Yard Haunts. These tend to be semi-professional Halloween events and attractions; sometimes they are yard haunts that outgrew their yard. Community Halloween Haunts are often staged in churches or community centers, in order to provide a safe and fun way for local trick-or-treaters to enjoy the holiday. Unlike yard haunts, Community Halloween Haunts are usually not free, but they tend to charge only a small fee to off-set expenses, or they request a donation to benefit some local cause.
BEACON HOUSE HAUNT
The Beacon House
1003 S. Beacon Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
Phone: (310) 514-4940
E-Mail: info@beaconhouseassociation.com
Web Page: www.beaconhouseassociation.com
2009 DATES & HOURS: October 30-31, 6:00pm to midnight (Note: the official web calendar for this event lists the times as “6:00am to 12:00pm,” which sounds like an obvious mistake. We have contacted Beacon House for clarification.)
2009 ADMISSION: $5 donation
2009 INFORMATION: The Beacon House’s annual Halloween event offers a ”Nightmare on Beacon Street,” including a haunted maze, a street fair, dancing, contests, food, and entertainment. Suitable for the whole family.
BACKGROUND: Located near the southern end of Los Angeles, this Halloween event has been produced by the Beacon House Association of San Pedro for over twenty years, providing a safe way for the community to celebrate the season. Year round, the Beacon House helps men recover from alcoholism, providing food, shelter, and counseling.
PAST HAUNTS: The 2006 haunt featured an “alien invasion” theme, including a walk-through maze. There was also dancing, Karoke, face-painting, and a talent show.
NOTE: The old website specifically devoted to the haunt is no longer operative, but the Beacon House Associations’s Calendar of Events continues to list the haunt each Halloween.
THE CATACOMBS
10800 Henderson Road
Ventura, California
Phone: 805-647-8623
E-Mail: shym@sacredheartventura.org
Website: catacombs.sacredheartventura.org
2009 DATES: October 23 & 24
2009 HOURS:
- 2-4pm Children’s Matinee
- 6-10pm Adult Haunt
ADMISSION: $7, $5 with food donation; $9 pass allows for unlimited admission all night
2009 INFORMATION: The Sacred Heart Church’s Youth Ministry presents “The Catacombs: A 3D Haunt,” set up in the Youth Center behind the church.
FEATURES: Haunting since 2004, this amateur Halloween event, located in Ventura (northwest of Los Angeles), is designed to provide fun for the local kids, with a “a small but cool maze with a mild scare factor,” while bringing in money and food donations. Although a community effort, some of the people involved have Hollywood FX exerience, having worked on such films as RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION, THE RING, HELLBOY, etc.
CREEPY HOLLOW - Closed for 2008
3101 Overland Boulevard
West Los Angeles, CA 90034
Phone: (310) 289-2525
Websites: www.myspace.com/creepyhollow_1
2008 DATES & HOURS: NONE. THIS HAUNT PROMISES TO RETURN, AT A NEW LOCATION, IN 2009.
ADMISSION: $12 for adults, $8 for children INFORMATION: Creepy Hollow claims its haunted house is the “hottest” way to spend Halloween in Los Angeles.
THE HAUNTED JAIL
Altadena Sheriff’s Station 780 East Altadena Drive, at Lake Avenue Altadena, California
Haunt Flyer here
Website: www.altadenasheriffs.blogspot.com/
2009 DATES & HOURS: Saturday, October 31, 5-8pm
DONATION: minimum $2.00 for childnen and adults
INFORMATION: The Altadena Sheriff’s Station has been presenting a 3D haunt since 1997. Not recommended for children under five.
NATIVITY CHURCH HAUNTED HOUSE
Nativity Church – 3743 Tyler Avenue in El Monte, CA 91732
2009 DATE & HOURS: October 31, from sunset to 10:00pm
2009 DONATION: $3 per person, with proceeds going to benefit the church.
2009 Description: Nativity Church presents its third annual haunted house, inspred by horror movies such as SAW. (2008’s theme was “Big Top Circus.”)
REIGN OF TERROR
Thousand Oaks, CA
HISTORY: Previously an amateur/community effort, this Halloween haunted house moved to a new location for its 10 anniversary in 2009, promising a much larger and more complex presentation. We are now classifying it as a professional haunt, and have given it its own page.
THE TERRY HAUNT
1620 West Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92804
Phone: 714 318 0125
Fax: 714 537 4940
Website: www.terryhaunt.com
NOTE: The address listed above has changed since our original listing, as the Terry Haunt has moved to a new location.
2009 DATES & HOURS: (tenatively) October 23-31, from 6pm to 11pm.
2009 ADMISSION & PARKING: To Be Announced. Probably between $5 and $10 per person as a donation to benefit local community organizations.
2009 UPDATE: The 2008 Terry Haunt was cancelled at the last minute, when their location became unavailable. Their unused theme – “Clownz” – will be revived in 2009.
INFORMATION: This long-running haunt (since 1997) is open to all ages, but the proprieters recommend that parents use discretion and accompany any child under the age of 12. This year’s theme is “Psychosis.”
NOTE: This haunt changed location from a private home to the La Palma Recreation Center in Anaheim for 2007; location problems put the haunt on hiatus in 2008.
THE TUSTIN HAUNT
13151 Brittany Woods Drive Tustin, CA 92780
Website: TustinHaunt.com
2009 DATES & HOURS: Halloween night, 6-10pm (fully operational on Halloween night only, but display will be up prior to this night)
2009 NEWS: The proprietor of Tustin Haunt has moved on to a professional Halloween haunted house, Sinister Pointe in Brea (www.sinisterpointe.com), which will feature a Silent Hill maze in 2009. Meanwhile, the old Tustin Haunt will be reduced to a yard display.
2008 TICKETS: Free. $2 suggested donation (a portion of which will go to charity). For $5, you may purchase a “Ghost Pass” to bypass the line. Ticket booth opens thirty minutes before the haunt.
2008 BARGAINS: Purchase five Ghost Passes for $20.
TUSTIN HAUNT HISTORY: Located behind the Orange Curtain (i.e., in Organge County), this “semi-pro” attraction, which began haunting in 1995, hovered somewhere between a Yard Haunt and a Community Haunt. During their thirteen years of haunting, they raised money for the community, including the Tustin Public Schools Foundation. Their 2008 presentation was titled “Red Hill Mining Co. Massacre.”
2008 BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR: On Sunday, November 2, the day after the haunting was over, there was a behind-the-scenes tour for those wanting to know how the scary effects were achieved.
Check out our archive of posts on Community Haunts.
[recent posts =239]
