DATES: NO LONGER IN OPERATION. NOTE: This excellent haunt closed its doors n 2006 due to zoning issues.

HOURS: 7:00pm to 10:00pm on weeknights and Sundays, 7:00pm to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays, and Halloween. Gate to the main waiting area opens one-half hour before the show begins. If you're in line before the gates are bolted for closing time, you will be admitted to the maze.

ADMISSION: $12.

PARKING: FREE

BARGAINS: $2 off with this coupon (not good for Halloween Night). Also, after you've gone through once, your ticket stub grants you readmission to the maze for $5 (on the same night).

FEATURES: Like the old Spooky House, this stand-alone haunted attraction is located in a permanent facility (an actual old winery). This provides for excellent atmosphere and allows for year-round planning and for greater detailing of sets, some located inside, some outdoors. There are great sets along with dozens of thrilling and (above all) fun scares; in fact, this may be the single best walk-through maze in Southern California.

LOCATION: Situated across from a dirty parking lot, the Vineyard is located off a small street (barely more than an alley) dotted with dilapidated houses and a winery. By day, it merely looks drab, but at night it feels as if you're lost in the middle of nowhere and entering some backwoods nightmare -- not quite TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE territory, but close enough.

DRAWBACKS: Located in Ontario (behind the Orange curtain), this haunt is a bit out of the way for most Angelenos, but those who have been insist that it's worth the drive. A single maze, this is not an attraction that will keep you busy for the whole evening, although there are booths where you can buy souveniers and snacks or have your picture taken with one of the Vineyard's calendar girls.

HISTORY: According to the haunt's website, the root's from the vineyard's gravpevines have grown down into a memorial cemetery, built where some workers were killed in a train crash decades ago. "News reports" posted on the webiste claim that a mysteirous sink hole has opened up this year, during attempts to relocate the graves, and now mysteirous things are happening....

ALSO OF NOTE: In order to maximize the scares, the staff insists that you go through in small groups (usually just you and your friends). This can lead to long lines on busy weekends, so it's a good idea to arrive early, especially late in the Halloween season.

REVIEWS: You can find two reviews of the Haunted Vineyard in the Hollywood Gothique Daily Journal:

• 2004 - our first trip to the Vineyard
• 2005 - we find some new innovations and improvements

Fright fan Tyler Short braves the Haunted Vineyard's photo
booth. Click to enlarge. Copyright 2005 Alisa Twombly