Hollywood Gothique

It is time for Hollywood Gothique’s first annual Halloween Haunt Awards. This is the time - after the last scream has echoed away, the last lightening has flashed, and the last monster returned to its godforsaken tomb - when we sit down and assess the best events and attractions that we experienced during Halloween in [...]

As regular readers know, we were delightfully spooked by last year’s presentation of the House of Restless Spirits, a yard haunt in Santa Monica, defined by darkness and shadowy illusions that may elude the impatient eye. Inevitably, we made a return visit this season, in anticipation of seeing even more ectoplasmic phenomena. Although, from the [...]

We did not make it out to Disneyland for Halloween Time this year, but since it is one of the view Halloween Haunts still accessible to Los Angeles fright fans, we dug around YouTube and found a video to post here. Obviously, this is a kids-oriented haunted attraction, but it looks like a lot of [...]

NOTE: Hollywood Gothique’s annual Halloween Haunt Odyssey is a sort of unofficial tour of yard haunts in Los Angeles, many of which are open only on October 31st. Each year, we hit a few old favorites and search for some new discoveries.
Yesterday, in Part 1, we laid to rest our impression of the local yard haunts that [...]

As usual, Halloween in Los Angeles has turned out to be crowded with more bats than we could possibly squeeze into a single belfry. Having scrambled to as many Professional Haunts and Theme Park Haunts as we could in the early weeks of the season, now in the final days of October we turn our attention [...]

Fright Gallery has been dormant since 2005, but on October 30, 2008 - which is to say, tonight - it reopens the cemetery gates for another mad musical parody. This year’s spoof is a Halloween horror version of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, titled “Dead of the Class.” After the three-year wait, we can only hope and pray that it [...]

It was sad, sad news when Rick Polizzi wrapped up Boney Island for good last year and sent it off to the Great Graveyard of Halloween Haunts in the Sky. This was a unique yard haunt, the most whimsical and kid-friendly of any event for Halloween in Los Angeles, a sort of skeleton carnival loaded with [...]

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Halloween music was more or less synonymous with novelty records: “Dinner with Drac,” “Monster Mash,” etc. There were a few mainstream artists who dabbled in the field (both Jumpin’ Gene Vincent and B.B. King recorded songs titled “Haunted House”), but these songs - as much fun as they [...]

Just got word from a happy trick-or-treater that Fright Fair in Chatsworth is much improved for 2008. Back in 2006, the last time we reviewed this haunt, we felt the quality level had dropped - resources had been spread too thin since the attraction had expanded from being essentially a haunted house to a full-blown [...]

The Heritage Haunt at Hart Park-Heritage Junction (2401 San Fernando Road in Newhall, California) is an eerie trip back in time to the Old West. Set in what is essentially an old Western museum, this Halloween attraction - titled “Curse of the Ghoul Mine” for 2008 - is sponsored by the Santa Clarita Historical Society, which [...]

They just keep coming out of the moldy woodwork: more and more amateur haunts, clamoring like restless spirits as Hallowee night approaches. Here are two more you may want to check out.
Title: Forest of Mirrors
Location: 6124 Lederer Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367-1329
Description: Located in a house once owned by silent movie comedian Buster Keaton, this [...]

House at Haunted Hill - one of our favorite yard haunts - is open tonight, so we thought we would post this video taken in 2006. The haunt has changed a bit since then. In 2007, it morphed from a generic haunted house presentation into a show, featuring taped narration and music to tell the [...]

The New York Times has posted an article on the rise of risque Halloween costumes for women. The central thesis is that Halloween offers an opportunity for “Good Girls” to dress bad for a day without risking any social consequences. The aritcle quotes a mildly disapproving Dr. Adie Nelson, who wrote an article about gender stereotype embodied [...]