Halloween 2012: Last-Minute Yard Haunt Suggestions

Steve Biodrowski — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:27:07 +0000

South Seas House Community Halloween Haunt

Looking for some new – or at least, lesser known – yard haunts in Los Angeles? Then you should check out this list of “Do It Yourself” haunts at deathbombarc.com. Somebody has really done his homework here: Along with well-known ones such as the Backwoods Maze and Boney Island, this list contains several obscure amateur attractions and community haunts, of which Hollywood Gothique was previously unaware. Many sound like neighborhood events; one or two, such as the South Seas Haunted House, are community events presented by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. So these non-professional scare shows are not necessarily something you want to drive miles to see, but if you happen to live nearby, why not check them out and let us know what you think?

If that is not enough for you, the Pasadena Star News offers suggestions for “Where you can go to get really scared on Halloween.” Fans of Hollywood Gothique will recognize many of the names (The House at Haunted Hill, The Boney Island Yard Haunt, The Haunt with No Name Yet), but author Stephenie Cary manages to find a few unsung attractions as well – another reminder of the vast diversity in the field of yard haunts, many of which labor in obscurity despite our efforts to shine a spooky spotlight on them.

Details are scant regarding some of the haunts in both lists, so do not consider this post a recommendation. It’s more of a suggestion for those adventurous Halloween horror fans seeking new and different shivers this season.

2012 Halloween Haunts opening on Friday, October 26

Steve Biodrowski — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:47:40 +0000

Fear not, O Faithful Fright Fans. Los Angeles has many more tricks and treats in store for you during the final days of Halloween.

The end of October draws nigh; the dwindling days race by like sands in an hour glass, all too fast. Hopefully, you have attended most or all of the major Halloween Theme Park Attractions and Halloween Haunted Houses and Hayrides. And yet, this is far from all that Los Angeles has to offer; during this final weekend of the month, many Halloween yard haunts open, along with several cemetery tours and Halloween events for children. There is still much to do, and you have little time. Start planning your itinerary now by perusing the list below…

BEYOND THE GRAVE TOURS

El Campo Santo

Location: Homestead Museum, 15415 East Don Julian Road, City of Industry, California 91745

Website: Click here

Description: The Homestead Museum, which offers historical tours throughout the year, actually resurrected its Halloween presentation last weekend, but it’s easy to overlook, so we’re mentioning it again here. Devoted to illustrating how American attitudes toward death changed dramatically from the 1840s through the 1920s, the Beyond the Grave tour gives an overview of these changes as experienced by the two families and includes a visit to El Campo Santo (the private cemetery established by the Workman family in the 1850s) with a living history character from the past.

Hour-long tours are free, but space on each tour is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The tour can accommodate visitors with limited mobility.

Dates: Saturday & Sunday, October 27 & 28

Hours: 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, & 4:00 p.m.

BOO AT THE ZOO

Location: Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive Los Angeles, CA 90027 (323) 644-4200

Description: The Los Angeles County Zoo offers families with children another annual opportunity to enjoy a “safe and spooky Halloween.” Eucalyptus Grove will become a giant pumpkin patch, featuring pumpkin carving and crafts. The Creepy Creature Encounter at the Winnick Family Children’s Zoo offers close encounters with scary critters, trick-or-treating, and other Halloween entertainment.

Dates: October 27 & 28, 10am to 4pm

Note: A special preview of Boo at the Zoo is available to GLAZA members. Those with a Family Deluxe level membership or higher may enter the zoo from 8:30 to 10:00am on Saturday, October 27, before the zoo opens to the general public. To RSVP for this event, call 323 644 4770

Website: Click here

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION

Date: October 27, noon-midnight

Location: Hollywood Forever, Cemtery, 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood

Description: The 13th annual Dia de Los Muertos returns to Hollywood Forever Cemetery, with featured musical artist OZOMATLI. Guests are invited to join in festivities that honor and celebrate the memories of all the beloved souls on the grounds of the historic Hollywood Forever cemetery. Though not strictly speaking a Halloween event, Dia De Los Muertos features costumes and decorations that dovetail nicely with the season while offering an alternative to traditional Halloween events in Los Angeles.

General Admission: $10 per person (please bring exact change); children 8 years and under free until 4pm; seniors 65 and over free until 4pm

Please remember: no food, alcohol, glass containers, bikes, chairs, coolers, skateboards, or pets.

Website: Click here

DREAM HALLOWEEN FUNDRAISER PARTY & HAUNTED HOUSE

Location: Barker Hangar, Santa Monica Airport, 3021 Airport Avenue #203, Santa Monica, CA (310) 390-9071

Date: October 27 at 5pm.

Description: This annual fundraiser – which bills itself as the premiere family-friendly Halloween event in Los Angeles – benefits children and families affected by AIDS in Africa and India. Dream Halloween Los Angeles features ” trick or treat lane, appearances by children’s favorite characters, enchanted forest, 3D labyrinth, haunted house, live performances, arts & crafts activities, VIP sponsor reception, gourmet food from some of LA’s finest restaurants, celebrity guests and more.”

Tickets: $250 for child admission; $300 for adult admission. The organization claims to have raised over $15.5-million since 1994.

Website: Click here

ENCHANTED GREEN HALLOW’S EVE

Location: Star Eco Station Environmental Science Museum & Exotic Wildlife Rescue Facility, 10101 Jefferson Blvd Culver City, CA

Phone: (310) 842-8060

Description: The STAR ECO Station transforms into a fabulous wonderland in October, providing an eco-friendly way for kids to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles – full of tricks and treats. See your farovite fairy tales with an environmental twist. Costume Contests, games, prizes and performances all day. Halloween 2012 features the “Haunted Academy” for ages 10 and up, at an additional cost of $1.

Dates & Hours: Saturday & Sunday, October 27 & 28, noon-6pm.

Tickets: $8 for adults; $6 for children; $7 for seniors (65 and over). Note: All proceeds go to support rescued animals.

Discounts: One child free for every paying adult. Children in strollers free.

Website: Click here

ETERNAL REST CEMETERY

Dates: October 27 and Halloween night, 7pm to approximately midnight
Location: 414 Rose Avenue Venice, California (310) 755-1586

Description: This annual amateur event is one of the better Halloween Yard Haunts in Los Angeles. With a decorated front yard and a very tight walk-through maze around the side of the house, Eternal Rest Cemetery provides a fun evening for the neighborhood, but it is also worth making a special trip. The maze takes only a few minutes to get through, but it is very effective – and probably too scary for very young children. Arrive early, because lines get long, especially on Halloween night.

Website: Click here

HALLOWEEN AND MOURNING TOURS AT HERITAGE SQUARE

Dates: October 27 & 28, noon to 4pm

Location: Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles, CA

Link out: Click here

Description: The Heritage Square Museum presents the 9th Annual Halloween and Mourning Tours. This two-day event, which runs from noon to 4pm both days, is great for the whole family, offering an opportunity to learn about the etiquette of death and mourning and the belief in Spiritualism during the Victorian Era. On Sunday, (Oct 28), the Halloween and Mourning Tours program is more family friendly. Children ages 2 to 12 may come play period games, make 19th century harvest crafts, choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch (while supplies last), and listen to spooky stories in the Ford House by the San Gabriel Valley Storytellers.

Hollywood Gothique attended the Halloween and Mourning Tours in 2010 and 2011, enjoying both immensely. See our video of the 2010 spirit photography here.

Tickets: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors (65 and over); $5 for children 6-12;free for children under six.

HALLOWEEN SLEEPOVER AT AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC

Location: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802 (562) 590-3100

Description: The Aquarium of the Pacific invites trick-or-treaters 5 and up (plus an adult chaperone) to enjoy a “spooktacular” evening of Halloween fun, surrounded by creepy crawly critters, pumpkin painting, and a freaky flashlight tour. The sleepover includes a pizza dinner, light snack, animal interactions, cereal breakfast, and more. Family friendly costumes are welcome. This is a unique and education way for children to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles!

The aquarium advises that space is limited, so sign up today by calling (562) 951-1630.

Date & Hours: October 26 at 5pm until 7am the next morning

Tickets: $50 for members, $60 for non-members

Website: Click here

HANOVER HALL

Dates: October 25-31, 7:30pm to 9:30pm

Location: 1016 Beechwood Street, Camarillo, CA

Description: This yard haunt got a small jump on the competition by opening on Thursday, but that’s no reason to leave it off this list. Hanover Hall offers atmosphere instead of gore, with an emphasis on whimsy and spooky fun for visitors of all ages. Hanover Hall presents a “Haunted Mansion” type display within a small structure, filled with ghosts and jack-o’lanterns (no actors to scare you, just props). The proprietor promises that this is a “yard haunt for the kid in all of us. Children will be able to adventure at their own pace with the environment free of gore and scare actors. The facade is reminiscent of a greeting card and the interior of a dark ride.”

Entrance to Hanover Hall is free, but donations are very welcome.

HAUNTED HOLLOW

Location: 603 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: Click here

Description: This yard haunt has been spooking its Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles for a few Halloween seasons, but this year they are expanding their scope. Formerly known simply as “Haunted Hollow,” the amateur attraction is morphing into a sort of anthology: the connecting link is the “Haunted Diary,” which will open every Halloween to a new page, featuring a new theme. Although the 2012 presentation re-uses the “Haunted Hollow” name, the proprietor promises all new frights.

Haunted Hollow 2012 will take Los Angeles Halloween fans back to 1974 to experience the terror and mystery of the Halloween night when the Dent family massacred the townspeople of Paxton and then disappeared, never to be seen again.

The Haunted Diary promises a “classic, vintage Halloween feel” that will recreate a 1970s small town. Trick-or-Treaters will first pass through cornfields and a swamp on the outskirts. Next, they will enter the village of Paxton and encounter the victims, before proceeding inside the Dent residence and the Paxton School house.

The experience is not recommended for younger children. The front yard will be decorated (and perhaps populated with live monsters), and candy will be handed out for children too timid to enter the haunt.

Dates: Friday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 31st, 7:30pm-11:30pm

Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

HAUNTED HOLLYWOOD SCAVENGER HUNT

Location: Announced when you register

Description: Out of the Box Events debuted their 6th annual Haunted Hollywood Scavenger Hunt last weekend, but we mention it here because it may have been overlooked with all the focus Out of the Box’s other event last week, “The Haunts of Angelino Heights.” In the Haunted Hollywood Scavenger Hunt, participants team up to uncover the haunting secrets of Hollywood, in such locations as the Roosevelt Hotel, the Knickerbocker Hotel, many theaters and other secret locations revealed during the hunt. The starting point is revealed when you register; you will be given a set of clues to follow. Costumes are encouraged but not required. A flashlight will be helpful.

Remaining Dates: October 26-28, starting at 6pm each night

Details:

Up to 6 people per team
Starting location revealed upon registration
Bring one flashlight for your team
Prizes to the Top 3 Teams

Out of the Box Events also presents the annual Haunts of Angelino Heights tour, a charity event to benefit the Los Angeles Conservancy. The Angeline Heights tours take place on October 20 and 21.

Website: Click here

THE HAUNTED SHACK

Dates: October 27 & 31, 7-10pm

Location: 5112 Maricopa Street Torrance, CA 90503

Website: Click here

Description: The best little home haunt in Torrance returns for two days of haunting this Halloween – on Saturday, October 27, and Wednesday, October 31. The Haunted Shack has been around since 1997, growing into a 1500-square-foot walk-through labyrinth, featuring some amazing tricks and illusions. The corridors are loaded with skeletal ghouls, eager to deliver scares, but what stands out in memory is the unexpected twists, turns, and surprises, such as a “solid” wall that turns out to be a hidden door. There are some professional-level tricks-and-treats inside, making this a must-see for anyone in the area.

The Haunted Shack is free, but gladly accepts donations on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which benefits research for curing breast cancer.

THE HOUSE AT HAUNTED HILL

Location: 4400 Saltillo Street, Woodland Hills, CA

Websitet: Click here

Description: One of the best Halloween yard haunts in Los Angeles returns for another season of spookery. The House at Haunted Hill features elaborate mechanical and lighting effects synchronized to recorded music and narration, telling the tragic tale of a Hollywood starlet who had the misfortune to marry a man whose late wife apparently never read the part of the wedding vow that stats “till death do us part.”

The proprietors are planning to install a major addition this year; let’s hope they can pull it off.

Dates & Hours:

Friday-Saturday, October 26-27, 7pm to midnight
Sunday-Wednesday, October 28-31, 7pm-10pm

Admission and parking are free, but the street is usually blocked off to cars for the safety of foot traffic, so be prepared to walk up that haunted hill!

THE HOUSE OF RESTLESS SPIRITS

Dates & Hours: October 27 & 31, 7-11pm

Location: 1008 Euclid Street, Santa Monica, CA

Website: Click here

Description: Santa Monica’s premiere yard haunt – one of the best Halloween events in Los Angeles, amateur or professional – returns for another season of subtle, spooky shivers. For Halloween 2012, the House of Restless Spirits will materialize on two nights: Saturday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 31, from 7pm to 11pm both evenings.

The back story of the House of Restless Spirits involves a ship’s captain, who buried his family in the backyard cemetery during an influenza epidemic decades ago, then took his ship out to sea one last time – never to return. This history is slyly suggested in the accompanying newspaper – not only in the top story but also in the apparently irrelevant sidebar quoting “a representative for the California State Parks” by the name of Gary Corb about a shipwreck fragment found on a nearby beach.

Guests are admitted in small groups at discrete intervals, to give everyone a chance to savor the ethereal effects in turn. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Please note: Wait times can exceed an hour. The 11pm stop-time is the time when the House of Restless Spirits shuts down, so you need to be in line well before then.

Admission is free.

OLD PASADENA HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

Dates & Hours: October 27, 10:30am to 12:30pm; October 31, dusk to 8:00pm

Location: One Colorado Courtyard, Old Town Pasadena, California

Website: Click here

Description: The “Old Town” section of Pasadena presents its annual Halloween celebration, which offers free activities throughout the area on October 27 and 31. Little ghosts, goblins, and witches are invited to trick-or-treat from store to store in Old Pasadena, which will offer free haunted photos, pumpkin decorating, popular costumed characters, and of course the Old Town Haunt.

The fun begins on Saturday, October 27, at One Coloradao Courtyard, with free pumpkin decorating. Families are also encouraged to visit the “lights on” version of Old Town Haunt, which should not be too intense except for the youngest children. Hours: 10:30am to 12:30pm.

On Wednesday, October 31, over 100 area restaurants and stores will supply a variety of candy and confectiosn for all the costumed kiddies, until 8:00pm. The scary lights-out version of Old Town Haunt will remain open until midnight.

For more information regarding activities at the Old Pasadena Halloween Celebration, the public is invited to visit www.oldpasadena.org/halloween or call 626.356.9725.

PUMPKIN JACK’S HAUNTED HOUSE

Dates: October 26, 27 & 31

Hours: 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm on Friday & Saturday; 9:00 pm to midnight on Halloween night

Location: 28603 Natalie Lane, Saugus, California 91390

Website: Click here

Description: This 600-square-foot amateur yard haunt, nestled in a residential neighborhood, offers eight scenes of Halloween horror, including Delirium Alley, Nightmare Asylum, and a Possessed Bedroom. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

REVENGE OF THE NINJA

Location: The Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy, 18727 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance CA 90504 310-327-1837

Dates & Hours:

Maze: October 27, 28 & 31, 6:30pm-10pm
Block Party: Halloween Night, 6-10pm

Warning: The ghosts of murdered ninja rise once again this Halloween – vengeance is their legacy!

The Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy presents their annual Revenge of the Ninja Halloween Haunt, which consists of a scary walk-through maze and a family-friendly block party with games and other activities. The maze is set up within the academy, which limits the potential for elaborate sets; fortunately, the ninja theme adds a unique flavor, unlike other Los Angeles haunts, and there are a few truly startling effects that make this one worth seeing if you live in the Torrance area. And if your kids (or you) are too scared to venture into the maze, block party offers a fine way to celebrate Halloween with the local community.

Website: Click here

ROTTEN APPLE 907: WILSLEY MANOR

Location: 907 N. California Street Burbank, CA 91505

Website: Click here

Description: Rotten Apple – one of the best Halloween yard haunts in Los Angeles – returns for October 2012 with another new theme: Willsey Manor. As always, admission is free, but donations will be accepted for charity; this year’s recipient is Family Promise.

This Halloween offers a return to the basic haunted house theme, set in a mansion once owned by a pair of brothers, one of whom went homicidally insane. His victims still walk the halls of Willsey Manor – do you dare enter and confront them?

2012 DATES & Hours:

Friday, October 26, 7-10pm
Saturday, October 27, 7-10pm
Sunday October 28, 7-9pm
Wednesday, Halloween Night 7-9pm

SPIDER-LIGHTS YARD HAUNT

Location: 806 Catalina Street, Burbank, CA 91505

Description: The Spider-Lights at Catalina return for another Halloween of tricks and treats. More colorful than most yard haunts, with many lighted decorations in the shape of – you guessed it! – spiders, this is a perfect place for families with young children to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles: it’s spooky in a fun way but not very scary.

Dates: October 27-31. Much of the display will be in place on the weekend of October 20; the full set-up should be ready on Saturday and Sunday, the 27th and 28th of the month. Candy will be distributed only on Halloween night, from dusk until 9pm.

Check out Hollywood Gothique’s video from a couple years ago, to get a flavor of what this home haunt is like.

Find other Halloween yard haunts in Los Angeles on this page. Find Halloween haunts for children on this page.

Hollywood Gothique » Community Halloween Events

Halloween 2012: Community Center Events and Activities

Halloween 2012: Last-Minute Yard Haunt Suggestions

Halloween Kids Zone 2012

Westchester Haunted Park 2012

2012 Halloween Haunts opening on Friday, October 26

Fear not, O Faithful Fright Fans. Los Angeles has many more tricks and treats in store for you during the final days of Halloween.