Hollywood Gothique

Professional haunted houses, mazes, labyrinths, and similar walk-through attractions. Generally, these are stand-alone attractions, but some are part of larger Halloween events.

Last October, Hollywood Gothique made its first trip up north to check out some of the Halloween events in the East Bay Area near San Francisco. Previously, we posted the fruits of that endeavor in a review and video of the Candle Lighters Ghost House and in a review of the Pirates of Emerson. The [...]

Dates: October 14-31
Hours: 8-11pm weeknights & Sundays; 8pm-midnight on Fridays & Saturdays
Theatre 68 doesn’t have the expanse of other Halloween haunts in Los Angeles, but it offers something distinctive that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere: a more personal, intimate variety of horror, with audience and characters engaged up close and personal.

Creatures of the Corn at FrightFair
I always knew this gig would make me famous. A few seconds of my video of  the FrightFair Screampark show up in a segment that the local NBC news station recently ran a segment on the Pierce College Halloween Harvest Festival, which is where FrightFair takes place.
Hey, anything that throws a [...]

During a recent trek up north, Hollywood Gothique visited two Halloween haunts in the East Bay area near San Francisco: The Candle Lighters Ghost House (reviewed here) and the Pirates of Emerson. We had been hearing about the later for years, and the Haunt Mistress (whose Haunted Bay website offers news and reviews of Halloween [...]

Watch your step – and those hands – as you descend the stairs.
You should go see Delusion, the new Halloween haunted house that just opened in Los Angeles.
No, really. Stop reading this now, and go buy your tickets.
What more do we need to tell you? I mean, you know us, right? Have we ever steered [...]

Dates: October 14-15, 21-22, 28-29
The Ghost Ship is an enjoyable novelty: a short pleasure cruise with a Value-added Halloween theme. The enjoyment one receives is much as one would expect on any cruise: the refreshing chill of a cool sea breeze on the observation deck; the glittering lights of docks and buoys reflected off the ocean; the relaxed, transitory camaraderie of fellow travelers sharing a deck on a ship sailing over water smooth as glass. The happiest audience will be one that enjoys these regular attractions and appreciates the Halloween elements as a bonus.

The Theatre 68 Haunted House opened its doors last week. This has been one of our favorite Halloween events in Los Angeles since we discovered it a few years ago. We have not had a chance yet to check out this year’s version, but if it matches what we have seen in the past, it [...]

The Sinister Pointe Halloween attraction erupted from the grave like a screaming banshee two years ago, scaring Orange Count residents as never before; at least, that’s what we heard, second-hand. In 2008, the haunt proprietor had earned a reputation for an officially licensed SAW maze; that reputation grew with the 2009 debut of Sinister Pointe, [...]

At Hollywood Gothique, we are all about Halloween in Los Angeles; nevertheless, we do make the trek out to Orange County to partake of the terrors on offer in that fearsome and mysterious land. This week, we checked out Sinister Pointe and Ghost Ship (the later of which, from the makers of the Los Angeles [...]

Hey there, horror fans! Are you looking for an inexpensive way to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles? Well, read on for the good news! As we have for the past two years, Hollywood Gothique is giving away tickets to Nightmare at Scareview Farm! This multi-maze haunted attraction at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds offers five walk-through realms of horror. General Admission is $15, but you can win complimentary pair of tickets simply by sending us an email (details below). Tickets are good for any day; the haunt runs October 14-15, 21-22, 28-31.

UPDATE: CONTEST CLOSED. Enter the contest by emailing contest@hollywoodgothique.com. Include your name and mailing addres and put “Nightmare at Fairplex Tickets” in the subject line. (Tickets will be mailed to you, so don’t forget to include address.) Winners will be selected by random drawing. Contest closes on Sunday, October 16 at midnight; tickets will be mailed on Monday, October 18, in time for you to enjoy the haunt the next weekend.

A female ghoul keeps an eye on the Haunted Hayride.
If  have taken the ride or read the reviews, you know that in a mere two years the L.A. Haunted Hayride has driven to the front of the pack, becoming one of the premiere Halloween events in Los Angeles. To laud the haunt with praises once [...]

Dates: October 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-31
Reign of Terror continues to house new terrors within its ever expanding walls. The growth from last Halloween to now may not be dramatic, but it is vividly clear to even the most casual haunt-goer. There are more scares than ever before, many of them quite startling.

Dates: October 1-31
Hours: 10am to 9pm (longer hours as Halloween approaches, extending until midnight the last few days of the month)
Location: 10601 Riverside Drive, North Hollywood, CA 91602
Link out: Click here

Description: The Toluca Lake Florist turns into the Toluca Lake Pumpkin Patch during the month of October, offering a petting zoo and a haunted maze. [...]

Dates: October 14-31
Hours: 8-11pm weeknights & Sundays; 8pm-midnight on Fridays & Saturdays
Location: 5419 Sunset Blvd., east of Western Hollywood, CA

Description: The Theatre 68 Haunted House returns for Halloween 2011, and this year they expand their schedule to haunt the final 18 days of October.

Last Halloween, we did not investigate the FrightFair Screampark until late in the October season, and we had time to post only a short mini-review of a fine haunted event that deserved much more attention from us. We certainly had good intentions to go back and write a more detailed assessment, but other commitments and [...]

The reports of Heritage Haunt’s death have been greatly exaggerated. After a disappointing Halloween 2010, the rumor was that this engaging Halloween attraction would not return, because of behind-the-scenes difficulties over permits and permissions (which put the kibosh on the event’s highlight, the wonderfully atmospheric haunted Newhall Ranch House). For 2011, many of the crew from last year have moved on to a new Halloween haunt. However, Heritage Haunt has not gone quietly to its eternal slumber; instead, it returns from the grave – on a smaller scale, closer to its previous incarnations – with the Newhall Ranch House once again the creepy centerpiece.

Dates: October 22 & 29, 5-9pm
Location: Golden Valley High School, 27051 Robert C. Lee Parkway, Santa Clarita, CA 91350
Link out: Click here
Description: Much of the cast and crew of the now defunct Heritage Haunt at Heritage Junction have set up a new Halloween haunt this year. Expect to see the talking skeleton fortune teller, the [...]

Dates: October 14-15, 21-22, 28-29
Location: 2901 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, CA 92663
Link out: Click here
Description: Ten Thirty One Productions – creators of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, one of our favorite Halloween events in Los Angeles – set sail on a new adventure, a ghostly cruise in Orange County. We’re not talking about a [...]

Dates: October 19-31
Location: 2218 S Harvard Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90018
Link out: Click here
Description: 2011 sees a new Halloween event in Los Angeles: DELUSION, a “haunted play” that promises adventurous fright fans an interactive experience unlike traditional haunted house attractions. Although consisting of a walk through a turn-of-the-century mansion, DELUSION offers more than actors in [...]

Dates: October 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-31
Hours: 7-10pm except Saturdays, which are 7-11pm
Location: Janss Marketplace, 197 North Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, CA
Link out: Click here
Description: The Reign of Terror haunted house once more opens its doors to unwary visitors foolish enough to wander inside. This year, the premier Halloween haunt in Thousand Oaks offers not only its [...]

Dates: October 6-9, 13-16, 20-23, 26-31 (subject to change, so check)
Location: 195 Arovista Circle Brea, CA 92821
Link out: Click here
Description: After going on hiatus in 2010, the highly regarded Sinister Pointe Haunted Attraction returns for another season of screams. This year, the highly regarded Orange County Halloween haunt promises a horrifying hybrid of THE HILLS [...]

Dates: October 7-9, 13-16, 20-23, 27-31
Location: Griffith Park, Old Zoo, 4730 Crystal Springs Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027
Box Office Hours: 7pm to 10:30pm on Thursdays, Sundays, and Monday October31; 7pm to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (the ride runs for one hour after the box office closes)
Link out: Click here
Description: The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride [...]

Dates: October 14-15, 21-22, 29-31
Hours: 7-11pm
Location: Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Avenue, Pomona, CA 91765
Link out: Click here
Description: Formerly known as “Nightmare at Scareview Farms,” this annual Halloween haunted house returns for its third year at the Fairplex, home of the Los Angeles County Fair. Unlike most Halloween Haunts in Los Angeles, Nightmare: A Haunted Attraction [...]