Hollywood Gothique

News, Reviews, Previews pertaining to Halloween in Los Angeles: creepy costumes, devilish dinner & recipes, haunted houses, corn mazes, theme park attractions, pumpkin carving, street fairs, etc.

Jamie Lee Curtis at last year's Dream Halloween Evening.
Title: October 29, 5-8pm
Location: Barker Hangar 3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405-6101
Link out: Click here
Description: Come on down for this magical evening, benefitting the Chidlren Affected by AIDS Foundation. Guests include founder Jake Koberdanz and actors James Lee Curtis, DOris Roberts, and Josh Duhamel.
From the website:
Los [...]

Date: October 29, from 9am to noon
Location: 1095 E. Willow Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806
Link out: Click here
Description: On Saturday, October 29, Long Beach’s two oldest cemeteries transform into a Living History tour that allows living tourists to stroll about listening to tales of the dead.
From the website:
Amidst old tombstones, tour participants gather [...]

Date: October 29, 6-9pm
Location: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro, CA 90731
Link out: Click here
Description: The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium presents its 6th annual Halloween event, transforming into a world of chills, thrills and gills. We have never been, so you will have to judge for yourself, based on the description from [...]

Date: October 28, 4-10pm
Location: Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum‎ 1419 North Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Topanga Canyon, CA 90290-4275
Link out: Click here
Description: Come on down for a haunted house, ghost stories, pumpkin carving, costume contest and games as the Bucolic Theatricum Botanicum transforms into the haunted BOO-tanicum for the theater company’s first annual Halloween extravaganza. Wander [...]

I just wanted to offer a brief update on my review of the Ghost Ship’s maiden voyage last weekend. As I mentioned there, some customers were disappointed with the debut of the new Halloween event. These customers posted negative comments on the Ghost Ship Facebook page and at Yelp.com; there is also an extensive diatribe at [...]

Dates: October 8 through 31
Location: 702 North Doheny Drive, West Hollywood
Link out: Click here
Description: Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch offers a variety of kid-friendly activities. Hours are Sunday 9-7; Monday – Thursday 9-7; Friday – Saturday 9-8.
From the website:
Since 1986, our family has traveled from Oregon bringing the spirit of the farm and exuberant joy of [...]

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 [...]

"The Body Snatcher," based on Robert Louis Stevenson
Tonight, Wicked Lit returns to the Moutain View Mausoleum and Cemetery for another October season of immersive theatre productions. Rather like TAMARA, the play staged in the American Legion Hall in Hollywood back in the 1980s, Wicket Lit productions take place in an actual location, requiring the audience [...]

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 [...]

Here at Hollywood Gothique, we occasionally receive requests to cover Halloween events that lie outside our usual domain (that is, Los Angeles and the surrounding Southland). This year, we finally took this advice, travelling up north to visit two haunts in the East Bay Area, near San Francisco: “The Candle Lighters Ghost House – Haunted [...]

Date: October 31, 6-11pm
Location: 1547 Garden St., Glendale 91201
Link out: Click here
Description: Mishap Manor is a family-friendly yard haunt depicting an old decrepit haunted house, infested with crows, and with a graveyard in front. Apparently, a few mishaps have befallen some of the past residents. There are a few animated props, lighting effects, [...]

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, [...]

After a three-year hiatus, the Boney Island Yard Haunt reopens this Halloween. Those of you who never attended the old skeleton carnival may be wondering what the big deal is, exactly. Well, take a look at our video, recorded in 2007, of the final appearance of the old Boney Island. Don’t expect this year’s version [...]

Dates: October 18 through February 2
Location: The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Description: The Getty Museum has a spooky new audio tour just in time for Halloween: “Demons, Angels and Monsters: The Supernatural in Art” – which was created by kids, for kids.

Date: October 29, 12-5pm
Location: The Valley Mall, 10933 Valley Mall, El Monte, CA
Link out: Click here
Description: The City of El Monte presents its second annual celebration of Dia De Los Muertos, the “Day of the Dead” festival that is becoming increasingly conflated with Halloween. The event includes alters, masks, rituals, and performances inspired by Dia [...]

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: Friday-Saturday, October 21-22
Hours: 7-9pm
Location: Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 Walnut Avenue Burbank, California 91501
Link out: Click here
Description: The Burbank Volunteer Docents present “Haunted Adventure,” a hike through the haunted Nature Center and grounds. Games, animals, face painting and more while waiting for tour! Children 12 years & under must be accompanied by an [...]

Date: October 20
Location: Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90026
Link out: Click here
Description: It’s almost Halloween, so The New L.A. Folk Festival, L.A. Record, & Grand Ole Echo are getting together to present “The Return Of Murder Ballads,” a follow-up to last year’s tribute to timeless songs about killers, scorned lovers, & evil doers. Performers [...]