Hollywood Gothique

Delirium was the best of three new attractions at last year’s Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Haunt. Although perhaps a bit short on scream-inducing scares, the walk-through maze benefited from a surreal if somewhat vague theme, which allowed for a variety of weird and wild imagery: eyeballs embedded in walls, corpse covered in cockroaches, and assorted [...]

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.

Dates: October 21-31
Hours: 6-9pm Sunday-Thursday; 6-10pm Friday-Saturday
Location: 4602 Morse Avenue Sherman Oaks, CA 91432
After a three-year hiatus, Boney Island is back, and it’s even better than before! The Halloween yard haunt’s skeleton crew has morphed from a carnival into a magic show, but the familiar, whimsical aura still pervades the grounds, making this one of the best Los Angeles Halloween haunts for children.

The caretaker at Fallen Angel Cemetery sent us this video, showcasing the souls of the damned who have been cast down to the nether regions. We don’t usually post videos from outside sources, but this one does a good job of conveying the atmosphere and look of this nifty little yard haunt. The only aspect [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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 [...]

Dates: Saturdays and Sundays throughout October
Location: Mountain View Mausoleum 2300 North Marengo Avenue Altadena, CA 91001
October Shadows IV, this year’s edition of the annual “Celebration of Halloween in Art,” features contributions from dozens of artists, including many with Hollywood experience: makeup man Rick Baker (THE WOLFMAN), production designer William Stout (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD), and special effects artist Stephen Chiodo (KILLER KOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE).

On Friday, September 23, the 2011 Los Angeles Halloween season officially began, with the opening of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Per tradition, Universal Studios launched their theme park Halloween attraction with the Eyegore Awards, which are handed out to celebrities in the horror genre. This year’s recipients were David Arquette (SCREAM), Jamie [...]

Dates: September 30, October 1-2, 7-9, 14-16, 20-23, 26-31.
Location: The Garden Walk, 321 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802
Link out: Click here
Description: Once again, The Empty Grave opens its mausoleum doors, admitting you into the vast unnerving darkness that lies beneath the bright lights of the Anaheim Garden Walk; the upscale shopping center provides a [...]

Harvest Fest Dates: September 23 to October 31
FrightFair Dates:  October 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, 18-23, 25-31
Location: Pierce College, 20800 Victory Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA
Link out: Click here
Description: One of the best Halloween events in Los Angeles returns for another season of frights and delights, with both the family-friendly Halloween Harvests Festival and the very scary FrightFair [...]

Dates: September 16-18, 23-25, 30, October 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, 20-31.
Location: 961 North Rice Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93030-8900
Link out: Click here
Description: The Forbidden Haunt, which made its debut in 2010 with Haunted Carnevil in Sherman Oaks, relocates to Oxnard and changes its name to Fears Gate. Judging from the new website, much of the old Halloween [...]

Halloween has come and gone; even our post-Halloween wrap-up, the four-part Halloween Haunt Odyssey, has been put to bed. Now comes the time to edit and post all the video we shot during October. Right now, we are working on the video version of the Haunt Odyssey. Part 1, featuring the Spider-Lights on Catalina Street [...]

Spider-Lights is a fun and friendly amateur Halloween yard haunt at 806 Catalina Street in Burbank. Hollywood Gothique paid a visit for the first time this Halloween, and we liked what we saw. Although it’s relatively small and not too elaborate, it features decorations far more colorful than those seen at most haunts, and there [...]

One of the highlights of the Heritage Square Museum’s Halloween and Mourning Tours this weekend was a display of “spirit photography” in the Perry Mansion, performed by Mario Corral, Jordan Byrne, and Donna Anderson. Although I am no expert on the subject, I did attend an exhibition of spirit photography a few years ago (”Immaterial [...]

The annual Theatre 68 Haunted House in Hollywood returns on Friday night, offering ten nights of Halloween horror during the final days of October. 2010 represents the 68 Cent Crew’s fifth year of haunting, and if the evidence of past years is any indication, unwary visitors are in for some serious scares as they enter [...]

Heritage Haunt does not have a walk-through haunted house this Halloween, but it does offer a Hayride of Nightmares. Capturing the ride on video is a bit tricky, because the effectiveness of the actual experience depends on the terrain hiding the lurking ghouls until they spring out of nowhere. There is little in the way [...]

13 Nights of Terror is a new Halloween event for 2010: a walk-through haunted house at the Lost Canyons Golf Course in Simi Valley. The attraction also features live music and DJs, and on October 30 there will be a day-long Halloween Family Festival We reviewed the haunt’s debut weekend here, but if you don’t [...]

The Reign of Terror – a wonderful Halloween attraction in Thousand Oaks – has been growing from year to year, beginning as a yard haunt, expanding to a community haunt at the Conejo Recreation Center, and finally moving to Janss Marketplace in 2009, where it returns for 2010 (although in a different, even larger space, [...]

The Halloween Ghost Train steamed back into Griffith Park this weekend. Presented by the Los Angeles Live Steamers, this family-friendly ride is the perfect counterpoint to the nearby Los Angeles Haunted Hayride: whereas the Hayride is a scary tour of a darkly wooded area filled with menacing monsters, the Ghost Train is a safe trip [...]