Lovers of ghosty tales, frightful flicks, thrill/chill rides, and seasonal scares can find plenty of fearsomely well-produced attractions, ghost walks, and ensorcelled exhibits around our region this time of year.
Are you venturing out over the first few weeks of fall 2021, all to reconnect with your love of Halloween and all of the monstrously merry sights and spectaculars it brings? Including those local traditions that may have taken 2020 off?
Eyeball some of the major events around Southern California now, and do double-check times, prices, parking, and safety guidelines before you go.
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LA Haunted Hayride
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is back in Griffith Park with its namesake hay-laden roll under the trees. There are other haps beyond the hayride, including three mazes and a Scare Zone inspired by the fictional town of Midnight Falls. Opening date? It's Sept. 24.
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Cemetery Lane, the new trick-or-treating to-do popping up at Heritage Square Museum over the last five nights of October, is very much for kids... during the earlier part of the evening. Things get a bit scarier, though, after 6 p.m. each night, and there's something special, and more intense, set for Oct. 31: a "Scream"-inspired trick-or-treat stop, in partnership with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, from 5 to 9 o'clock. Advance tickets? You'll need 'em.
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"IT'S ALIVE!" Frankenstein Intimate Immersive Experience is summoning the timeless tale for an evening of atmospheric chills at Mountain View Mausoleum in Altadena. You'll be a participant, so don your easy-to-get-around-in shoes and clothes, and prepare to enter Mary Shelley's land of lightning-spooky lore.
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Temecula Terror
Calling upon a carnival in the beautiful hills of Temecula Valley sounds like a delight. Unless it is night, and frightening figures are on the roam, and there are mazes that offer startles (and no sunshine). Do you dare? Temecula Terror is a new haunt, one made for grown-ups, but wait: There's a Family Fright option, earlier in evening, so check into that if you've got kids in your group.
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RomoloTavani
Do you count yourself as a Jack Skellington fan, an ardent admirer of all things to do with "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas"? Danny Elfman, the singing voice of Jack, and creator of the stop-motion classic's music, will be crooning along with the film, along with special guests, at the Banc of California on Oct. 29 and 31.
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peterspiro
"Legend: 200 Years of Sleepy Hollow" has clip-clopped into Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim. The exhibit offers a look-back, through art and text, at Washington Irving's chilling tale. See it before it rides away on Oct. 31, 2021.
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Ready to be regaled by the true-life, oh-so-spine-tingly tales of the OC towns you know well? Haunted OC has a bevy of spirited saunters, with deeper looks into the pasts of Santa Ana, Old Towne Orange, and other area destinations.
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Halloween Horror Nights
The Terror Tram is back at Halloween Horror Nights, and Michael Myers is, too, and the Bride of Frankenstein has her first maze. Are you ready to call upon Universal Studios Hollywood for this famous maze-tacular, one that includes several celebrated monsters and original content, too? (Universal Studios and NBC-owned TV stations operate under the same parent company NBCUniversal.)
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Madcap Motel
Seeking an art-cool spin to the season, one that is a bit gentler but full of thought-provoking rooms? Check into the Madcap Motel in the Arts District, an inn that seems to have slipped through the space-time continuum.
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Freeform/Richard Harbaugh
Explore a "Halloween Road" when Freeform alights at Heritage Square Museum over the first five days of October, all to celebrate its "31 Nights of Halloween." Both "Hocus Pocus" and the Addams Family will pop up in the not-too-scary to-do.
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Knott's Scary Farm
Knott's Scary Farm lit the proverbial lantern on Sept. 16, drawing fans of frights to its famous Ghost Town and cavalcade of mazes. There are several returning favorites in 2021, including "The Depths" and "Dark Ride." And, you bet: The themed treats are terrifyingly delicious.
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Coasters and creepies? Rides that thrill and sights that chill? Fright Fest Presented by Snickers has again whoooooshed into Six Flags Magic Mountain.
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Haddonfield, the town depicted in 1978's horror classic "Halloween," is mostly South Pasadena. And in South Pasadena, just behind the house that doubles for the home of Michael Myers, SugarMynt Gallery is featuring an art show devoted to the John Carpenter-helmed movie.
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Delusion
Step inside the storyline, and into the real-life Phillips Mansion in Pomona, as "Delusion" explores a fresh adventure in "Reaper's Remorse." A VIP option gives guests a chance to visit the 19th-century manor's second floor.
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mar1koff
Do you prefer your eerie feels to occur under the open sky? You're in some sort of spooky luck: A number of film series around our area, from Cinespia to Rooftop Cinema Club to the San Fernando Valley Drive-In, are presenting a number of ways to watch scary cinema. Some spots are for sitting outside, some are pop-up drive-ins, so check all of the chilling details before you go.
