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Gothic Hills Cemetery 16419 Marilla St, Los Angeles, California, CA 91343
This Halloween yard haunt and walk-through ranks among the best in Los Angeles, with amazing decorations and effects. The yard display is beautiful, and the maze is fun – a search through a tomb for lost treasure. Jump-scares are relatively minimal; this is more like a guided tour with your host leading you on his treasure hunt and stopping from here and there to show off effects, including a digitally projected witch who delivers an incantation and a mechanical monster guarding the treasure.
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Haunted Maze on Ambrose 4302 Ambrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Timur Bootzin was 13 years old when he experienced real fear for the first time. As he was falling asleep, his TV suddenly flickered on and started playing a ghost documentary. He ran into his parent’s room, petrified out of his mind. Growing up, Bootzin was easily shaken, and even refused to go into his elementary school’s haunted house. But now, at 16, he’s built a business based solely on scaring others. Bootzin built his first haunted house when he was just 12 years old—having worked in one before, he was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes production. He’s now grown his donation-based haunted maze to become the go-to spot for a good scare in Los Angeles, choosing new themes each year. “I like what goes into the haunted houses. The art direction, the way we do the lighting,” he said. You won’t see people in “Scream” masks or Freddie Krueger costumes waltzing around Bootzin’s maze, because he loves to be completely original, using his own fears—like the TV scare—to build the maze. When you walk into this year’s Apocalyptic Wasteland-themed maze, you’re enveloped in fog. Suddenly you’re trapped in a small space as people in biohazard suits and gas masks surround you. When you’re least expecting it, zombie-like creatures emerge from the mist, as if the world really is ending.
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The Backwoods Maze 1912 North Pepper Street, Burbank, CA 91505
The Backwoods Maze may be the scariest Halloween home haunt in Los Angeles. As the name suggests, this is not exactly a haunted house; though there are some convincing interior sets, the experience is more akin to a race through some godforsaken hellhole in the middle of nowhere. The amazingly lengthy terror tour of terror, filled with frights around every corner, is as effective as any professional Halloween maze.
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The Haunt at Hellizondo 2134 Elizondo Avenue, Simi Valley, CA 93065
In the late 17th century, in the small Massachusetts town of ScabTree Hollow, Judge Hearthorne has made a deal with the devil to to sentence innocent townspeople to death for so-called “witchcraft.” For every soul he sends to the devil, the devil pays him a silver piece in turn. But in the depths of the forest lurks a coven of real witches, and they are on the side of the innocents. If you’ve accused and judged your innocent brothers and sisters wrongly, the Witches of ScabTree Hollow will ensnare you in their underground lair and entangle you in the thorny vines of their sinister pumpkin patch, where you will rot away until October 31. On Old Hallows Eve, the witches will release their army of rotting pumpkin souls to exact revenge in the name of those falsely accused. You have one chance to escape: Reveal your guilt inside the Confession House, and they might show you mercy….
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Into the Black 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768
The experience of Into The Black starts with a short horror film which gives you the backstory of the new attraction. The short flick follows a team of paranormal investigators into the legendary Black house built in 1886. Not surprisingly, the Black family did some heavy dabbling into the occult and devil worship. Next, you’re on your own (that’s right, completely alone) as you venture in the footsteps of those paranormal researchers into the darkness to try and uncover just what the Black family was up to and why the people of the town kept disappearing. Finally you’ll be sent back to 1886 via a virtual reality experience where you’ll come face-to-face with the Black family to see for yourself the horrific rituals they were performing first hand. Probably most interesting to me, the creative team behind Into The Black will be filming a behind-the-scenes documentary about the creation of this one of a kind haunted attraction.
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The Nightmare in Whiting Woods 413 Whiting Woods, Glendale, 91028
This amateur effort has been haunting since 2002, sometimes at different locations. They launched a Kickstarted campaign to upgrade their props and effects for 2016 but fell short of their goal. Fortunately, the haunt took place anyway.
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Perdition Home 5181 Manor View Drive, Yorba Linda, CA 92886
With its ghastly and gory walk-through, Perdition Home appeals to fans of hard-core Halloween horror. Its tone and intensity are somewhat along the lines of the Backwoods Maze in Burbank – it’s filled with eviscerated bodies and electric firecrackers for a jolting effect. However, Perdition Home has much more going for it than gore; it is an elaborate home haunt, featuring impressive sets and more than a few surprises along its walk-through: such as the crashed spaceship for 2015’s theme, Necro Space. Perdition Home is free but accepts donations to defray costs. If you pay to visit The Flesh Yard on Halloween Night, you might as well swing by to see what’s left of the original haunt.
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The Opechee Haunt 1307 Opechee Way, Glendale, CA 91208
If you want to feel like you’ve accomplished nothing in life, compare yourself to high schooler Sam Kellman, a life-long Halloween addict who started his own haunt (with his family’s help, of course) at the tender age of eleven. But Sam has crafted worlds that haunters twice his age haven’t been able to do, incorporating technology and savvy production to grow a legend that is impressive regardless of whether you consider his age into question.
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Fear Station Haunt 10660 Western Ave, Stanton, CA 90680
This Halloween Season, Fear Station presents two terrifying mazes: Freak Show of Fears: Freak Show of Fears will be sure to take your happy dreams and transform them into terrifying nightmares! Our ringmaster is excited to introduce you to all his creepy crawlers, playful clowns, and doll collection… Shadow Walk Manor: The Windigo’s Curse: Face the Windigo as you try to escape from Shadow Walk Manor. Cannibals look for their next meal as victims try to find their way out. Can you escape the Windigo’s Curse?
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TERRORll Ave Haunted House 417 Terrill Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90042
My name is Zion Fenwick im a 15 year old filmmaker from the Los Angeles area. I have always had a love for Halloween and everything scary, this year I finally get to express myself by building East Los Angeles scariest haunted house. My name is David Coleman I’m also a 15 year old from the Lis Angeles area. I have worked as a scareactor at top notch haunts like Knotts Scary Farm and more. This year I get to help zion bring all of the secrets I learned into the home haunt community. This year the TERRORll Ave haunt brings you to a hospital for clowns!
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The Haunt With No Name 19351 Hatteras Street, Tarzana, CA 91356
In operation since 1996, this yard haunt is one of the more delightful amateur Halloween attractions in Los Angeles. The Haunt with No Name is pitched at just the right level for a yard haunt – effective and memorable but not too scary for trick-or-treaters (except perhaps the very youngest). There is an overall sinister feel, with the layout of the corner house’s front yard nicely utilized to create the sense that you are approaching a dark and dreadful place (even though the proprietors turn out to be quite nice).
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Beware The Dark Realm 8621 Sugar Pine Way, Santa Clarita, CA 91390
This amateur attraction from the original managers of the Heritage Haunt returns for its third year of Halloween horror. Beware the Dark Realm is a home haunt featuring a Medieval theme, with a two-story castle facade leading to a 10-15 minute maze of winding corridors, filled with creatures around every corner. This is a free event, but please bring a can of food to be donated to the local food pantry.
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Coffinwood Cemetery Home Haunt 27159 Waterford Drive, Valencia, CA 91354
Coffinwood Cemetery is a combination of yard display and walk-through. Not exactly a maze, it offers a path through the front yard so that you can peruse the tombstones, skeletons, and ghouls (all home made except for the animatronics) before heading into a “mausoleum” – a convincing facade built over the garage, which leads to a single black-lit room with decorations and an electric chair.
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Higgins Manor 23761 Singapore Street, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Higgins Manor is Mission Viejo’s premier home haunt. With 11 themed rooms, a walk-through cemetery and amazing monster talent, it’s not to be missed. Higgins Manor is back for an epic 10th season! With an expanded maze, new rooms, and bigger scares, this season will be meaner than ever before! Master Higgins is set to get his revenge on the remaining souls who dare enter his manor. His henchmen are waiting. Are you prepared?
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N’ever Rest Cemetery & Haunted House 43848 Elm Avenue, Lancaster, CA 93534
N’everest Cemetery and Haunted House is a Halloween yard display and walk-through that includes a wide variety of spooky sets and costumes. The decorations in front are more than many home haunts offer – enough to keep you entertained during your wait in the short line. There is also a monitor for guests waiting in line to behold the fate of current victims inside the haunted house. The twists and turns of the walk-through’s sets provide monsters with plenty of hiding place to scare you from unexpected angles, starting in a cemetery and moving into hallways dripping with foreboding.
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The Haunted Shack 5112 Maricopa St, Torrance, California, CA 90503
Welcome! I’m that guy. That one guy on the block that always goes over the top for Halloween. I grew up loving Halloween and hope your kids will too. Our haunt is always FREE because that’s the way Halloween should be! We’re a small home haunt in Torrance, CA since 1997. We build a maze in our driveway every year that differs greatly depending on our theme. The last few years have been about 1500 sq ft and a 3-4 minute walk through. Screaming and trepidation seems to slow people down, so it might take a little longer. We employ various and sundry fx each year and hand build props to ensure you’re surprised around every corner. We’re low on gore, high on startle and tricks of the eye. If you don’t like dark, loud, or ominous situations, you probably wouldn’t want to come through, so I recommend kids be at least 6 years old, but it’s up to the parents to decide. Just remember, I can’t afford your Psychiatrist bills. Since we’re only a home haunt, we cannot accommodate any special parties or other evenings. It’s Halloween night only! Come check it out if you’re in the neighborhood, and tell a friend!
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Rotten Apple 907: The Portal 907 N California St, Burbank
Rotten Apple 907, our home haunted attraction, started off as child’s birthday party and has grown to become an experience that people look forward to attending each year. Now it is designed and built by all the members of the Meyer family, as well as a terrific group of people who volunteer their time and building and acting skills. Over the years, the group has dedicated a lot time and effort to learning how to make our haunt even better! As a result, each year’s house is more detailed and exciting, and the number of people attending our Haunted House increases. In 2016, we welcomed over 3000 people through the doors of our Haunted House, and we look forward to welcoming many more.
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The Haunted Rose 12116 Groveland Avenue, Whittier, California, CA 90604
Returning for a second years is this free home haunt from PROliFX, which has worked with major movie studios and brand name theme parks on producing molds and fabrications for props and set pieces. This is haunt is light on gore but heavy on detail and story. Last year’s received major acclaim.
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Haunted by Memories Manor 9914 Alesia St, South El Monte, California, CA 91733
This yard display with walk-through maze is another home haunt that has gotten a bit of buzz recently. Last year was a bit of a break-through year for them, and they’ll be back for another round of spooks this Halloween as well. Plus, their attraction carries a charitable side by integrating a canned food drive.
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Spooky Hollows 16418 Gilmore St., Van Nuys, CA 91406
Spooky Hollows is a great home haunt with some fantastic props, special effects, and fun scares built in. This year, Legends of the Swamp returns with a taste of marshland macabre!
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p.s. Hey. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. I only spent time with Maddin once when he, Zac, and I shared a cab from the airport when our films were at the Montreal Film Festival, but he was really funny and nice and joked around a lot. That thing about him and Cronenberg is so obviously a whopper. Good news about the potential interest from your actor. Is a trip from Long Island really that tough? I know zip about NYSCA grants. Everyone, Is anyone reading this knowledgeable at all about NYSCA arts grants? If so, Steve Erickson is looking for any advice you can pass long. Thanks! The passage of time is interesting. The slight differences that make most punk/post-punk bands seem like also-rans now sounded like interesting and promising divergences in the heat of that moment. Strange stuff. Right now Zac and I, having agreed on what our new film will be about and how we want it to work, are trading ideas while I take notes. Beginning this week, I’ll start drafting up the beginnings of a script. The way we work is that I do the first drafts based on our discussions, and then he’ll go over it and decide what he likes or doesn’t, and then we meet and revise it together whereupon I’ll go back and do another draft, after which the process repeats. So we’re still early on, but the script should start taking form in the next several days, or that’s the plan. Thank you a lot for asking. ** David Ehrenstein, Me too. He’s wunderbar and a great role model and idol as a filmmaker. There are hardly any true, pure auteurs left in North America who forge ahead and are able to make really uncompromized work consistently anymore. A real hero. It is, or was, Bresson’s birthday! Happy birthday to the greatest artist who ever lived in my humble opinion. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. If you ever want to hear a very ambitious and pretty much totally failed but fun 60s psych concept album, The Vanilla Fudge’s ‘The Beat Goes On’ is your baby. ‘The Forbidden Room’ is incredibly great. Probably my favorite of his films and really one of the best films I’ve seen in recent years. And, yes, the Sparks moment/song is wonderful, of course. ** Jamie, Hi, J! The shoulder thing is a little worse today, so I think I was fantasizing it was better. I’m still going to hold out a little longer before I seek professional help though. Oh, no, Maddin’s films are dreamy amazing, I think. I’ve had numerous friends with CBD, and I know how tough that can be. Ugh, man. Obviously I extremely hope he figures out the perfect med for that lickity-split. I do really, really like your novella’s description. I love books, movies, even songs and things where the ‘action’ is really simple and all this stuff is happening around it imaginatively. Our film ‘PGL’ has a bit of that, and the film we want to do next is very like that, but I shouldn’t talk about that until it’s more developed. So I personally think saying the novella is exactly that is a great idea, but there are these traditionalists out there who think fiction without a strong action-oriented narrative is problematic. But fuck them? Yum on your Monday meal. My Monday was hampered a bit because my dying laptop is starting to act like a dying laptop, and my new laptop doesn’t arrive for about a week, so yesterday was partly spent trying to keep it alive, and it still is as of this morning. My friend Michael ‘Kiddiepunk’ Salerno, who was the DP on ‘PGL’, just finished shooting his new film in Switzerland, and I got a full report from him, and it sounds like it went great. One of his two stars is this totally amazing 15 year-old guy Milo who is also one of the stars of ‘PGL’, and it sounds like Milo’s weird genius totally came through. That was Monday pretty much. How was Tuesday? May it haunt you like the ultimate and sweetest homemade haunted house. Ocean Blue love, Dennis. ** Bernard, B-ster! Hey, man! Gooder than good to see you! ‘My Winnipeg’ is a lovely one. Oh, no, you don’t think you’ll get to Paris?! Surely some wad of dough will arrive from some as yet undetermined benefactor, surely. You’ll be in Berkeley for the thing? I forgot that. Well, that’s fine, fine news. Awesome! That Black Mountain performance sounds pretty guaranteed to be pretty great? One would think. Slowly is legit. Anything with the word amazingly attached is always better than anything when it’s not attached. Big love, me. ** Dóra Grőber, Hi! Me too, about the short version. I’m going to tell our producer that if anyone other than the obligated grant committee ever sees it, I will kill him. Not really, but maybe. Obviously you made the right choice with your tattooist friend, and I was ready to encourage you to go for it if you hadn’t. Nice! Fantastic day indeed! My Monday, as I told Jamie, was okay, but my laptop is having death throes, and I’m stuck with it for another week, and that was/is maddening. No, we start work on the short version on Thursday. I think today Zac and I are going to look at some art and see a film. Should be nice, if so. How did Tuesday pan out for you? Hugs and congrats! ** _Black_Acrylic, Maddin is one of a kind. People either tend to fall in love with his work or not be able to stand it, but I think it’s a marvel. Good, good, I hope the big meeting this weekend goes great. I’m loving your spirit and belief in the future project, man. ** Misanthrope, Hi. Dude, you’re beyond due for a spooky house. I’ll find some for you to consider. Unfortunately the ones today are a wee bit too far off. People pooh-pooh Whole Foods, perhaps deservedly, but, man, they have a great ‘salad bar’. ** Sypha, Hi. Nope, really can’t stand them. Find them rather unbearable. Not sure if I’ve heard that first album, though. Hm, okay, I’m going to have a listen. I’m not a giant Goth music fan in general, strangely, since I think Goth itself and Goths themselves are cool. ** Armando, Hi. Oh, so sorry to hear about the mysterious physical ailment. Yeah, maybe it’s from stress re: what’s going on in your wounded, recovering surroundings? I love Bela Tarr. And Sade, obviously. I don’t think either one of them are fatalists. I think they’re both quite romantic if anything, just about bleak things. I mean my work has been called ‘fatalist’ a bunch of times, but those people are just completely missing the point. If nothing else, the sheer act of making art and putting it out there precludes real fatalism for me. I don’t greatly dislike Von Trier’s films for those reasons. I dislike his films because they’re ham-fistedly manipulative and make the easiest choices possible and act arrogantly intelligent and mysterious when they’re painfully dumb and obvious, and for other reasons as well. Hugs back to you. ** Okay. On the surface, today’s post would seem to be a niche thing directed only towards blog readers based on So. Cal. who are looking for Halloween to-dos. And that’s partly the case, but it’s equally a post dedicated to the great art form of the homemade haunted house, and I encourage those of you who aren’t out west and looking for seasonal tricks to delve in and allow yourselves the chance to appreciate the particulars of a wonderful form. See you tomorrow.
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