Please welcome guest author and Halloween expert, Heather Harper! 

People love saying “LA doesn’t really have seasons”, which is completely untrue. Especially once we get out of August, the signs of seasonal change are all around…days start to get shorter, leaves start to change, and usually sometime in mid-September, the first skeletons start to appear in front yards, and just like that, the Halloween season has begun.

One of the things I love most about Los Angeles is how much this city embraces the Halloween holiday. Every year it seems to get earlier and earlier in September that it becomes acceptable to start celebrating the spooky season. There are events like Monsterpalooza, Midsummer Scream and Scare LA that happen in LA during the spring and summer months each year, each are multi-day horror fan conventions that bring out multitudes of fans, vendors and celebrities from cult classics and current horror hits. Due to high demand, both Disney and Universal theme parks begin their Halloween events solidly in September.

My husband and I start making our “Halloween list” sometime in the middle of summer, so we can plan and get tickets (a lot of events will sell out, or offer good discounts on tickets if you buy ahead of time). While we have many events planned for this month, several of which I have mentioned in the past, I also wanted to include a couple of new things to do or places to visit to get you in the ultimate spooky spirit. These retailers and locations are open all the time, allowing you to get your spooky-fix year round, but around October they really turn it up a notch.

1. The Bearded Lady’s Mystic Museum

This now staple of Magnolia boulevard in Burbank is quite simply one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in. It is a store/museum/art gallery that celebrates the macabre, pop-culture horror (they just did a fantastic Vampira and Shape of Water art exhibit), and the history of fortune-telling and spiritualism (they often have a tarot or palm reader in-store). The front of the location is mostly devoted to retail ranging from apparel, jewelry and candles, to books on witchcraft the paranormal (as well as a very macabre collection of old medical equipment) The back half is devoted to the museum itself, which has rotating “shows” – they had an excellent tribute to The Shining awhile ago, and are most famous for (it has made it’s triumphant return) the Slashback Video Horror vhs-themed art show. These shows are all put on in the museum, which houses a permanent display of one of the most impressive collection of Ouija boards I’ve seen, and has a Victorian style bar (they are also available to rent for private events).

Find them on Facebook and Instagram: @themysticmuseum for information and updates.

2. Cinema Secrets

This Toluca Lake shop is open year-round, but in late September, they start getting ready to open “The Vault” which pretty much doubles the size of the whole operation at Cinema Secrets. One of the reasons I love Cinema Secrets is it focuses mostly on makeup and SFX makeup, along with costumes. Any time I need any sort of prosthetic to add warts, wounds or a variety of ears, noses and brow pieces, I head to Cinema Secrets. They also are super helpful, they’ve even applied a little demo of makeup on me to show me how to do it on my own for later. They usually have popcorn
popping in the retro popcorn machine out front, and so many creepy decorations to greet you. It’s a must-visit during the Halloween season!

Cinema Secrets: www.cinemasecrets.com

3. The Cauldron Spirits & Brews

I started hearing about this place earlier this year, and am so excited to be visiting it next week. This “dark fairy tale witch-themed sanctuary” opened at the end of January this year, it owned and run by Lara Hanneman, former creative director for 23 years at Knott’s Berry Farm (so she knows spooky). Her goal is to create an immersive environment in a “dark, romantic atmosphere”. They have cocktails like the Grey Witch and the Wizard’s Cup, and a pretty great looking
food menu as well. The Cauldron Bar is across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm, so guess where we will be going for happy hour before Knott’s Scary Farm this year???

The Cauldron Bar: www.thecauldronbar.com on Instagram: @thecauldronbarbp

4. Ghost Train and Boney Island

Both of these events took a bit of a hiatus the last couple years, so we were so happy to see them both make triumphant returns, and now are (kind of) combined! Both are hosted by the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum, and both are being held in Griffith Park. The Ghost Train is a 23-minute ride on an 1/8 th scale train around an area of Griffith Park that has been decked out to the gills by 30 different spooky displays. It is so festive and fun, celebrating the Halloween season in a family friendly way that has some of the most elaborate lighting and decorative displays I’ve seen.


Boney Island was this wonderful front-yard display that ran for 19 years in a Sherman Oaks neighborhood, but ultimately got too popular for it’s own good, and was shut down due to crowds and traffic issues that were overwhelming the residential streets surrounding it. Luckily, has been resurrected at Griffith Park and I can’t wait to see how they changed and maybe expanded. Ultimately it is a beautifully interactive and playful exhibit with animated skeletons as your host to a nighttime carnival complete with a fountain show, fortune tellers and photo ops (like Coney Island). It wins the award for the most charming Halloween experience, and I am so glad it is back. Both have dates running
through Halloween night. You must get separate tickets to attend both.

Ghost Train: https://lals.org/ghost-train-2018/
Boney Island: www.boneyisland.com

5. Reign of Terror
I have mentioned this spooky maze before, but it has remained one of the best local options for scares. It is a giant (105 rooms this year!) haunted house that covers multiple themes (everything from a bloody Asylum to a crazy Fun House to a gothic Haunted House and more) as you walk from room to room. They combine lighting and sound effects with animatronics and live actors, and every year are getting more and more creative with how they scare the guests. We find it takes us around 20-30 minutes to walk through, even the queue is completely themed, so if you have to wait a bit it’s entirely immersive. It is all built on the 2 nd floor of an outdoor mall in Thousand Oaks, and is so worth the drive. This is one of the best examples of a community-driven event, all proceeds go to the Teen Center of Thousand Oaks
and Young Artists Ensemble Theater Group. They have dates running though November 3rd.

Reign of Terror: www.rothauntedhouse.com

6. Home Haunts

There are so many local and smaller options for getting your spooky on here in SoCal, and while there are a lot of websites and places you can find some of these, I find the best and most comprehensive list to be the SoCal Haunts list. It gets posted at several retail locations, but I’ve put the link below. One of my favorites on this list is Rotten Apple 907 (in Burbank). In my opinion, it is these home haunts and this community that is such a wonderful part of living in Southern California. These passionate, quirky and creative people who year after year put their time (and money) into building these wonderful fun exhibits that bring out young and old in the community to celebrate the season. I’m
excited to see the documentary film about all of this set to be released this month called Epic Home Haunts by Saga Studios.

Home Haunts: www.socalhauntlist.com
Epic Home Haunts film: https://sagastudios.net/movies/epic-home-haunts/

We are almost to the end of October, so I hope this helps you celebrate the best season, the Spooky Season!!! Happy Haunting!

You can follow my spooky adventures on my social media!
Instagram: @hnharper8
Twitter: @zelma8