Well the spooky season has come to a close. But what a Halloween season this was! Theme parks, horror mazes and all the candy one can have. It’s time for the Halloween season review!
These are just some of the best Southern California spooky things you can do to improve your Halloween joy during the month of October. Most of these haunts are annual so if anything on the list sounds good to you, mostly likely it will be there next year.
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
Hands down the best thing I did this season, from the spooky mood that encompasses this experience to the amazing usage of the Queen Mary cruise liner. The set-up is very simple; three mazes on the land in front of the boat and three mazes on the actual boat itself. Each maze has its own terrifying theme: some are made up for the haunt and some are based on lore and ghost stories from the boat’s colorful past. The haunters use the boat to amplify the creepy scares as you wander around the boat getting scared or looking for all the hidden bars within some of the mazes. See my original review from this past year.
Knott’s Scary Farm
The one that started it all. Without Knott’s who know what theme parks haunts would be like. Going for almost 45 years now and still going strong, and not needing IP to fall back on, Knott’s has to do this crazy thing: they rely on Halloween itself for their haunts, mazes and themes. The atmosphere Knott’s manages to create is still the best: the scare zones, haunted rides and the many mazes they use every year. Each year they add a few more and retire some others. Each year it’s always different and worth going to. They created the horror haunts so bow down to the king.
Reign of Terror
Located in Thousand Oaks California is an award-winning, walk-though haunted house unlike anything you’ve ever seen or done before. 115 rooms packed with terrifying special effects, swarms of live monstrous characters and scares. It’s a 22,000 square feet 30-minute maze that is more like a horror gauntlet than anything else. Intense and absolutely fantastic: rooms filled with lights, fog, all sorts of creatures and all the screams. And a wonderful tradition: the last night of the season you can walk thought it once more, but this time with no lights. Blackout! Just you and a glow stick and all the fear of what the darkness can hold.
Sinister Pointe Productions
Each year this production changes its theme to something new and scary. This year was called Mist: a 30-minute free roaming scavengers hunt immersive adventure. Your find yourself in an abandoned town with nothing more than your wits. The town has been overrun with hell demons and fog, you need to collect the 13 relics before your time runs out or before the creatures within the fog collect your souls. It was awesome and well worth doing. It’s something completely different from a normal haunt.
Oogie Boogie Bash Disneyland Resort
Each year Disney changes the whole park for the Halloween season. This year the Mickey’s Not Scary Halloween Party was replaced by Oogie Boogie Bash, where Oogie has taken over Disney California Adventure for one night. There was a new Halloween Parade, a Halloween version of World of Color, and trick or treating for all. It was good this year, but it has been better in the past. Not being able to go to the Magic Kingdom was a little strange, but overall it was a great time.
Universal Studio Halloween Horror Nights
Universal has made a name for itself as the edgy horror experience, relying on IP like Freddy, Jason, The Walking Dead, etc. Which is all great! But this year was another mess of over-sold tickets, too-long lines and guests not being able to do all the things in one night like you used to be able to do. Each year it gets more popular with additions to the park like Ghostbusters, Stranger Things or Jordan Peele’s Us. Using IP gets people in the park and it’s great to be scared by Slimer or a Killer Klown from Outer Space, but with the crowds and three-hour lines it’s best to try another haunt if you’re worried you won’t get to do everything. Because you won’t.
Zombie Joe’s
Zombie Joe’s is an underground theater group located in North Hollywood that specializes in the macabre and darkness of the human experience. Using actors, they create a totally unique experience that will scare you and fascinate you in the same moment. An adult only attraction and one you will never forget.
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
This is always the hit or miss haunt of the season. Last year it was a massive hit with great scares and themes. This year was a total waste of time. That it was under new management didn’t help this LA based haunted succeed. The hayride was too short with very little scares, the mazes were too close together and the overall theme was very disjointed. Nothing made sense and it seemed to be under-staffed and the staff that was there could give a f**k about you or your scares. Rumor around town was they put it together in 12 days. It looked it. For this particular haunt wait and see the reviews before deciding to go. You may want to spend your money on a better haunt.
Now that’s how you do Halloween! All them haunts and special events to get your spooky on. From family fun to oh hell no, don’t take your kids to that. Halloween is for everyone and there’s something for all. Just gotta find your right spooky. Hope my list helps and gets you excited for next year. Until then… in the immortal words of Elvira Mistress of the Dark… Unpleasant dreams.
