2013 Halloween Haunts for Children
Most of the scary Halloween events for adults start up near the beginning of the season, but Halloween Haunts for Children kick into gear during the final week of October. If your family is looking for a kid-friendly way to enjoy Halloween in Los Angeles, check out the entries below. Although a few of them have already started, most will not begin until this weekend (October 25-27). Others will operation only on October 30 or Halloween Night.
If you find nothing to your liking here, you might also check out our listings for Halloween Yard Haunts, many of which are appropriate for all ages (just avoid the ones with walk-through scares, such as The Backwoods Maze and Big Worm’s Camp Sherwood). Also, some professional Halloween Haunted Houses and Hayrides offer kid-safe versions during the final weekend of October, usually in the afternoon, before unleashing the scares at night. Check out the Old Town Haunt Halloween Attraction in Pasadena, for example, which turns the lights on from noon to 2pm on Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27.
After-School Adventures: Huntington Chamber of Horrors
Location: The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108
Date: October 30, 2013, from 3:30pm to 5:00pm
Tickets: Members: $10. Non-Members: $15. Fee includes one accompanying adult.
Registration: 626-405-2128.
Website: Click here
Description: What creepy carnivores inhabit the Huntington? On the eve of Halloween, Jim Folsom, director of the Botanical Gardens, turns into a mad scientist and conjures up some weirdly wonderful predatory plants. Join him if you dare! Ages 5 and up.
Boo at the Zoo
Location: Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027 Phone: (323) 644-4200
Dates: Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27
Hours: Â 10am to 4pm. There will be a member-only preview starting at 8:30 am on October 27.
Admission: All activities are included with the regular zoo admission price. GLAZA members get in free.
Webpage: Click here
Description: The Los Angeles Zoo brings back their annual Boo at the Zoo event for two weekends this October, promising safe but spooky fun for families with young children. Pumpkin carving, arts and crafts, creepy creatures abound. There will be spooky tales, treat stations, and fun facts about your favorite animals. As you stroll about the zoo, you will meet and greet your favorite monsters and storybook characters.
Visitors are encouraged to wear their wildest costumes and enjoy trick-or-treating throughout the zoo.
Unlike most Halloween events for children, which debut late in the season, Boo at the Zoo had its first weekend on October 19-20. Fortunately, if you missed it, now you have a second chance.
Enchanted Green Hallow’s Eve
Location: Star Eco Station Environmental Science Museum & Exotic Wildlife Rescue Facility, 10101 Jefferson Blvd Culver City, CA
Dates: Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27
Hours: noon to 4pm both days.
Tickets: $6 for children, $8 for adults, and $7 for seniors. All proceeds go to support rescued animals.
Phone: (310) 842-8060
Website: Click here
Description: For one weekend every Halloween season, the STAR ECO Station transforms into Enchanted Green Hallow’s Eve, a magical fairy tale palace of trickery, treating and eco storytelling! See your favorite fairy tales with an environmental twist. Costume Contests, games, prizes and performances all day.
Halloween Carnival in Burbank
Location: McCambridge Recreation Center, 1515 North Glenoaks Boulevard, Burbank
Dates: Halloween Night
Hours: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Admission: Free
Website: Click here
Description: The city of Burbank presents this Halloween Carnival, intended exclusively for elementary school children. There will be games, candy, and prizes.
Halloween Harvest Festival at Pierce College
Location: Pierce College, 20800 Victory Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA
Dates: daily through November 3
Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm Sunday-Thursday; 10:00am-midnight Fridays & Saturdays.
Daytime Prices: $5 for admission onto the festival grounds; $10 for the daytime Corn Maze; $14 for a daytime Multi-Pass (including the corn maze, the hayride,and two activity tickets)
Information: 818-999-4565
Website: Click here
Description: The annual Halloween Harvest Festival offers family-friendly Halloween activities all day long, including rides, a petting zoo, pumpkin maze, and more. Most of these events require activity tickets, which can be purchased in booklets.
The Harvest fest events continue into the evening, when Fright Fair opens the tombstone gates to inflict some real scares on the older trick-or-treaters. Hours for these events are from dusk to 10PM on weekedays, dusk to midnight on weekends.
Halloween Hop in Santa Monica
Location: Montana Avenue between 6th and 17th Streets, Santa Monica, 9040
Date: October 31
Hours: 3pm to 6pm
Website: Click here
Description: The Montana Avenue Merchants Association presents the annual Halloween Hop, which promises fun for kids of all ages as they safely stroll Montana Avenue on the lookout for tricks and treats.
Halloween Party for Downtown L.A. Kids
Location: Grand Hope Park at FIDM, South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015 (323) 644-6661
Website: Click here
Date: Halloween Night
Hours: 5-8pm
Tickets: General Admission is $5. Children under 2 get in free.
Description: Once again, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District of Los Angeles invites families living in the area to bring their children out for a night of Halloween Fun and Games, including: trick-or-treat doors; inflatable bounce houses; video games; face painting, crafts; balloon animals, jugglers; marionettes; and hot dogs, cotton candy & popcorn.
Costumes are required for children and suggested for adults. Remember to bring a candy bucket or bag!
Sorry, no pets.
Los Angeles Live Steamers Ghost Train
Location: Griffith Park, 5202 Zoo Drive – Los Angeles, CA 90027
Dates: Â October 25-27, 30-31
Hours: 7-10pm
Tickets: $10
Phone: (323) 662-8030
Website: Click here
Description: Like Boo at the Zoo, the Los Angeles Live Steamers Ghost Train got a jump on the competition by starting in mid-October. If you haven’t taken a ride yet, you really should mark this one on your calendar. Although it’s considerably more spooky than in past years, with many more special effects and mechanical props, it’s still good fun for timid trick-or-treaters. The scares are mild at most – more nervous laughter than screams – and there are not actors in costumes, just decorations, fog, and lighting. But remember: there’s no light at the end of this tunnel…
Proceeds benefit the non-profit Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum, which maintains the facility year-round.
The Nightmare Before Christmas 20th Anniversary Scare-Abration
Location: El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood 1-800-347-6396
Website: Click here
Dates: continues through November 2
Description: Has it truly been 20 years? Walt Disney’s El Capitan Theater celebrates the big event with their annual revival – this time in so-called “4D” with “newly enhanced interactive sensory effects,” including “scent, wind, snow, fog, and more.”
There will be Second Screen Live showings at 9:15pm on October 20, 22, 27, and 29. These will be 2D presentations with an interactive iPad experience. Viewers will have to supply their own iPads.
Throughout the film’s engagement, the lower lounge will contain a 20th anniversary display about the making of the movie.
Old Pasadena Halloween Celebration
Location: One Colorado Courtyard, Old Town Pasadena, CA Phone: 626.356.9725
Dates & Hours:
- October 26, 10am to 4pm
- October 31, 5pm to 10pm
Admission: free, except for the kid-friendly haunted house, which is $10
Website: Click here
Information: 626.356.9725
Description: For 2013, Old Pasadena’s annual Halloween Celebration offers two days of haunted happenings suitable for the entire family!
On Day 1 – Saturday, October 26 – there will be pumpkin decorating in One Colorado Courtyard from 10am to noon, followed by a kid-friendly haunted house from noon to 4pm. The pumpkins are free, and go home with their creators; the haunted house (recommended for ages 7 and up) costs $10.
On Day 2 – Halloween Night – the Old Pasadena Halloween Celebration continues, when over 100 stores and restaurants open their doors for free trick-or-treating – one of the largest civic destinations for Halloween fun in the Los Angeles area. Starting at 5pm, merchants will supply a variety of candy to youngsters in costume. There will be costumed characters on Colorado Boulevard, and Old Pasadena guides will lurk in the area, offering Halloween eggs with unique prizes and candy inside.
Also on Halloween Night, One Colorado Courtyard will offer free, professional photos shot against a Halloween-themed background, and there will be screenings of HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA at 6pm and BEETLEJUICE at 8pm.
Revenge of the Ninja Block Party
Location: The Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy, 18727 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance CA 90504
Date: Halloween Night
Hours: 6-9pm
Admission: Free
Website: Click here
Description: The Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy presents its annual Halloween Block Party, which offers food, games, and fun for all ages. There is also a scary Revenge of the Ninja maze, which is open to all but not recommended for younger children.
The maze, which also runs on October 26 & 27, is open from 7pm to 10pm. Although the block party is free, there is a suggested donation for the Revenge of the Ninja Maze:L $5 (donations pay for next year’s maze).
Scarium of the Pacific
Location: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802 (562) 590-3100, ext. 0
Dates: Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27
Hours: 9am to 5pm
Tickets: All Halloween activities are included for the price of regular admission, which is $29.95 for adults, $14.95 for children 3-11, and $22.95 for seniors. Aquarium members get in free; their guests get 20% off.
Website: Click here
Description: The Aquarium of the Pacific presents its annual kid-friendly Halloween event, which offers children an educational opportunity to discover the sea creatures than inhabit the aquarium. There will be a costume contest, face painting, magic shows, underwater pumpkin carving, and spooky stories.
Tot Halloween Party
Location: 1515 North Glenoaks Boulevard
Date: October 26
Hours: 10am to 11:30am
Admission: free
Information: 818 238-5378
Website: Click here
Description: Burbank presents this Halloween party for pre-school children at the McCambridge Recreational Centery.
Westchester Haunted Park: Halloween Kids Zone
Location: 7000 West Manchester, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Date: October 31
Hours: 3-6pm
Admission: free
Web Page: Click here
Description: Westchester Recreation Park provides games, candy, a bounce house, Â face painting, and arts and crafts, and other fun for young trick-or-treaters. There will be two costumes contests and two sets of scary stories – for ages 4 and under and for ages 5 and over.
Later in the evening, there will also be a pair of scary mazes for those over eight years old. The Haunted House (which also runs on October 25, 26, 30) is open 7-11pm. Tickets for the mazes are $5 per entry (includes both mazes).
