Hollywood Gothique

Van Oaks Cemetery Yard Haunt

Van Oaks Cemetery 2017 Copyright 2017 Yuki Tanaka

2024 Dates & Hours: On hiatus. The proprietor is taking a year off.

Location: 5822 Norwich Avenue, Sherman Oaks, CA 91411

Website: www.vanoakscemetery.com

Van Oaks Cemetery 2018 Dorothy tombstoneQuick Take: Van Oaks Cemetery features old-school Halloween atmosphere, with creepy tombstones, spectral lighting, atmospheric sound, and a window haunted by a silent, ethereal ghost. The low-key yard haunt gives the sombre impression of an old, venerable graveyard slowly falling into disrepair, its cracked tombstones tilting among the evenly mowed lawn as if an unseen caretaker has not quite given up the ghost, even though the glory days of this final resting place are clearly fading into a forgotten past, its dim recollection sustained only by the spirits interred within its grounds.

Van Oaks Cemetery ArchiveRead more about Van Oaks Cemetery yard display…


Van Oaks Cemetery Yard Haunt History & Information

Haunting since 2011, Van Oaks Cemetery is a nifty home haunt yard that eschews crude shocks; you will see neither blood nor chainsaw, only atmosphere. The display consists of tombstones (many adorned with the names of the fictional “Van Oaks” family), static skeletons, ominous but subtle music, and a couple of nice effects, including a phantom figure that periodically passes through a front window – pretty impressive for an amateur effort.

The Van Oaks Cemetery may be a a little too low-key for those who prefer shocks, but we enjoy the subtle shivers. A shovel embedded in earth moves by an unseen hand. An aging radio, left beside the grave marked Vera, mysteriously crackles to life, playing songs from the lifetime of the grave’s occupant, such as 1939’s “Well Meet Again” (made famous, appropriately enough, by Vera Lynn). Don’t let any of this distract you from the haunted window – one of the best spectral manifestations you will see at any Halloween attraction, amateur or professional.


Van Oaks Cemetery Yard Haunt: Nearby Haunts

The neighborhoods around Van Oaks Cemetery are prime hunting grounds for Halloween fans. Many of the side streets that cross Hatteras, running parallel to Norwich Avenue, have decorated houses, especially Willis Avenue between Hatteras and Collins. One of the most visible home haunts is two blocks west of Norwich, on the corner of Hatteras Street, at 5758 Burnet Avenue; after visiting Van Oaks Cemetery, it is worth swinging by this one, which features a large display of static props on the yard and in front of the house (photos here). Slightly farther away and to the east, on Saloma Avenue north of Martha Street, is the Spooky Saloma Block Party, a series of home haunts, also worth checking out. The Spooky Saloma yard haunts are listed here.


Van Oaks Cemetery Yard Haunt Photo Gallery