San Gabriel Valley Halloween Haunt Odyssey: New Recommendations for 2025 (updated with additional entries)
Our annual Halloween Haunt Odyssey explores previously overlooked haunts in San Gabriel Valley and Pomona Valley: Baldwin Park Teen Center Haunted House, Reason4Season’s The Carnevil, Grimhurst Haunt, and winners of a haunted house decorating contest in Covina. Also, a visit to Macdevitt Manor’s Harvest Slaughter in West Covina.
Update: This article originally posted on October 31. Since then, we have added entries on yard haunts visited after Halloween Night: Haunt223 in Monrovia, Martin Cemetery in Pomona, Regnum Silenti in Diamond Bar, and Maniac Mansion in Covina. Since these attractions are now closed, the new entries are written in past tense.
This Halloween, circumstances were conducive for an in-depth exploration of non-professional haunts in San Gabriel Valley: elaborate yard displays, scary walkthroughs, and even creepy encounters in a community center. Most of these are new entries for us, ones we have not previously had the opportunity to visit or review. Hopefully, this will open your eyes to new haunt opportunities worth visiting, including some you will not find listed elsewhere.
Although amateur in the best sense of the word (done for love rather than money), many of these have a professional sheen thanks to their elaborate mechanical and lighting effects, providing a healthy supply of affordable Halloween entertainment – which is to say that, unless otherwise specified, all are free.
Read on to learn all the spooky details…
2025 San Gabriel Valley Yard Haunt Recommendations: Monrovia
This Halloween we visited only one home haunt in the Monrovia area, but it was one of the best…
Haunt223 (paid home haunt walkthrough)
October 17, 18, 24-26, 31, November 1, 7-10pm
223 W. El Sur Street, Monrovia
Review added on November 5.
Haunt 223 in Monrovia was good in 2024, but that was nothing compared to this Halloween, which was absolutely great, thanks to a big upgrade and a new theme, Ironshade Penitentiary. Not only was this probably the best amateur walkthrough we visited in 2025; it was better than many of the pro haunts as well. The closest point of comparison is Dark Harbor‘s similarly prison-themed Breakout: Maximum Security, which was fun but stretched a bit thin with blinding fog and strobe lights obscuring the lack of character confrontations.
Ironshade Penitentiary was exactly the opposite – packing every square foot with multiple characters, lurking in corridors, escaping from behind bars, leaping out of shadows, and generally inflicting major pandemonium. The fact that many of these were kids only added to the horror; their manic youthful enthusiasm (enhanced with shrill whistles) was guaranteed to fray nerves.
After being menaced by monsters lurking on the foggy neighborhood street, your trip through the prison began with the Warden identifying you as a “dead man walking” and sending you to be executed. However, so many homicidal inmates had escaped their cells that death seemed likely to strike long before you reached the electric chair.
In terms of production values, Haunt 223: Ironshade Penitentiary was largely low-tech, deliberately avoiding the animatronic figures too often used to fill gaps where live actors should be. Populating the haunt with humans yielded an unremittingly tense three-minute experience loaded with more scares than haunts lasting twice as long. Mark this one on your calendars as a must-see next year.
Ironshade Penitentiary Photos
2025 San Gabriel Yard Haunt Recommendations: Pomona & Diamond Bar
Our 2025 San Gabriel Valley Halloween Haunt Odyssey included a brief detour into the Pomona Valley, where we visited two home haunts for the first time, a yard display and a walkthrough.
Martin Cemetery (walkthrough)
October 18, 24, 25, 31 & November 1, 7-10pm
2657 Kellogg Park Drive, Pomona
First Time Visit
Tucked in an unassuming Pomona neighborhood, Martin Cemetery was a pleasant surprise. At a glance it resembles a cemetery yard display, but the facade in the background is an entrance to a walkthrough filled with a variety of creepy scenes. The graveyard theme is most clearly represented outside. The interior squeezes in numerous other elements (spiders, clowns, body parts dangling from chains), but you can think of it all as a funeral home gone to hell; there’s even a furnace that can be taken as a crematorium near the end. The cast was reduced to two on the night after Halloween, but the husband-and-wife team running the haunt worked overtime to insure we had a scary good time.
Martin Cemetery is a good example of the sometimes surprisingly high quality of this season’s home haunts, which frequently punch above their apparent weight. The exterior looked good but not so spectacular that you knew it would be an instant winner. Inside, it was nicely decorated but not loaded the expensive special effects and animatronics that screamed: pro-level! Instead, the enthusiasm and dedication of its haunters delivered tricks and treats on par with more lavish, ticketed attractions, fully justifying the detour into Pomona.
Martin Cemetery Photos
Regnum Silenti: the Forsaken Grave (yard display)
October 11 to November 1, 6-10pm
234 Benecia Road, Diamond Bar
First Time Visit
Regnum Silenti: The Forsaken Grave offered a low-key, very moody yard display bathed in eerie blue light. It was pretty much static except for some flickering candlelight and a few blinking eyeballs: two in a skeletal widow poised out front and one in a book floating over a gravestone – a nice touch! We imagine trick-or-treaters were pretty spooked by this one on Halloween Night. If the owner would turn this into a 24-hour immersive coffee bar, we’d be there every night.
The Forsaken Grave Photos
2025 San Gabriel Valley Yard Haunt Recommendations: Baldwin Park
This Halloween, we paid first-time visits to a pair of haunts in Baldwin Park, which make a nice double-bill if you can organize your schedule to reach both of them on Halloween Night.
Baldwin Park Teen Center Haunted House (walkthrough)
October 29-31, 6-9pm
15010 Badillo Street, Baldwin Park
First Time Visit
We typically refer to our annual rundown of non-professional efforts as the “Halloween Home Haunt Odyssey” or “Halloween Yard Haunt Odyssey” because yard displays and home haunts make up the majority of the contents. However, there are other non-profit haunts, including local fundraisers and/or community-based events.
It’s been awhile since we’ve been to one of these community center haunts (the last one was Westchester Park of Pain), and Burbank Teen Center Haunted House reminds us of how fun they can be. This attraction exists to serve its community, providing enough scares to satisfy adults but not too many too traumatize youngsters. As expected, it’s put together on a limited budget, but it makes up for that with a high density of enthusiastic scare-actors lurking around nearly every corner. In the shadows, the costumes and masks are convincing, and the makeup for Pennywise is great. We walked through this one twice, and judging from the resounding screams, the local patrons were obviously loving it.
If you’re looking for a scary walkthrough buoyed by enthusiastic performers, this is it.
Burbank Teen Center Haunted House Photos
Reason4season: The Carnevil (walkthrough)
October 13-November 2, 6-10pm
3432 Baldwin Park Boulevard, Baldwin Park
First Time Visit
Reason4Season’s Carnevil stretches the definition of “walkthrough,” but visitors probably won’t mind too much. This is essential a display of animatronic clowns filling a fairly large front yard, with a backdrop and fencing to suggest a circus tent. As you walk through the yard, the motion-activated characters come to life – moving, speaking, and menacing. Some are placed so close together that their voices overlap, creating a crazy clown cacophony. There is enough space so that kids can avoid getting too close if they are easily scared, and there are no live actors (at least not when we attended).
This is definitely worth visiting if you love clowns or happen to be in the area for the Burbank Teen Center Haunted House.
Carnevil Photos
2025 San Gabriel Valley Yard Haunt Recommendations: West Covina
While seeking new (at least to us) haunts, we veered into West Covina to visit an old favorite…
Macdevitt Manor Harvest Slaughter (paid walkthrough)
October 17-19, 24-26, 31. 7-10pm
$10 admission
2436 W Macdevitt Street, West Covina
Macdevitt Manor always does a good job, and this season’s Harvest Slaughter is no exception. The exterior display, suggesting a haunted farm overrun by cornstalks and ivy, sets the tone as you approach the admission line, where monsters relieve the tedium of waiting by inflicting scares. The fairly short walkthrough (a tad under four minutes) relies more on actors and atmosphere than fancy effects, but that’s fine with us because we love the spooky vibe of scarecrows run amok in a cornfield, reminding us of the late lamented Haunted Vineyard.
Macdevitt Manor charges admission, which separates it from most other home haunt walkthroughs (which, at most, typically ask for donations to defray costs). The $10 price tag is not outrageous compared to the quality (which is at least as good and probably better than that of most standalone pro haunts from decades past). Still, it’s something to consider if you’re planning a low-budget Halloween Night’s entertainment.
Harvest Slaughter Photos
2025 San Gabriel Valley Yard Haunt Recommendations: Covina
We swung through Covina seeking one yard display in particular, but that turned out to be the head of a snake winding its way through the city, leading us to several others. This was the Spooky Town Halloween House Decorating Contest, sponsored by the city. It’s a bit like the annual contest for decorated homes in Toluca Lake, but the contestants are far more widely spread out, and there are not categories, only generic “winners.” The map provided by the city is scarce on details, providing only addresses, not even names for the haunts, let alone dates and hours of operation. Nevertheless, their map contains yard displays not found on the SoCal Haunt List.
Grimhurst Haunt (yard display)
October 27-31, 7-10pm
443 N Rimhurst Avenue, Covina
First Time Visit!
Grimhurst Haunt is an eye-catching yard display loaded with mechanical props. We have seen bigger yards with more in them, but this one equals or surpasses their impact. The various figures and decorations are grouped into little tableaus, which makes them seem organized instead of overcrowded. Also nice: the moving figures are frequently triggered, so you can see every piece of action while moving along the sidewalk, instead of waiting around for endless minutes. The house serves as a wonderful backdrop to all of this, festooned with huge spiderwebs bathed in purple light, while a pair of glowing ghosts peer out the front window.
Overall, this one exudes a cheerfully spooky Halloween spirit with a touch of genuine creepiness: Look closely at the pile of pumpkins on the left side of the yard. Crouched among them is what at first appears to be a human skeleton on its hands and knees. A closer look, however, suggests a small animal skeleton topped with a human skull. Weird!
Grimhurst Photos
Monsters & Aliens Haunt (yard display)
3538 N San Joaquin Road, Covina
Unnamed so far as we know, this yard display features a mashup of monsters and aliens, so were calling it Monsters & Aliens until we hear different. Frankenstein rubs shoulders with Nosferatu. A Leprechaun leers out front. Tiffany and Chuck guard the walkway. A sinister pirate lurks near the garage. And flying saucers float over the roof. Many of these are motion-activated, so you can hear them growl, grumble, screech, and even speak!
Monsters & Aliens Photos
Monster Farm (yard display)
3312 N San Joaquin Road, Covina
The only other Spooky Town contest winner with a name (so far as we know), Murder Farm is a low-key yard display that relies on eerie purple lighting to imbue its props and decorations with menace. There is little in the way of special effects – no motion-activated monsters springing to life – just a heavy later of atmosphere, which will probably intimidate young trick-or-treaters on Halloween Night.
Murder Farm Photos
Disney Meets Leatherface (yard display)
544 Dover Road, Covina
No, that’s not its real name (if it even has one). We’re just calling it “Disney Meets Leatherface” because this yard display is an even weird mashup than “Monsters & Aliens,” juxtaposing not only Freddy Kruger, The Grim Reaper, and a werewolf but also Jack Skelington, Mickey Mouse, and Leatherface. The latter three are placed side-by-side in the front yard, leading us to hope that the homeowner is making a joke about Disney gobbling up every famous franchise in existence. Considering the death tolls in Star Wars and the Marvel Universe, is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre really much of a stretch?
Thematically, it’s a jumbled mess, but it is fun seeing all these characters hanging out in the same yard. The display is mostly static, but Leatherface, The Grim Reaper, and the werewolf occasionally spring to life.
Camping (yard display)
807 N Armel Drive, Covina
Our final stop in the Spooky Town decorating contest (we missed one or two) is this static display of skeletons on a camping trip. One is four-wheeling. Others are relaxing in chairs. Another is by the tent, ready to turn in for the night. Behind the picnic table, a big inflatable ghost seems to be in charge of the barbecue. Even the family dog is represented. No mechanical effects, fog, music, or sounds – just a funny idea, good for a chuckle.
Maniac Mansion presents Cirque del Sol (walkthrough)
October 31 & November 1, 6:30-10pm
476 South Rancho Del Sol Drive, Covina
The last stop on the Covina leg of our San Gabriel Valley Halloween Haunt Odyssey was not a contestant in the Spooky Town Halloween House Decorating Contest, but it surely would have won had it entered. Unfortunately, per its usual custom, Maniac Mansion: Cirque del Sol was open only two nights, making it practically impossible to visit and report on it before it closed. However, its quality remains consistent from year to year, so if you missed it this Halloween, mark your October calendar for 2026.
For the record, the “Maniac Mansion” half of its name was a bit of a misnomer: though it may have been manic, it did not present as a mansion, haunted or otherwise (though there was a graveyard section tucked off to one side). The actual theme was more accurately represented by the second half of its name, “Cirque del Sol.”
Maniac Mansion billed itself as a “walkthrough,” and there was an element of that, but mostly it was a circus-themed yard display achieved on a huge scale, with multiple mechanical figures, a Kong-sized clown, live actors roaming the neighborhood sidewalk, and a spinning Ferris Wheel filled with skeletons, goblins, and leprechauns. Although the presentation was not much changed from when we first visited two years ago, the extensive display contained so much that it is easy to notice things previously overlooked.
The walkthrough element consisted of approaching the house entrance via the driveway, where your hosts, a pair of witches, handed out candy on Halloween Night. Exiting to the left took you past some caged dragon skeletons and a couple of animatronic clowns, then into a vertigo tunnel. This deposited you into what looked like a shady back alley beside the circus, where a spring-loaded spider or raccoon might inflict a jump scare on your way back to the sidewalk. After that, you were at the mercy of live clowns prowling for victims.
Maniac Mansion is not the scariest yard haunt we visited, but when you stand far enough out in the street to take the whole thing in visually, it is truly impressive.
Cirque del Sol Photos
2025 San Gabriel Valley Yard Haunt Recommendations: San Gabriel
While visiting San Gabriel Valley, how would we pass up the City of San Gabriel?
Kraken Cove: The Battle for Vinland Continues
1030 Manley Drive, San Gabriel
October 16-31, 6-10pm
Kraken Cove is farther west than our other recommendations, but it makes a nice stopping point if you are on your own Halloween Haunt Odyssey heading from San Gabriel Valley to Pasadena or Burbank (or vice versa if you are travelling in the opposite direction). It’s a static display but a very cool one, with a ship of pirate skeletons fending off Norse invaders. An occasional clap of cannon fire livens things up, but mostly this is just tasty Halloween eye candy.
Battle for Vinland Photos
That completes our 2025 San Gabriel Valley Halloween Home Haunt Odyssey. As often is the case, after weeks of pro haunts – some great, some disappointing – it’s a genuine pleasure to explore the numerous neighborhood efforts made for lover rather than money. Not everyone was a must-see masterpiece, but the cumulative cost-benefit ratio (basically a little gasoline money in exchange for a full evening’s worth of fun at various locations) is off the charts. Our thanks to all the haunters in San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys who made this Halloween so much fun!
To find more Halloween yard haunts, visit the SoCal Haunt List.
