Halloween Yard Haunt Odyssey 2022: San Fernando Valley
Welcome to the first installment of Hollywood Gothique’s 2022 Halloween Yard Haunt Odyssey, in which we visit San Fernando Valley Yard Haunts. Since the Yard Haunt Odyssey is an annual feature dating back to 2005, and since many of haunted homes have been previously covered, we are trying something different this October: emphasizing the new.
By “new,” we don’t necessarily mean debut haunts. We also mean returning haunts with new themes, noteworthy additions, and/or major changes, along with haunts that are “new” to us simply because we have not previously visited them. In addition, we will throw in some old favorites if we get new coverage, such as photos of details previously overlooked or simply overshadowed by other elements.
With all of that in mind, please scroll down to view images and information you hopefully have not seen before. And if you are looking for a more comprehensive list of yard haunts in and around Los Angeles, check out our page devoted to Halloween Home Haunts.
Note: This post has been updated thrice. The first update added entries for yard haunts in Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys, including Spooky Hollows, Creepi Tiki, Mr Yorkie Lover Fitness Entertainment, and Hatteras Halloween House. The second update added entries for Carnevil in North Hollywood and Haunted Harvest and Waltwood Manor in Toluca Lake. The third update added entries for the Beetlejuice Bio-Exoricst Show and Valley Vista Holliday House’s Ghostbusters Tribute. The original post contained information about Bel Aire Manor, Holiday Fantasies Come to Life, the Buena Vista Haunt, and Lilley Hall.
2022 San Fernando Valley Yard Haunts: Sherman Oaks & Van Nuys
Our tour through Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys encompasses some new home haunts, an old favorite putting on a new show, another that has been radically revised since last we visited, and a few we had never seen before.
Beetlejuice: The Bio-Exorcism Show
15135 Burbank Boulevard, Van Nuys
Open through November 6, 7-10:15pm
This apartment building balcony has apparently been haunted for fifteen years. It makes clever use of limited space. An eye-catching sign announces the show. The balcony wall is decorated with a few gravestones (from both Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas). And a trio of mechanical skulls lip-synch like background singers while Beetlejuice himself appears and disappears, dancing to a couple tunes from the film. Though billed as a show running every hour, what we saw looked like a digital projection looped to run every few minutes; perhaps there was something more on Halloween Night? In any case, this looks really good, and it is fun to see a home haunt looming over a major boulevard instead of tucked away on some quiet residential avenue.
Creepi Tiki
6551 Orion Avenue, Van Nuys
Through Halloween Night, 6-10pm
This new yard haunt features of modest display of tiki idols, Jack O’ Lanterns, and a giant skeleton, plus a really cool sign on the fence out front. It’s located a few minutes east of Spooky Hollows on the opposite side of the 405 Freeway, so you can give it a look-see after escaping from the Cult of Sticky.
The Hatteras Halloween House
5758 Burnet Avenue, Sherman Oaks
Through Halloween Night, round the clock
Back in 2017, this was a cool but conventional display of ghosts and gravestones; since then it has grown into something very impressive, even spectacular, with more elaborate props and animatronics that give a much bigger sense of scale. The porch and the area to the right of the house have been transformed into nightmarish version of Area 51: a flying saucer rests in the driveway; a malevolent alien leers at a victim in a jeep; and enormous giants with glowing eyes loom over containment tubes holding captured specimens.
The yard to the left segues into more traditional Halloween decor, including a giant, talking witch and a dragon with flapping wings and glowing mouth. The large scale figures are intimidating, and the dragon is a thing of beauty. The spacious yard seems filled to the brim, its decorations backed by strings of lights and artificial candles that dazzle the eye with color.
Mr Yorkie Lover Fitness Entertainment
5138 Fulton Avenue, Van Nuys
October 29, 31, 6pm-midnight
Farther east than the Van Nuys yard haunts listed above, this oddly named display is actually geographically closer to the Sherman Oaks haunts listed below (something to keep in mind if you’re planning a yard haunt odyssey of your own). Now in its third year, Mr Yorkie Lover Fitness Entertainment feels huge. It has a giant clown, a giant mummy, a giant ghost, a giant werewolf, giant spiders, and two giant skeletons – so many giants that you can view the house from across the street and still feel overwhelmed. Stepping closer reveals some life-sized figures, such as Michael Myers sitting on the chair from Game of Thrones – strategically placed on the roof so that he is not dwarfed by his oversized companions.
The figures are mostly static, but there are some faceless characters swinging from a large tree in the yard, and ripping light gives everything a glimmer of movement. This one is definitely worth a look.
Spooky Hollows: The Cult of Mr. Sticky
16418 Gilmore Street, Van Nuys/Lake Balboa, CA 91406
Open through Halloween Night, 7-10pm
facebook.com/SpookyHollows
Spooky Hollows offers another chapter in the legend of Mr. Sticky, the home haunt’s resident cryptid. In 2020, when Spooky Hollows converted from a walkthrough to a show in response to the Covid-19 lockdown, Mr. Sticky’s origins were revealed. This Halloween, “The Cult of Mr. Sticky,” explains that rumors of the strange creature’s existence have attracted a following of human worshippers. This is basically an extension of the 2020 show, reusing some of the same audio and digital projections. But that’s fine because Mr. Sticky is cool, and the story captures the aura of an urban legend – of sinister rumors and fragments of facts that create a belief among cryptozoologists. In “The Cult of Mr. Sticky,” however, that belief is not unfounded, as the titular characters makes a surprise jump-scare appearance at the end, proving his existence to the skeptics on the sidewalk!
Note: There is disagreement between Google Maps and the Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. Project about whether Spooky Hollows’ address lies in Van Nuys or Lake Balboa. We include the Lake Balboa designation as a reminder that Spooky Hollows is west of the San Diego Freeway, somewhat removed from other Van Nuys home haunts and closer to others in Lake Balboa.
Spooky Saloma
5720 Saloma Avenue, Van Nuys
Spooky Saloma is a batch of houses on the west side of Saloma, just north of Marth Street, that earned a reputation for scaring neighborhood trick-or-treaters. We saw no decorations on these houses during our recent drive-by, but half a block north, on the east side of the street, we ran across this unlisted home haunt, loaded with inflatables. Though officially in Van Nuys, it is only a few blocks from Hatteras Halloween House and Van Oaks Cemetery, making it a good addition to a Sherman Oaks haunt itinerary.
Valley Vista Holiday House presents Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Open through November 6, 7-11pm weekdays, till 1am weekends
14611 Valley Vista Blvd, Sherman Oaks
facebook.com/valleyvistaholidayhouse
Valley Vista Holliday House remains consistent from one Halloween to the next: gravestones and skulls decorate the sidewalk and the roof, and a pair of ghosts float in the trees. This static display serve as a setting for a new theme each season. Halloween 2022 offers a tribute to Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It’s really more Ghostbusters, with a clip from the 1984 film and a full-size Stay Puft Marshmallow Man looming above the rooftop; the only visible nod to the 2021 reboot is the Mini Marshmallow Men on front gate.
This theme is really perfect for the setting. The distinguishing feature of Valley Vista Holliday House is that the building, set well back from the front gate, towers high above the sidewalk. So putting Gozer, Zul, and the Ghostbusters on the roof capture the feel of the final confrontation in the original film atop mad architect Ivo Shandor’s skyscraper.
Van Oaks Cemetery
5822 Norwich Avenue, Sherman Oaks
Through Halloween Night, 7-10:30pm
A one-minute drive from Hatteras Halloween House is the venerable Van Oaks Cemetery. We did not notice much new this year, but we like it a lot, so here are some photos.
2022 San Fernando Valley Yard Haunts: Burbank
We begin this section with a quartet of yard Burbank haunts previously unknown to us, located east of the 5 freeway, not far from where city streets give way to hilly, rural territory around the Starlight Bowl (home of Burbank Haunted Adventure). Located within a two blocks of each other, these four displays vary in size and theme, but taken together they are worth the trip.
Bel Aire Manor: Voodoo Swamp
814 North Bel Aire Drive, Burbank
Open through October 31, 6pm-midnightÂ
Though the name Bel Aire Manor conjures images of high-class opulence, the Voodoo Swamp theme is anything but. Clever placement of lights, props, and settings transforms the lovely house into a spooky backwater, with two sections: the yard is loaded with posed skeletons; the driveway features a “bayou” – with alligator! – made of green lights for “water” surrounded by a ring of stones. Behind this a shack with a voodoo doll out front, where a silent houngan waits to reveal your future or possibly inflict a curse.
The figures are all static, but the scene is enlivened by music, and projected footage of skeletons playing jazz suggests a Louisiana setting. Even without much happening, Bel Aire Mansion’s Voodoo Swamp is quite an eyeful of Halloween treats.
Next door to Bel Aire Manor is….
Trick or Treat
816 North Bel Aire Drive, Burbank
Right next door to Bel Aire Mansion is this yard display, which features a large, inflatable entrance at sidewalk level, leading to the steps that go up to the house. Cobwebs drape the foliage, and orange lights dangle from the roof. Trick or treaters who dare to ascend the steps on Halloween Night will pass friendly ghosts as they approach a few inflatable figures on the porch, including the Pumpkin King himself, Jack Skellington.
This one is not elaborate enough to warrant a trip for its own sake, but it is worth a look while you’re in the neighborhood to see the Voodoo Swamp.
Across the street from Trick Or Treat and Bel Aire Manor is…
Dead and Breakfast Inn
815 North Bel Aire, Drive Burbank
Across the street from Voodoo Swamp and Trick or Treat is this modest yard display, dominated by one inflatable figure of a pumpkin-headed giant with devil horns. What’s most amusing about this yard display is its mixed messages. A skeleton out front has its arm draped around a welcome sign, but the Dead and Breakfast Inn sign clearly says “No Vacancy.” And even if there were room available, what guest would check in with that intimidating devil lurking outside?
A couple blocks down the street from these three yard haunts is…
God Save the Queen
907 North North Bel Air Drive
A block away from the previous trio, God Save the Queen is a great example how a clever concept can yield great results even with the most simple execution. Basically, this is a Halloween spoof of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, consisting almost entirely of static skeletons, holding British flags and dressed in costumes as Royal Guards or the Royal Family.
What makes it work is the home itself, which is imposing enough to pass for a royal mansion, especially when draped in flags and a banner proclaiming, “Long Live the Queen.” It is so big and bright that you literally cannot miss if even if you are completely unaware of its existence. It’s definitely worth a stop as you drive to the Voodoo Swamp down the street.
The Buena Vista Haunt (formerly Spooky Pumpkin Patch)
2038 N Buena Vista Street, Burbank
Open through October 31
We visited this yard display last in the season last year, when it was calling itself Spooky Pumpkin Patch, which misleadingly made it sound like a display of Jack O’Lanterns, even though it included much more than that: gravestones, a boiling cauldron, mannequins, and various skeletons (one giant, one burned to a crisp). Rebranded this season as The Buena Vista Haunt, the display offers one very notable addition: a giant animatronic werewolf with glowing eyes, which howls at the moon from time to time. It’s pretty awesome, and being situated in front of the house not far from the front door, it will probably scare off a few trick-or-treaters on Halloween Night.
We encountered one other sight we missed last year: the haunt owner prowling the yard, dressed as Michael Meyers. He snuck up on unwary visitors peering at their phones while while stretching over the fence to take photographs, and he emerged onto the sidewalk to beckon cars that slowed down to take a look at the decorations. Buena Vista Haunt is listed as a yard display, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this live element midway through October.
With two other yard haunts within a five-minute drive (Reaper’s House at 2220 N. Niagara Street and Burbank Self Storage’s Haunted Storage Yard at 3203 N. San Fernando Blvd, Burbank) this neighborhood yard haunt is definitely worth checking out.
Holiday Fantasies Come to Life: Wizard of OzÂ
1505 N. Valley Street, Burbank
facebook.com/holidayfantasies
Open through November 2, 6-11pm
Holiday Fantasies Comes to Life always offers a spectacular Halloween presentation, and this year is no different. Well, it is a little different: instead of basing their display on something by Disney (Pirates of the Caribbean) or Dreamworks (Shrek), they have reached all the back to the the 1939 fantasy classic, The Wizard of Oz, and the results are stunning. The familiar castle facade is now bathed in green light and adorned with glittering surfaces to suggest the Emerald City of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West and her evil minions are posed by the path to the front door, near a screen where the movie is projected. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion wait near a sign warning them to turn back. Trick-or-treaters who wander up the driveway will encounter a spring-loaded spider. And Dorothy stands before an animatronic talking tree.
As usual, Holiday Fantasies pulls off the miraculous trick of apparently cramming every square foot of their front yard with decorations, props, and costumed figures, without making the display feel overcrowded. Everything is in its place and arranged to be clearly visible to visitors on the sidewalk. One small exception is a pair of talking trees which are angled so that they are looking in another direction when you get a clear view of them, and when you move to see them head-on, they are obscured by other decorations. Not that we’re complaining! The Wizard of Oz display is too good for any little nitpick to diminish its appeal.
2022 San Fernando Valley Yard Haunts: Toluca Lake & NoHo
Of the yard haunts below, three are new to us. The other two have appeared in previous editions of our annual Halloween Yard Haunt Odyssey, but we include them here because they have added or we have captured new details.
Carnevil
Morrison Street in North Hollywood
(between Bellingham & Laurel Grove)
Tucked inauspiciously between Bellingham and Laurel Grove on Morrison Street in North Hollywood, Carnevil is a surprisingly elaborate display that has received little fanfare: no web presence or social media, no listing in SoCal Haunts. There are dozens of figures: some standing, some sitting on the roof, some swinging overhead, some on a merry-go-round, and one pinned to a knife-throwing act’s spinning wheel. They all represent the “carnevil” theme – not just killer clowns but also a carnival barker offering candy while holding a menacing mallet behind his back. The haunt was largely shut down by the time we first encountered it on November 1 (the display was still in place, but the lights and sounds were off). From what we have heard it is quite a sight when it is up and running, with lights, sounds, and motion.
Haunted Harvest
4240 Navajo Street, Toluca Lake
Still open as of November 1
We mentioned this impressive yard display in our 2020 Haunt Odyssey to Toluca Lake even though we did not see it in person. Runner up for Best in Show in the local home decorating contest that year, Haunted Harvest was good then, and it has bloomed into something even better now; in fact, it is the most lavish yard haunt we have seen in the neighborhood. There are many yard displays stuffed full of sinister mannequins, but often they are best appreciated from a distance, where the scale of the presentation makes a stronger impression. Unlike those, Haunted Harvest gets better as you get closer, because everything on display holds up to close scrutiny: a scarecrow with a jovial Jack O’ Lantern for a head, a grizzled caretaker with skin stretched back revealing his cigar-chomping teeth in a grim rictus, a pair of ghastly trick-or-treaters whose pumpkin-head smiles reveal fierce and frightening teeth.
We have seen plenty of oversized inflatable decorations this Halloween, but Haunted Harvest put a single Jack O’ Lantern to exceptionally good use. The gigantic orange oval looked like a planet whose gravitational pull held the other decorations in orbit while acting as a central focal point that lent size and scope to the presentation. This is probably our favorite static display of the season; even without mechanical or digital trickery, this harvest offers a bounty of Halloween treats.
Just around the corner at 4217 Navajo Street Waltwood Manor made a good visual impression with its combination of gravestones, digitally projected ghosts, and spooky figures in the windows (including Jack and Sally), all of it topped by the Grim Reaper staring down on the sidewalk from the rooftop high above. Although listed as open through November 1, it was almost entirely shut down by the time we first encountered it that night. It might not be worth a special trip all on its own, but it would make a good second feature to Haunted Harvest next year.
Lilley Hall
10104 Moorpark Street, Toluca Lake
instagram.com/lilley_hall_toluca_lake
Open Nightly
We have visited Lilley Hall a few times in the past. The sheer number of illuminated plastic Jack O’ Lanterns, carefully arranged in front of the Tudor Revival structure, creates cumulative impact so big that it is wonderful to behold from across the street. Perhaps this has fooled us into not examining individual decorations – we thought of the display as a mosaic painting that comes into focus best when seen from afar. We rectified that mistake this year, getting in for a closer view that revealed some interesting details we had previously overlooked.
Located in Toluca Lake, which presents an annual Halloween home decorating contest, Lilley Hall is within easy reach of at least a dozen other yard displays, including Rock and Roll Will Never Die at 4428 Mariota Avenue and Rotting Hill Cemetery at 4848 Sancola Avenue. You can find more on our page devoted to Toluca Lake Trick or Treating.
Nightmare on Camarillo
10559 Camarillo Street, North Hollywood/Toluca Lake
We have designated this unidentified yard display as “Nightmare on Camarillo” for obvious reasons. It was open on November third when we passed on our way to Rotting Hill Cemetery, which resides just a few blocks east at 4848 Sancola Avenue. We do not know whether Nightmare on Camarillo will remain up through the weekend, but since Rotting Hill officially runs until November 7, you might as well drive by and see for yourself. Both haunts reside in North Hollywood according to Google Maps, but the LA Times mapping project places them in Toluca Lake, which we find useful because it indicates their proximity to the many decorated houses in that neighborhood.
Scary Funny and Enjoyable
302 Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood
Open through November 4
This economical display offers a two-for-one deal. The front yard of the corner house is filled with inflatable Halloween figures; the small space to the right of the driveway features Day of the Dead decorations. The balloons are mostly cute and not too intimidating, but when we attended it looked as if one or two items were not fully installed, so maybe there will be a scare or two on Halloween Night.
Though officially located in North Hollywood, this Burbank-adjacent haunt is only a few minutes away from Holiday Fantasies Come to Life and not much farther from Rotten Apple 907. With an itinerary carefully arranged on your GPS or Google Maps app, you can swing by this haunt on the way to other destinations.
San Fernando Valley Yard Haunts Halloween 2022 Photo Gallery
You can find many more San Fernando Valley yard haunts on the SoCalHaunts list.