Home Haunt Odyssey: Los Angeles Halloween Trick-or-Treating 2017

Hollywood Gothique explores neighborhood Halloween hot spots in a quest for the best Los Angeles Trick-or-Treating.

There is much to do in Los Angeles during the long Halloween season, but on Halloween night itself, it is impossible to be in two places at once. With distance, traffic, and lines at many attractions, fright seekers must make their choices, take their chances, and hope for the best on this night that happens only once a year. I’ve seen many lists online, claiming various best neighborhoods offer the best Los Angeles Trick-or-Treating: The Venice Canals, Brentwood, Angelino Heights, Beverly Hills, etc. In previous years, I preferred to haunt Beverly Hills, because it is conveniently close to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval; for Halloween 2017, however, I did my best to survey multiple locations on October 31, in order to make a true comparison. I present those findings in increasing order of quality.

Venice Canals Trick-or-Treating

There were many children but barely any Halloween decorations, and parking was so bad that, honestly, I never managed to stop, seeing the area only from my car. Venice is fine if you simply want candy, but if you’re looking to be wowed by yard haunts or see costumes and have yours seen, then skip it.

Angelino Heights Trick-or-Treating

In past years Angelino Heights has made the news for being one of the great Los Angeles Trick-or-Treating neighborhoods, but this Halloween it was quite underwhelming. There were at least a few houses worth photographing, but most of the neighborhood was unremarkable. Parking was bad but at least possible. Candy and children were plentiful, but decorations and impressive costumes were lacking.

Beverly Hills Trick-or-Treating

Halloween 2017 proves you cannot use previous years to predict how good trick-or-treating will be. I have always found Beverly Hills to be a reliable location for seasonal decor, but this was quite an off-year, with fewer yard haunts than expected. While it wasn’t regrettable per se, it fell short of standards set by Halloweens past.

The Spadena house (a.k.a., the Beverly Hills Witch House) brought its usual large crowd, and the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval was as amazing as always, but in between the two the Halloween spirit was sparse. It says quite a lot that, on Halloween Night, the most impressive house in Beverly Hills was a premature Christmas display.

Parking was reasonable on streets that were not too close to West Hollywood. Candy and children were plentiful, and many adults wore great costumes, but if you’re just looking to see costumes and show off your own, West Hollywood can’t be beat, with it’s crowd routinely numbering half a million.

Burbank Trick-or-Treating

My attempt to visit to the Rotten Apple 907 home haunt on October 30th was thwarted by it being closed, but when I tried again on Halloween Night, I found the best neighborhood trick-or-treating yet, reminiscent of  Beverly Hills in previous years.

Parking was only difficult near Rotten Apple and the Halloween Town store, but if you hope to find this haunted area of Burbank next year, use these two attractions as your coordinates. There were more decorated houses than I could count, and in addition to the usually abundant candy and children, there were many adults with impressive costumes as well.

Los Angeles Halloween Trick-or-Treating 2017: Conclusion

Though it would be nice to be everywhere on Halloween night, I can only speak of the neighborhoods I visited; of those, Burbank was far and away the best one. There are certainly many hidden gems for Los Angeles Trick-or-Treating; Brentwood, Toluca Lake, and Sierra Madre also have reputations for hosting numerous home haunts. Unfortunately, those neighborhoods that are best advertised (like Angelino Heights) or have been reliable in the past (like Beverly Hills) may not always be the best use of your time, while a place like Burbank can surprise you. There is no way to predict which neighborhood will be best next year, but hopefully these observations will increase your odds of finding great Los Angeles Halloween Trick-or-Treating in 2018.