Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a spooky and zombie-filled Halloween tomorrow!


Pumpkins carved by yours truly

If you're looking to make some last minute plans, here are my picks:

The Cellar - Trick or EAT dinner in Fullerton. The menu includes maggots, slaughterhouse drippings, and a graveyard mud souffle. YUM! Dinner is at 6:00pm, $49.99. Make reservations ASAP!

Frankenstein in Love also in Fullerton. I just discovered this a few days ago, and I'm hoping someone will go and report back.

But really, NOTHING could be better than the Night Of The Living Dead play back-to-back with Rocky Horror at the Maverick Theater.

If you feel like battling crowds, you could do the Universal Haunt. Definitely spring for the front-of-line pass!

Or if you just want to stay in and pass out candy to the kids, you could rent Trick 'r Treat. It's visually stunning, and not overly gory, but frankly, a bit disjointed. It's fun to watch, though, and I don't think anyone will be disappointed. Nothing really compares to some of the movies from the Horror Box Set. We've watched The Bat, Carnival of Souls, Night of the Living Dead, Little Shop Of Horrors, and The Last Man on Earth and I find them superior to a lot of recent horror movies. Less gore, more scare!

Don't like any of these suggestions? Check out Alley Cat Scratch. It's the best site for Halloween-y things to do in Southern California.

Have FUN!

Halloween activities around SoCal

If you're living in Southern California, you know there's no shortage of scary Halloween activities this year. But which ones are worth sitting in traffic? Starting with the best, here are my favorites:

#1 Universal Horror Nights (Hollywood)

This haunt has the best production - what else would you expect from a movie magic company? I highly recommend doing the tram tour first. The trams will drop you off in the middle of chainsaw-wielding clowns, a hideous plane crash, and the Psycho house. The uneven terrain and lack of lighting really add to the fear. It's like a monster free-for-all. Some of the mazes are not as strong, but all have fantastic decor and will assault all of your senses. My only complaint is that they really pack people into the mazes; many scares will go to the people in front of and behind you. Check out a longer review here. Tickets range from $35-$56 depending on the day, but they also offer a front-of-the-line pass. Lines get long, so if you can afford it, it's worth it.


#2 Night of the Living Dead at Maverick Theater (Fullerton)

As Homer once said, I love legitimate theater. The only word to describe this play is AWESOME. They do a great job of staying true to the movie - everything about this play is fun and perfect. There are many genuine scares, some painfully ear-splitting screaming, and enough surprises to keep even a non-zombie fan engrossed. This year they're doing a science fiction double feature with NOTLD and Rocky Horror. I haven't had a chance to see Rocky yet, but if it's half as good as NOTLD it will be entertaining. $19 for a single ticket/$30 for the double feature. It's worth every penny.


#3 Sinister Pointe Haunt (Brea)

This year features two mazes - Silent Hill and Fear. This production lacks the glossy, high-budget of Universal, but makes up for it with passion. Both of these mazes are well thought out and work in many scares. The lines are long, so you might want to opt for a front-of-the-line pass, but the wait is worth it. They only allow a few people in at a time so you really get the feeling that you're all alone with the monsters. Having never played Silent Hill, I probably missed a lot of the story behind the decor, but I still enjoyed it. Fear is an interactive maze, meaning that you have to complete tasks to move on. There are even some areas where they will split up your group and you'll each have a different experience. I don't want to spoil any surprises, but I'll just say that I screamed louder and harder from one particular scare than I ever have in my life. The scream was followed by my pounding heart and a lot of expletives. Nice job, pigface! Do both mazes - tickets are $20/$30 for the front-of-the-line pass. Support your local haunts and buy a souvenir photo too.



#4 Haunted Hayride (Calabasas)

This was a fun, but somewhat pricey evening. I felt tickets were a little expensive for 15 minutes of scare. The decorations were great - the small carnival that they put on is straight out of a horror movie. Masked ice-scream vendors, singing disembodied heads, and purple and orange tents really add to the spooky feel of the fair. Guests are loaded on to a hay-lined trailer and towed by tractor. We found out first-hand what happens when the mental hospital patients go missing. The theme didn't always make sense, but there were some good scares and a lot of really dedicated monsters. There was a lot to see including a headless motorcyclist and a truly scary circus. After the 15-20 minute hayride you can go on a ghost story walk. We opted to hang around the carnival and watch the magic show. The blundering magician and his lovely assistant kept us entertained, but I think the show was lost on many of the people at the fair. This is the hayride's first year, and I have no doubt that next year will be even better. Hayride-only tickets are $20-25, Hayride and Ghost Story tickets are $35, VIP tickets are $65. Longer review + ghost story tour here.


#5 Knott's Halloween Haunt (Buena Park)

Knott's Scary Farm is an annual tradition for many other people in Southern California, and I think this was one of their better years, but it doesn't compare to other haunts. The Dia de los Muertos and Terror of London mazes were two of the strongest new offerings that I can recall, but the detail and quality doesn't compare to Universal. Because they, like Universal, pack people into the mazes to keep them moving, the scares don't measure up to those at Sinister Pointe. If you're a die-hard yearly visitor like me, you'll go anyway, but if you're choosing just one haunt to visit this year, opt for Universal. I love Knott's like an old friend, and I will continue to attend their haunts, but walking through mazes like the terrible Uncle Bobo's Big Top of the Bizarre is just disappointing. If you're going to go, I recommend the Pre-Scare dinner for their haunted boo-fet, and the ability to enter the park a half hour early. Tickets are $39.99-$49.99, Boo-fet tickets are $25.00

There are other haunts that we didn't get to like the Queen Mary Shipwreck in Long Beach, the Backwoods Maze in Burbank, or The Empty Grave in Anaheim.

For a fun, but not-so-scary activity, check out the review of Disneyland's Happiest Haunts tour.

Only 7 days until HALLOWEEN!

Classic horror movie box set

Just got this awesome box set from the Great Pumpkin! As some of the reviewers have said the sound and picture quality are bad in spots, but it's to be expected from movies that are 50-70 years old. For only $12, it's worth it to have some of these movies in your collection. Click the link for the full list of titles.

There's a good mix of classics like Night of the Living Dead and The House on Haunted Hill, and a few that I look forward to watching for the first time like Swamp Women and The Giant Gilla Monster.

Vic Mizzy has died

Vic Mizzy died yesterday. You might not know his name, but you know his work:




My two other favorite items from his body of work are the Green Acres song, and the score for one of my favorite movies, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.



Atta boy, Vic*!

*If you get that, you're a dork (like me)

Disneyland's Happiest Haunts Tour - Review

Mr. O'Lantern and I have been busy ravenously consuming Halloween activities - it's been great! So far we've done Knott's, Universal, the stage production of Night of the Living Dead, a Haunted Hayride, and, most recently, the Happiest Haunts Tour of Disneyland.


Oogie Boogie decides on your prize at the Haunted Mansion Holiday


If you're a Disneyland fan, I highly recommend the Happiest Haunts walking tour. It is a bit pricey at $64 per person (does not include park admission; discount available for APs), but it was SO BUSY at Disneyland on Sunday that it was worth every penny to not have to wait in lines.


Hunting for paranormal activity in California Adventure

The tour begins with your Ghostbuster-esque guide explaining his ghost hunting equipment and handing out an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) device to each person. The devices are really just headsets so that you can better hear the guides, and they don't work that well - I ended up hiding mine in my purse until the end of the tour.

The “ghost noise” hunt took us to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in California Adventure where our group filled an entire elevator. After the ride our second guide – a haunting lady - took over and a told us a few stories about the origins of Halloween. Each guide had a distinct personality and they were VERY dedicated to their characters. Taking this tour will get you on Tower of Terror, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion Holiday. I felt a little guilty about cutting in front of the long lines, but a friend said he was loving all the hate he was feeling since he paid so much for it – ha!


A Dio de los Muertos display in Frontierland

The guides kept switching off, bringing a different feel to each part of the tour. Some of it is a little corny, but it’s always fun, and NO LINES! There’s about an hour between the end of the tour and the start of the verbosely-titled "Halloween Screams: A Villainous Surprise in the Sky!". There is a special fireworks viewing area roped off for the tour guests. They call it an obstructed view since there are trees in front of the castle, but not having to camp out to catch a glimpse of the ghost dog is worth a lesser view. The fireworks were really cool – huge plumes of fire shoot from the castle, Zero hovers around in the sky, and all the best villains come out to play. The music was a little cheesy, but it is Disneyland, so cheesy fireworks music is to be expected. The castle looked lovely painted in spooky light – possibly my favorite fireworks experience yet.


Blinking necklaces identify the tour

The tour promises a haunting keepsake for each guest of the tour. Our first gifts were crazy blinking green necklaces – I think we wore them so tour members could easily be found in the crowds, but they also worked well for making little kids beg their parents for a toy. At the end of each necklace is a “Ghost Relations” key that looks like it might fit a door at the Tower of Terror Hotel. Later we were also given a note of thanks from our guide, and a marshmallow rice crispy treat in the shape of an apple (though it really looked more like a pumpkin or a tomato). No picture, because I devoured mine for breakfast the next day (a healthy choice).


My key and invitation to the fireworks

If you want to see the Disneyland and California Adventure parks decorated for Halloween, but you don’t want to spend hours in line, I recommend this tour. It is about 3 hours long with no food or restroom breaks; go prepared. Call Disneyland to book your tour. We made our reservations about two weeks in advance.