As a teenager, growing up in Southern California, there was always something to do. During the spring, I had an array of local church and park festivals to keep me busy. My summers were spent hanging out at the beach and the winters brought hours of gazing at the beautifully decorated neighborhoods. But my favorite season was Halloween because of Knott’s Scary Farm. Which at the time was the scariest haunted house in Los Angeles.
From age 13 to 21, I never missed attending Knott’s annually Halloween haunt. Once I conceived our first child, Matt and I took a break from going to the event and we spent our Halloween’s attending churches’ Harvest Festival.
Photo credit: On the Scene with Mrs Kathy King (at Los Angeles Haunted Hayride)
However, the boys are now teenagers and they want to continue our families love for hunted houses. The first year we went to Knott’s Scary Farm as a family and almost every maze scared their little socks off. However, like most teens, the second year they wanted to explore some of the other haunted attractions in the area. Which forced us to break our normal routine and venture out to discover all the amazing new attraction now available.
This year, I dedicated time researching all the haunted houses in my area to find the scariest haunt house in Los Angeles. Needless to say, the beginning of October was very busy for me. I attended several special media events in order to experience each attraction first hand.
Below is a list of the events I attended with a brief review of each location. In addition, since there are so many to choose from each one was given a score ranging from 1 to 5. 1 meaning the best in the category and 5 meaning there needs to be improvement . The categories are as follows originality , scare factory and family friendly.
The Queen Mary Dark Harbor (Long Beach, California)
I’ve lived in the area my entire life and have always been too afraid to go to this event. Growing up, I’ve heard chilling ghost stories from several people. What’s more, Matt’s experienced the ghost of little Jackie (aka scary mary), first hand. But of course my parents told me it’s was all just an urban legend. The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor takes you into the depths of its’ rich, haunted history to frighten you to the core! Enter the real haunted history of The Queen Mary and encounter an unforgettable, authentically frightening experience.
Originality: {#3} The Queen Mary’s ship is truly haunted! Furthermore, the mazes are enriched with an historical backdrop which makes it one of the scariest haunted houses in Los Angeles. My favorite maze was B340 a schizophrenic journey of Samuel the Savage’s decent into insanity. Where you go through his mind literally and figuratively, ultimately concluding where his life was ended through a mirage of B340s. However, I couldn’t build up enough courage to go into their new attraction “The Encounters Experience” . Guests are paired with their very own ghost hunting tour guide to embark into the bows of the ship for a private ghost-hunting expedition.
Family friendly: {#2} This event is a perfect haunted attraction for the entire family to enjoy. The Queen Mary Dark Harbor offers an array of entertainment to keep mom and dad busy as the kids venture off into the numerous mazes. In addition, the snack booths, entertainment and mazes are all conveniently surrounded by ample rest areas. Furthermore, for an additional fee you can reserve a cozy private cabana’s located in the Monster Midway. What I liked most about this service was having an area where I could relax in between activities. Each private circus tent includes bottle service, your able to order food and from the locate you have a great view of the new fire show.
Cost: {#3} The Queen Mary Dark Harbor offers ticket prices starting at just $20 online, with Fast Fright, VIP Passes and lodging packages also available.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: TICKET PRICES | SITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |INSTAGRAM
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride (Los Angeles, California)
During the month of October, I’ve always watch Travel Channel’s collection of Halloween episodes. One year, I saw an episode where they featured a haunted hayride located in Pennsylvania that looked so incredible. All I could do was imagine the suspense and anticipation I would experience at every turn, as I joined my friends on a late night hayride. Lucky for me, the thrills and chills of a haunted hayride is nestled in Old Zoo at Griffith Parks.
The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride takes you to the planet’s deepest and most legendary rift,” The Underworld”. It’s larger than life portrayals of the seven deadly sins and their consequences “echo from the rift”. Come out to play, if you dare, in one of the most paranormally active sites in all of California.
Originality: {#2} Celebrating its sixth season, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride signature attraction is an actually hayride that takes you a journey that’s is terrifying, engaging and beyond belief. What’s more, it’s the ONLY HAYRIDE in Southern California. As I traveled through the maze each scene felt like a theatrical production, that was quite impressive. I loved this attraction and could spend the whole night just riding the Hayride. However, this events includes several other attractions two Apocalyptic-themed mazes (“House of the Horsemen” and “Seven Sins Sideshow”), a 40-foot long Leviathan, an interactive theatre production (“Theatre Macabre”), the world-renowned Street Drum Corps (“Blood Drums”), and the FIRST sway polers to the United States.
Family friendly: {#4} The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is the perfect date night, for mom and dad, this Halloween season. After telling my oldest son, Justin, about the event he’s already started making plans to go with his friends for his 18 birthday. The event is like no other however, its not as kid friendly. So if you are looking to have fun without tons of kids and young teens around, I would defiantly check out this Halloween attraction.
Cost: {#1} Los Angeles Haunted Hayride VIP ticket is priced at $58 and is well worth every dime. Vip ticket holder enjoy front of the line privileges and access to all attractions.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: TICKET PRICES | SITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |INSTAGRAM
Honorable Mentions:
There was a few attractions I wasn’t able to attend this year. So I wanted to share with you the reviews for those locations from a collection of reliable sources.
Dorothy Boucher says
WOW this place sounds amazing and I don’t like scarey things loll I do hope someday I can visit .. sure looks like a lot of fun 🙂