Halloween Season in LA is in Full Swing

It's the first weekend of October and Halloween is already in full swing across the Southland. Disneyland and Knott's Scary Farm kicked off the festivities last weekend, as did many of the area's haunted house attractions. Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, Magic Mountain's Fright Fest and Queen Mary's Shipwreck all open this weekend.

I spent Friday night at the new and improved Shipwreck at the Queen Mary. Opening night was chaos as far as finding our way around, with no signs, and staff still learning their way around. Nevertheless, the new production company has done a much better job of using the ship's natural environment to create scary fun mazes. Gone are the cheesy black box mazes in the parking lot. The English village buildings have been put to good use as the Vampire Village. The undead haunt the graveyard in front of the ship and three on-board mazes take advantage of the natural creepiness of roaming the bowels of an old ship in the dark. They still need to work some bugs out, but there's potential. The two 13-year-olds going through the mazes with us both found them very scary.
Read more about Shipwreck
Queen Mary Shipwreck Photo Gallery

For hard-core gore fans, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios puts you in the middle of familiar horror movie sets, being chased by your favorite slashers from Jason and Freddy Kruger to Chucky and Saw. This is the most graphically violent and gory, not to mention smelly, Halloween horror experience around. The creators don't recommend it for anyone under 13. Most 13-year-olds I know would not enjoy it, (and subjecting anyone under 13 to this level of violence is just sick). I think it should have an NC 17 rating unless your teen really loves violence and gore.
Read more about Halloween Horror Nights
Halloween Horror Nights Photo Gallery
Check Goldstar.com for discounted tickets.

More:

Halloween at More LA Area Theme Parks
Haunted Houses, Ships and Ghost Tours Around LA
Annual Halloween Events that Last a Weekend
Annual Halloween Events that Last One Night
Annual Halloween Events that Last One Day
Adult-Themed Halloween Events