Looking for something fun to do in the fall? We’ve narrowed down the best places to go for Halloween in Los Angeles. Full disclosure, this is a list of Halloween activities that lean more towards the spooky, rather than the jump scare (and pee your pants) Halloween fun. Jump scares are not my husband’s cup of tea. But who likes to pee their pants?
We’re more of the cookie haunted house kind of family, than a real haunted house. Just saying!
These past several weeks we’ve been busy getting in the Halloween spirit, and have narrowed down the best of the best. Check it out.
Places To Go For Halloween: Activities in Hollywood
Icons of Darkness
Take me to your leader. I’m enjoying all of these incredible Hollywood props up close.
It doesn’t get any more Hollywood than this. Kevin and I joined a 1 hour tour of Icons of Darkness, located on the main drag of Hollywood Boulevard. But what is Icons of Darkness and what makes it so cool? Child actor turned director Rich Correll has amassed what is considered the largest private collection of sci-fi, horror and fantasy film artifacts on Earth. Or as I like to think, some of us collected Beanie Babies while he collected these unbelievable and priceless pieces of film history. If only I could turn back time!
It’s a Gremlin. My childhood basically has come alive.
Many of these items are direct from the original movies or are exact replicas of the real item. The tour takes you along a journey including super heroes, aliens and other fantasy movie items such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the list goes on.
A life-cast head of Mark Hamill, plus Yoda and other recognizable figures like Bobba Fett.
But perhaps our favorite part of the exhibit is the horror section. I know, we don’t like scary! But these props, costumes and set pieces are incredible to see close up. It feels like you’re almost on the movie set with the life-like backdrops set up for each character. Just be warned, some of them might just come alive. If you’re like us, you might want to stick towards the back of the tour group!
Icons of Darkness was originally planned to open in 2020, but we all know what happened there. The exhibit was well worth the wait. Tickets can be purchased in advance online or at the door. We just showed up and were able to hop on a tour. Prices are $30 for adults and $15 for children. If you’re military, it’s just $25.
Beetle House
I love a fun themed restaurant. Beetle House, also located right in Hollywood, has been around for years. Yet, this is the first time we’ve ever been. Now that we live in Hollywood, I’m looking for fun places that are walkable to our home. But even if we didn’t live in Hollywood, this Tim Burton-themed restaurant would be well worth the trip!
As expected, the spot gets super popular leading up to Halloween. And we can see why. The entire place is inspired by Tim Burton’s creepiest movies including Beetle Juice, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands.
Kevin enjoys the “Sweeny Beef” complete with a razor blade sticking out of it.
Reservations are an absolute must and can be made directly through Yelp reservations. Don’t be discouraged if there aren’t any reservations available. Just keep an eye on their booking page and you might luck out like us. You can also request to be on the wait list for a certain date and time. There is a good chance you’ll get off of it. But be warned, you’ll have about 15 minutes to confirm. So be sure to keep an eye out on your phone alerts!
The fun entrance to Beetle House. I love a moving bookcase.
The menu is prix-fixe ($55 per person) where you can choose a 3 course meal with appetizer, entrée and desert. I’m not gonna sugar coat it. Is the food the best? Um, not at all. Though, the “Franken Fries” appetizer served Buffalo-style with blue cheese crumbles was delicious (and oh so unhealthy!). Another signature item on the menu are their Fish Bowl cocktails. But be warned, they pack a punch and are best shared by 2 people.
The smoking fish bowl cocktail.
So why come here? Well, it’s all about the entertainment. Every 15 minutes, you’ll be entertained with a different Tim Burton-inspired act including fire eaters, dancers and singers. Some important things to note, the entertainment shuts down by 10:30 PM some nights, so we’d recommend getting a reservation no later than 8 PM to enjoy it all. We got a later reservation and only had about 1 hour of entertainment. Also, you’ll want to bring plenty of $1 bills for tips. While it’s not required, most of these performers make their earning in tips.
We’re ready to join the cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
After your dinner wraps, you can head next door to the hopping Beetle House Bar. Kevin and I snapped our photos and were basically like, “OMG, how is it 11:30 PM? We need to get to bed.” And proving we are well above the average age at this bar!
Places To Go For Halloween: Highland Park
The House of Spirits: A Cocktail Soiree
One of the first Halloween activities we checked out was The House of Spirits. And talk about a wild experience unlike anything we’ve done before. Best of all? It wasn’t even scary.
House of Spirits allows you to step into a whole new world — where you’ll get to mingle with spirits, witness secret ceremonies and commune with the dearly departed on a giant Ouija Board. And to top it off, each entry includes themed cocktails to sip on along the way.
Kevin enjoys interacting with one of the spirits roaming around the house.
Ask the Ouija board anything. Our question? “Are we annoying you tonight?” We kept accidently bumping the little Ouija tab off the board!
We wandered around the house and enjoyed all the creepiness of the story, which riffed on classic Russian/Scandinavian folktales. There was even nudity at one point (not from us!). Though, we completely missed it because we were talking with one of the ghouls who gave us an eye ball. We’re not totally sure why… But hey, we went with it!
The total experience runs about 2 hours and includes interactive moments inside and outside the house. There are scarier sections as well, which are easy to skip. Just ask the person at the door before you go in. We heard screams coming from the underground dark maze, and you can guess what part we decided not to do. Tickets start at $55 and include 4 cocktails. Note, this is a 21+ only event. So make it a date night and leave the kids at home. Tickets can be purchased directly here via Fever.
Places To Go For Halloween: Altadena
“It’s Alive!” A Frankenstein Immersive Experience
You’ll need to head just outside LA for this one. But we think it’s well worth the journey. This wildly creepy experience takes place at the Mountain View Mausoleum. In years past, we’ve enjoyed the immersive plays put on by local events producer Wicked Lit. But this year, another acting group has set up and taken the experience to a whole new level.
Getting ready for our immersive theater experience.
Get ready to kiss your loved ones good-bye, since you’ll likely be separated from them for the entire evening. Without giving too much away, I’ll just tell you that I ended up getting separated from my husband and we both had such different experiences. You may be asked to dig up a grave, hold a severed tongue or help one of the eerie characters comb her hair.
Wandering the dark hallways alone in “It’s Alive”
Bring comfy walking shoes, since you’ll get plenty of steps in on this immersive play, set in Mary Shelley’s grief-stricken and guilt-ridden mind. Some of the major highlights of the night will include helping to create Frankenstein’s monster as you traverse the hidden chambers of the mausoleum and explore an abandoned chapel.
The evening isn’t scary, believe it or not. It’s more of a spooky-inspired tale with wild one-on-one encounters with characters. Tickets can be booked directly online, with prices ranging from $55-$60 per person. Each ticket includes a beverage of your choice. Cheers to that!
Places To Go For Halloween: Staying at Home
Vampire Pizza
Vampire Pizza is back in LA once again. And this year, they’ve stepped up their game and taken it to a whole new level. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we were searching for unique things to entertain ourselves with. Okay, we were desperate to do something…anything! But Vampire Pizza was so much fun that we knew we had to do it again, even as things are starting to open back up again.
Our game back from Vampire Pizza.
So what is Vampire Pizza? Think of it as an at-home escape room with some pizza on the side. Each of the puzzles leads you to a password for the next video.
This year, Vampire Pizza had multiple head-scratching puzzles all sealed up in envelopes that you could open as you figured out the answers while texting with your puzzle master.
Making our way through the puzzles and having a blast.
In total, it took us about an hour to solve and was such a fun way to enjoy our dinner. Pizza can either be arranged by delivery or pick up. Best of all? This year, they even had some prizes if you were a lucky winner. So get ready for some Halloween treats. We ended up winning a fun prize packet that we picked up from one of the vampires on staff!
We won! We love pizza and we love prizes. The perfect combo.
You can sign up for Vampire Pizza by visiting their Bite Delivery page. Cost is $29 per player including game play and pizza.
And that wraps things up! Here is to another year of not-so-scary Halloween adventures. Looking for other fun activities to do in LA? Be sure to visit all of our recommendations here, including 5 secrets spots in LA you (probably) never knew existed (but should!). Love pop ups? You’ll certainly want to read about our night going through the Madcap Hotel, an LA pop up experience like no other. Or our recent visit to experience immersive theater with Clue Live. Ever think about a LA staycation? Check out our ideas and itineraries for a fun weekend in downtown LA and read our feature on the hotel in downtown with the best views of Los Angeles.
Happy Halloween from our little twin lobsters.
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