TL;DR: The 17th Door is the best Los Angeles haunted house because it’s considered the scariest haunted house in LA, known for its intense, multisensory themes using electrical shocks, moving floors, and even foul odors that will fully immerse and terrify you.
So you’re seeking a scare, are you? If you’re in Los Angeles during Halloween, you’re in the right place.
LA haunted houses are some of the most famous in the country, from Beverly Hills to Anaheim and everywhere in between!
Spanning from “spooky, not scary” haunted house attractions for kids to moderate haunts that will make you jump in the night, to no-mercy, absolute terrors– the city of angels (and demons) has it all!
And are we surprised? Los Angeles is the American epicenter for horror films, special effects, costumes, and extravagance in general.
It can be fun to push yourself out of your comfort zone, but I also don’t want you to have to buy a night light.
You’ll have to decide how much fear you can handle, but consider this your warning: LA doesn’t hold back when it comes to horror!
Put your brave pants on and scroll through all the haunts in LA this Halloween season.
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Scary LA Haunted Houses
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
When: through October
Where: Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $39.99 [based on last year]
** Recommended for participants 12+
The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride takes over Griffith Park when Halloween returns to Midnight Falls, offering multiple attractions nightly, right up to Halloween night!
The festivities are set amongst the foothills and neighborhood of Midnight Falls and spread throughout Griffith Park to Midnight Falls Town Square right in the city.
The spirit of Halloween spreads across the village, and the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride accompanies a haunted house in the mortuary.
Check out this Haunted Hayride video to get a glimpse of the festivities.
Also, watch out for nightly performances by Monte Revolta, the undead irreverent lounge singer from beyond the grave.
He’ll perform nightly at the Griffith Park Haunted Hayride with his Band Of The Living Dead!
Keep an eye on the website for Haunted Hayride tickets, and even do a little searching online to find a Haunted Hayride discount code like these!
Knott’s Scary Farm
When: Select nights from September 21st to October 31st
Where: Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620
Cost: $59.99 – $149.99
**Recommended for participants ages 13+.
With over 50 terrifying years under its belt, Knott’s Scary Farm is the longest-running and one of the most elaborate Halloween theme parks in Southern California.
This festival is definitely the scary version of Halloween, which comes back to life at Knott’s Berry Farm each year.
Throughout the fall, the farm becomes an entirely transformed theme park with haunted mazes and attractions, unique and terrifying live performances, and 1000+ creatures waiting for you in the trees.
They leave “no tomb unearthed and no fear untouched” each year!
Reign of Terror Haunted House
When: Select dates from September 29th through November 4th
Where: Janss Marketplace, 275 N Moorpark Rd East, Thousand Oaks, CA
Cost:$30-$35 [based on last year]
** Age restriction: Participants must be 13+
Reign of Terror is an award-winning haunted house that has been spreading nightmares in the Los Angeles area since 1999 and remains the largest indoor walk-through haunted house in Southern California!
With over 135 uniquely designed rooms and ten different themed sections, the scares will feel endless!
This year, they’ve announced their “biggest, newest production in their 25-year history,” so prepare to be thoroughly shocked because they’re only getting scarier.
Shady Pines Asylum: Dark Harvest Haunted Attraction
When: Every Friday and Saturday throughout October
Where: 10201 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA
Cost: $25- $30 [based on last year]
**Not recommended for children.
Dark Harvest is an interactive and fully immersive haunted house and haunted maze designed to terrify you out of your skin with a new theme each year.
If you’re near the Huntington Beach area, check this one out!
If you’re curious, here’s what to expect: highly gory scenes and terrifying interactive experiences, foul odors, fog, strobe lighting, lasers, moving floors and walls, intense audiovisual effects. You may even get wet.
Dark Harvest promises you will survive the mazes, although they might shake you up.
Please note that Dark Harvest is operating in a new location. They used to be situated at the corner of Imperial Hwy and La Palma in Anaheim but have moved to a larger location for 2023. More space means more terror!
Halloween Horror Nights
When: Select nights September 7th – October 31st
Where: Universal Studios Hollywood, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA
Cost: starting at $74
**Recommended for participants ages 13+.
If you are looking to be thoroughly scared, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is one of Los Angeles’s favorite annual haunted experiences.
California’s big theme parks love a thrill, and Horror Nights is one of the scariest haunted houses in LA!
Bringing Hollywood-level terror, this haunt takes inspiration from the biggest names in horror each year.
The park has eight separate haunted houses, meaning eight separate scare zones to awaken the Halloween spirit through to midnight!
Rally a team of all your friends to come out for a night of fright and experience the haunted houses, the Terror Tram, and all of the rides and other attractions.
But beware, there will be scary characters and all of your favorite Universal monsters lurking throughout the entire park after dark. There is no escaping the nightmares of Hollywood!
Delusion: The 13th Floor Interactive Horror Theatre
When: Select nights throughout October & November
Where: Phillips Mansion, 2640 Pomona Blvd, Pomona, CA
Cost: Tickets start at $90 and go on sale in August [based on last year]
One of LA’s leaders in interactive horror theater, Delusion is noted as the most intense haunted house in LA, and not without reason.
The historic, haunted Phillips Mansion (one of the year-round haunted houses in Los Angeles) is the perfect place to horrify thrill seekers.
Spirits of the undead leftover from a gruesome past populate the century-and-a-half-old mansion turned haunted museum. You can fully explore the manor for as long as you can stand it before and after the show.
On most nights, you can even visit the haunted bar until past midnight to decompress. If you don’t get swallowed by the nightmares of the mansion, you may find your poison here!
The 17th Door
When: 2023 dates TBD
Where: 8420 On the Mall, Buena Park, CA
Cost: starting at $32 [based on last year]
** Recommended for participants 16+
The 17th Door has been noted as the scariest haunted house in Los Angeles and continues to build a strong reputation in the LA horror community as one of the best haunted houses in LA!
Each year, they take on a new, multisensory theme– all equally terrifying. Since it’s rare to find a haunted house in Los Angeles where they can touch you, this is a unique experience where you’ll be fully and physically immersed.
Participants can expect claustrophobia, electrical shocks, moving floors, foul odor, strobe lighting, projectiles, fog, darkness, dizziness, suffocation, disorientation, and loud noises.
This attraction is designed for thrills through all five senses!
You will get wet, and you may need to hold your breath. This one is no joke, but it’s all in good-natured Halloween fun, and you’re guaranteed to survive.
The safe word is “Mercy!” for those who may need it!
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre
When: Select Fridays and Saturday nights throughout October
Where: Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre, 4850 Lankershim Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $25-$36 [based on last year]
**Age restriction: 18+
Zombie Joe’s in North Hollywood is among those Los Angeles haunted houses for adults that don’t hold back on the immersive horror front.
It’s, without a doubt, one of the scariest and best-haunted houses of all the LA Halloween attractions.
Halloween at Zombie Joe’s is an interactive, avant-garde theater experience.
The haunted Urban Death Maze is known for full nudity, impressive gore, intense audiovisual effects, fantastic performance, and cutting-edge theater.
Bones Gulch
When: 2023 dates TBD
Where: Jack Bones Equestrian Center, 26983 Tapia Canyon Rd, Castaic, CA
Cost: **new for 2023** tickets to be released soon!
If you’re in the Santa Clarita area and are a fan of all things haunted, you may be familiar with The Darm Realm, Restless Souls Manor, and The Farm, all iconic home haunts in the area for several years in their own rights.
What if I told you that all 3 of these legendary horror lovers have teamed up for the first time this year to bring you an all-new, bigger-than-ever haunted experience: Bones Gulch?
Stay tuned for the fun!
All Saints Lunatic Asylum
When: Every Friday & Saturday throughout October
Where: 22521 Shawnee Road, Apple Valley, CA
Cost: starting at $13
** Recommended for participants 12+
Emanating the tragic tale of a closed asylum with all the patients and doctors stuck inside, All Saints Lunatic Asylum will not hold back on the most realistic and terrifying asylum visit of your life!
This amazing haunt is designed to terrify and shock you- but all in good fun!
Family-Friendly Haunted Houses in Los Angeles
Burbank Haunted Adventure
When: Select dates through October
Where: Starlight Bowl, 1249 Lockheed View Dr, Burbank, CA
Cost: 12 & under: $5, 13+: $10
Each year, the Starlight Bowl transforms into Burbank Haunted Adventure, a family-friendly, extensive Halloween maze.
The transformation is possible thanks to plenty of volunteers from the Burbank City Parks and Recreation.
This is an excellent option for family fun in the city of Burbank. However, please note that guests cannot wear Halloween costumes or make-up at this event.
Knott’s Spooky Farm
When: Weekends through October
Where: Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA
Cost: from $59.99
This is the family-friendly, “spooky” version of the annual Halloween festivities at Knott’s Berry Farm.
Knotts Spooky Farm is a spooky–not scary–event with haunted house attractions and a pumpkin patch for kids.
Set amongst the Calico Halloween town, kiddos can trick-or-treat amongst spooky mazes. Expect surprises without the fright during the daytime!
Other nights, the scaries take over the farm, so make sure you know which one you’re attending!
Looking for more pumpkin patches? Read about our favorite pumpkin patches in San Diego and California.
The Haunted Dome
When: throughout October
Where: 8330 Flallon Ave, Whittier, CA
Cost: Free admission
The Haunted Dome and its multiple free haunted houses are back!
This outdoor home haunt features impressive costumes and figures, various themes and characters, and many more scares as the path leads guests through the outdoor series of yard haunts.
These home haunters have been bringing their Haunted Dome to the Los Angeles region for five years in Whittier, about an hour’s drive from Long Beach. Each year, their spooky house only gets better!
Put your spirits to the test against uncommon Halloween characters such as undersea creatures, jungle monsters, and an army of clowns.
Be sure to watch out for SharkMan in this maze experience that should take guests roughly 5 minutes to get through.
Don’t underestimate this Home Haunt; it takes Halloween to a Hollywood level!
Get your FREE Los Angeles Mini Guide + a printable checklist with 100+ things to do in the city!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Taylor Neal
Taylor is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, yoga instructor and frontline worker who spends most of her time in her van (Vannigan) winding through the coastal and mountain roads of California where she feels most at home. From navigating the realities of van-life to the fluctuations in diverse climates and landscapes, Taylor is excited to bring everything she’s learned about California to fellow wanderers seeking beauty and adventure.
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