The best haunted houses in Los Angeles for Halloween scares

The only thing better than a haunted attraction? A haunted attraction on a giant boat with its own haunted history. Out of all the haunted houses I visited, Dark Harbor was the sleeper hit for me. After driving 40 miles from the Valley to Long Beach on a Sunday night, the stakes were pretty high—I couldn’t imagine any Halloween attraction feeling worth that drive. I was wrong: After visiting, I’ll be coming back every year.

Starting at the entrance, where you walk through a graveyard, I was wowed by the production design. It only got more impressive in Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse, a new maze this year set in a decayed bayou with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes. Each maze actually exceeded my expectations, but you can’t miss the ones on the ship itself: Lullaby, Infirmary and Feast. You’ll walk through some truly terrifying scenes as you traverse the ocean liner. The dark, cramped confines of the Queen Mary are already pretty spooky even without monsters, and dodging scare actors throughout the kitchen, pool and staterooms adds to the authenticity of the scares. All the mazes here are long, too, and the lines move quickly.

I love a good carnival, and Dark Harbor feels like a carnival for adults (it’s recommended for ages 13 and older). So when you tire of the terror, take a spin on the rides, sip spirits at secret speakeasies (including one in the bowels of the ship) and catch spooky live entertainment (I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the fire dancers). And the food is a fairground dream: Think baskets of fresh churros, pizza, loaded fries, Dubai-chocolate-covered strawberries and cocktails served in fishbowls or green alien sippy cups as long as your arm. The make-your-own-s’mores stations are a fun touch too.

Select nights through Nov 2. Tickets start at $55.

Its past installments have found attendees stealthing their way through a Victorian home and embarking on a Blade Runner-esque bounty hunt. And now this celebrated immersive theater horror event has returned with a new theme—Harrowing of Hell—and a new location: Variety Arts Theatre, a century-old Historic-Cultural Monument in DTLA. Created by Hollywood stunt coordinator Jon Braver, who’s worked with Christopher Nolan in the past, the attraction has been a Halloween favorite for over a decade.

The loose narrative here is that you’re a member of the supernatural cult, Pagan’s Path, which “has taken the metaphors of Dante’s Inferno too far.” I couldn’t quite tell if you’re trying to make your way into or out of hell, but to be honest, the particulars didn’t matter too much. There are so many stories, rooms and spaces in the theater—and you visit them all in near-darkness—that you feel like you’ve entered a different world. Highlights include escaping from a possessed priest, running from Medusa and swinging on a rope to board a boat to Hades. For $40 extra, you can opt for a VIP ticket, which lets you access a reserved lounge and literally peek behind the curtain to see how some of the best effects are pulled off. 

Select nights through Nov 9. Tickets start at $113.

Though not a traditional haunted house, this immersive dinner theater performance from the same folks behind the nightmarish Creep (which is taking the year off) is one of the city’s top spooky experiences. At JFI Productions’ The Willows, you are one of 25 guests at an intimate family gathering at the historic Beckett Mansion near West Adams. The intimate, two-hour performance trades more in atmosphere than jump scares, but its surreal circumstances and sense of unease and anticipation will more than scratch that Halloween itch.

This one is a favorite of horror aficionados and A-listers, and I can see why. The experience truly made me feel like I was in a scary movie—not a slasher, but an unsettling family drama that draws you in and sticks with you. You enter the experience in groups of five and embark on your own journey, meeting up with everyone for drinks and dinner. You could ostensibly attend several times and have a different narrative experience each time. And the acting was excellent all around. Note: Participation is practically a requirement. 

Tickets are expensive, but, as evidenced by the fact that all of October’s performances sold out right away, audiences clearly find the high price tag worth it. There are a handful of tickets available going into November and December, but if you don’t snag one in time, you’re in luck: The Beckett Mansion is being turned into a permanent location for the production starting in spring 2026. Tickets for that go on sale November 11, so you should have plenty of chances to play your role in the Willows’ family drama.

Select nights through Dec 7. Tickets $250.

Far from those kiddie rides through a pumpkin patch—though still perhaps the most family-friendly of the haunts in this list—the Haunted Hayride unleashes all sorts of demons and bogeys on Griffith Park each fall. This year, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, has taken up residence in the Hayride’s mid-’80s fictitious town of Midnight Falls, with two attractions and lots of merch themed after the character.

Before this year, the Haunted Hayride was the only local haunt I’d had the guts to try. While it used to be tucked into the relatively intimate Old Zoo area, the attraction has since moved to the Crystal Springs Picnic Area—in the larger space, it can feel a bit empty, and the flatter terrain does make it easier to spot upcoming scares. That being said, there were some genuinely cool and creepy moments during the hayride, even if in places it favored set pieces over scare actors.

In addition to the hayride itself, there are a few mazes, which are a bit jump-scarier. The annual Trick or Treat attraction, where you walk through creepy vignettes with scares sprinkled throughout, has been taken over by Elvira’s likeness. You’ll walk past pyramids of old-school TVs and a movie theater screening her films—at one point, you even walk between her breasts. Other attractions include the Scary-Go-Round—a skeletal merry-go-round that’s more rough-and-ready than your typical carousel; a seance theatre; and a stage show. You can add on axe-throwing and mini escape rooms too.

Select nights through Nov 2. Tickets start at $40.

Knott’s Scary Farm is the original and longest-running Halloween haunt in SoCal. At this year’s edition, encounter free-roaming monsters and 10 terrifying mazes—think a zoo with animal-human hybrids, a convalescent home with “spider-possessed residents” and a greatest-hits parade of past Knotts monsters—as well as a “boo-fet” dinner and all sorts of other haunted houses and attractions at the OC theme park for 26 nights during Halloween season.

Thu–Sun through Nov 1. Tickets start at $69. 

Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group in North Hollywood hosts a chilling series of vignettes that’s been named one of Yelp’s top 10 scariest haunts in the country. Armed with a shoddy flashlight to illuminate their path, guests navigate a labyrinth of terror both before and after watching a series of shocking scenes (over the course of roughly 40 minutes) that will unsettle even the most stoic of horror fans. The haunted house-slash-theater experience is celebrating 20 years of scaring audiences.

Fri, Sat through Nov 1. Tickets $27.

Part Halloween screening, part haunted house, Street Food Cinema follows up its popular La La Land in Concert with three nights of The Evil Dead (rated NC-17, it’s by far the scariest and darkest of the Sam Raimi trilogy) in October. Composer Joseph LoDuca’s score will be performed live to film by a seven-piece orchestra. But before watching the cult classic, head downstairs for the debut of “The Cellar: An Underground Evil Dead Experience,” where you can brave the Necronomicon universe and a host of deadites yourself.

Oct 30–Nov 1. Tickets start at $57.