In addition to the map of yard haunts, aka The Ultimate Trick-or-Treat Guide Map, you’ll also find some fun houses to ring doorbells on the map to Haunted Los Angeles, or find a haunted attraction to hit up sometime during or after your rounds.
Leave plenty of time to get home from work and to wherever you’ll be trick-or-treating, as traffic on Halloween afternoon and evening is often treacherous. Take special care to avoid the neighborhoods around the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, which closes numerous streets, including stretched of Santa Monica Blvd., Robertson, and La Cienega as early as 1pm. (details here)
If you need basic safety tips, check with the fire department. But they missed this creepy suggestion: use California’s Megan’s Law site to search for child predators in your neighborhood, or wherever your kids may be trick-or-treating.
Keep in mind that you have an extra hour of daylight this Halloween, as the dates for Dateline Savings Time were moved this year. (Its now on the first Sunday of November – the 4th this year). The intent was to make Halloween safer so little kids could trick or treat before it got dark, but I predict it will only mean the older kids will be staying out even later.
As for suggestions on where to trick-or-treat… you’ll have to
Top Three Los Angeles Neighborhoods to Trick-or-Treat
Haddonfield, USA… er, the neighborhood around Oxley Street and Montrose Avenue in South Pasadena, where key scenes from the original “Halloween” were filmed. (The Myers house is nearby, but now a chiropractor’s office, so it’s unlikely they’ll be giving out candy there). Michael Myers costumes are likely in high concentration here, so consider just using a bed sheet and glasses.
Angelino Heights, which LA Weekly calls “the haunted house district of Los Angeles”, is spooky enough on a regular night, but for Halloween most of the houses, especially along Carrol Street, creep things up a notch to welcome the trick-or-treaters. Take a peek from our visit in late September.
However, even a casual look at the map confirms the rumors that the best place in all of Los Angeles, year after year, remains Toluca Lake and Burbank. Yard haunts and a competitive nature between residents to put up the best decorations, combined with the close proximity of houses, makes it easy to fill your bag up with candy while experiencing the best of the Halloween spirit. Local shops also get into the spirit, (see map for details)
Also consider these two doors to stop off:
Forrest J. Ackerman, the renowned collector of monster movie memorablia and editor/creator of Famous Monsters of Filmland invites little creeps to ask for candy at his residence – the “Acker Mini-Mansion” – at 4511 Russell Ave, Los Angeles.
The infamous Witches House at 516 Walden, Beverly Hills, was actually once a film set that someone moved from a studio to its present lot. I have no confirmation of them welcoming trick-or-treaters or not, so please proceed with respect.
