Halloween events in Los Angeles for spooky fun

Stroll through a mile-long trail filled with all things pumpkins, including an illuminated forest of jack-o’-lanterns, during Descanso Gardens’ annual Carved. For three weeks this fall, the event will line a loop of the botanical garden with thousands of professionally-carved pumpkins.

Boney Island, a beloved kid-friendly Halloween event that called Griffith Park home until the pandemic, will return from its hiatus with a new setup at NHM’s Nature Gardens. The illuminated installation will bring familiar fixtures (skeleton performers, shadow puppets) and mix them with some sciency additions (fossils, animal presentations).

See the Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s Halloween performances during this monthlong lineup of spooky festivities. The puppet theater will be performing “Bob Baker’s Halloween Spooktacular!”—a refurbished production of its long-running  “boo-sical revue.”

Do the monster mash, get your face painted and collect some treats during this Halloween pop-up at Union Station. The free come-in-costume event for kids takes place on the train station’s South Patio, but you’ll also find a pretty unique trick-or-treating experience set up by the tracks. 

Halloween time can be a bit scary for kids—we’ve all been there—so for a less frightening affair, head to the Original Farmers Market for their children-friendly Fall Festival: carnival games, a petting zoo and a pumpkin patch (for a small fee) are all mainstays at this annual harvest fest. Come in costume and catch a musical performance and explore the always delicious treats at the market.

The L.A. Zoo’s annual Halloween celebration includes two weekends of spooky decor and up-close-and-personal interactions with some of the zoo’s creepiest crawlers. Look out for trick-or-treating, storytelling, photo ops and—how macabre—an extinct animal graveyard. The animals typically get in on the Halloween action, too, with pumpkin or carcass feedings scheduled a couple times a day.

Face your fears and head to the Natural History Museum’s Spider Pavilion, where you can observe several hundred orbweaver spiders in a living exhibit just outside of the museum. Scared the spiders might be hard to spot in the wild? Fret not. In previous iterations we’ve spotted ones about the size of an adult’s palm. Gulp. (But don’t worry: The scariest ones are in enclosed habitats.) 

Walk across the grounds of the scenic King Gillette Ranch as the Santa Monica Mountains hideaway is illuminated with thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Nights of the Jack returns with an on-foot, mile-long trail this year (with food trucks and a “Spookeasy,” too). Timed tickets are required each night; expect to spend an hour to an hour and a half there.

Well, well, well, what have we here? The Nightmare Before Christmas’s bug-stuffed sack is once again taking over the Halloween duties at Disneyland for Oogie Boogie Bash, an after-hours, specially ticketed seasonal event at Disney California Adventure Park.

Pick out and decorate a “pup-kin,” feast on human and pupper-friendly treats and navigate a terrifying maze with a scary, scary mailman during this costumed, dog-friendly Halloween event at the Wallis Annenberh PetSpace in Playa Vista.

While Downtown may not be the easiest place to go when it comes to trick-or-treating, the locals know how to throw a party. The Annual Halloween Party for Downtown L.A. Kids at Grand Hope Park continues to thrive as parents celebrate the spookiest night of the year with bounce houses, puppet shows and faux trick-or-treat-doors.

Dining at Grand Central Market’s delicious array of food vendors is basically trick-or-treating for grown-ups. But on Halloween, the Downtown food hall will host actual trick-or-treating among its 35-plus vendors. Swing by from 4 to 9pm—in costume, of course—so that little ones can pick up treats from each stall. RSVP for free parking (just make sure to include the number of people in your party).

Pasadena’s charming shopping plaza hosts a string of family-friendly Halloween events, including pumpkin decorating (Oct 22 11am–2pm; $10), a pop-up performance by the Bob Baker Marionettes (Oct 28, 11am, 12:30pm; free) and trick-or-treating plus a screening of Casper(Oct 31, 5pm, movie 7pm; free).

This Denver experience makes its L.A. debut with hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns lining a pathway at the Whittier Narrows. Though you can pay a little extra to park closer, there is free parking available at the park if you’re up for a little bit longer of a walk.