It’s the third weekend of October and the Halloween season is in full swing. It’s going to be a hot weekend here in SoCal but don’t let that hinder your hunt for family fun. 

THE GHOST TRAIN IS BACK!!!! Weekends now through October 29th, and October 30th and 31st!
After a little hiatus, the LA Ghost Train is taking passengers on a ride that they’ll never forget. From 7-10 pm riders must be at least 34″ Get more info and tickets here!

Santa Ana Zoo’s “Boo At the Zoo” is a perfect place for little haunters. Boo at the Zoo is open October 21st, 22nd,28th and the 29th from 5:30-8. Touted as “merry not scary” the zoo gets into the Halloween spirit with fun decorations, trick or treating, storytelling, animal presentations, entertainment and a haunted house for the older kids included in the admission. Parking is free!

This Friday evening kick off the weekend with a Boo Cruise from Dana Point. It’s an all ages celebration of the season for a great cause. Cruises start at 5pm and run every 20 minutes until 7pm. Every voyage includes a costume contest with prizes and thrilling raffles. There will even be eery entertainment for those waiting on land to depart. The proceeds from the Boo’s Cruise go to “Special Fishies:Aquatic Freedom and Education” an organization that provides scholarships for special needs kids


Adventure City
in Buena Park hosts a Halloween extravaganza every weekend now through Sunday October 29th. Trick or treat through the “not-so-spooky” houses on Halloween Street. If you dare, enter the Vortex Tunnel for a dizzy delight. There is also a dance party! Kid friendly costumes are welcome and Adventure City provides treat bags for your goblins. If you would prefer (or require) a toy instead of candy, that is no problem!
All of these activities come with general admission and parking is free!

 

Starting this Sunday October 22nd through Saturday October 28th head to Pretend City in Irvine and you’ll receive 25% off on admission if you are in costume! Click here for more details.

 

The Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center boasts an amazing Pumpkin Patch and plenty of fall fun for families. My own husband has fond memories of picking out a pumpkin at the Bates Farm. It’s not just about the various pumpkins at the farm! Bates Nut Farm has hay rides, a straw maze, pony rides, cute animals who would love your attention (and food), a rock wall and more.

 

Kids love trains. Kids love the Peanuts characters. The Orange Empire Railway Museum has combined both in this fun event, Peanuts the Pumpkin Patch Express! All Aboard, as guests head out on an adventure to the pumpkin patch. Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy celebrate with everyone during a concert and photo ops. Decorate pumpkins, take a trolley ride or get your face painted. Adults and children are encouraged to dress up. For more information and to reserve tickets, click here

Buster Balloon is at it again this weekend! October 22nd, Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch in Culver City hosts “Buster Balloon’s Halloween Spook’tacular” Then on October 23rd, Buster packs up his balloons, magic tricks and puppets then heads down to the Carlsbad City Library. Buster is part magic, part comedy, add in some balloon animals mixed in with silly puppets and you get entertainment for the entire family.

Attention: the Zombie Apocolypse has started in Long Beach! It’s 3 days of flesh rotting, brain eating excitement. Aren’t great at creating your own undead makeup? Don’t worry, the “Zombiefication Zone” has you covered and is free to all attendees thanks to the cinema makeup school. The Long Beach Zombie Fest has three days filled with mazes, scavenger hunts, giveaways, contests and of course, Zombie Walks! Click here for everything you need to know about the Long Beach Zombie Fest.

 

About the Author

Erin Jefferson-Foley (Mommy Fearest) is terrified of scary movies, gore and zombies. But she loves all things Halloween and Haunt related! Slowly but surely she has been dipping her toes into the realm of horror movies with great results. Pretty soon she will work her way up to watching a scary movie when it is dark outside. Erin has had a love affair with theme park Halloween events for the past 20 years. Her first time at an event was at Knott's Scary Farm in the late 80s when a family friend, a Knott's employee, escorted her into the park to watch Elvira and give her a behind the scenes tour. She was intrigued as she walked through the break room and realized that they were just people in masks and makeup. It seemed like only a short time later, Erin was performing for Halloween Haunt which led to her meeting the love of her life, her husband. Each year she cheers on her husband and his friends as they set up and run a home haunt. You can catch her helping with line control and repeating the same instructions over and over and over to the guests each night. She has been a professional dancer and actress for over 20 years. When she is not in the studio teaching dance or in her office writing, you can catch Mommy Fearest with her husband and two kids at various conventions throughout California. She enjoys Cosplay, Star Wars, Renaissance Faires, Halloween, haunted attractions, paranormal happenings, special effects makeup and horrible reality television shows.