Halloween in Los Angeles 2026

Walk Into Halloween at Hollywood Forever

It is just past noon on a Saturday in late October, and the line along Santa Monica Boulevard is already thick with painted faces. Inside the gates of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, altars are being assembled on the grass, marigolds are stacked in crates, and the smell of copal and grilled food drifts between the palms. This is Día de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever, the 27th annual edition, running October 24, 2026 from 12 PM to midnight at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard. It happens rain or shine, and admission is required for everyone ages 5 and up. Come early, stay for the evening, and treat it as the anchor of your trip.

Pick Your Haunt: Theme Parks and Professional Mazes

Los Angeles hosts more major Halloween events than any other US city, and the season here starts earlier than anywhere outside Florida. Most of the big attractions are multi-day, ticketed, and spread from Griffith Park to Long Beach, with more across Orange County and the Inland Empire.

• Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood at Universal Studios Hollywood runs 42 select nights, September 3 to November 1, 2026 — the largest event in the region by scale.
• Knott's Scary Farm at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park returns for its 53rd season, the longest-running theme park Halloween event in Southern California: 26 select nights from September 17 to October 31, with 10 mazes, 5 scare zones, and 3 shows. Tickets start at $65 online. New for 2026 are the Inked and Unearthed mazes, the shows Occultum and Voodoo: Bayou's Edge, and a reimagined CarnEVIL scare zone.
• Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim takes over 33 select nights from August 18 to October 31, 2026, on a separate ticket ($139–$199). New this year: Madame Leota's Swinging Wake street party and Yzma's first US face-character appearance.
• Halloween Time at Disneyland runs across both parks August 21 to October 31, 2026, included with park admission; Madame Leota's Swinging Wake replaces the Frightfully Fun Parade.
• Six Flags Fright Fest, presented by SNICKERS, marks its 33rd year at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia on select nights from September 18 to November 1, with mazes sold as a paid add-on.
• Queen Mary Dark Harbor in Long Beach runs select nights September 18 to November 1, with discount presale online only. New for 2026: six mazes (two reimagined), two new rides, and four new speakeasies.
• Los Angeles Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park runs select nights September 18 to November 1, with discount presale open. New this year: the Fallen Angel 1980s rock maze, the return of Elvira's Trick or Treat Mayhem, and the first-ever alcohol service in Midnight Falls.
• Carved at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge runs nightly from 6 to 10 p.m., October 2 to November 1. Non-member adult tickets start at $29, and 2026 brings the US debut of Alexander Reichstein's sculptures.
• The Haunted Car Wash returns for a sixth season, October 2 to 31, across four Southern California regions — Orange County, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and San Diego — at $25 per vehicle, its largest footprint yet.
• The Hollow at Live Oak Canyon in Redlands, in the Inland Empire, runs weekends October 2 to 31 plus select weeknights, 7 p.m. to midnight with last entry at 11 p.m. It is the first haunted maze at Live Oak Canyon in 45 years, recommended for ages 16 and up, with farm admission plus a separate maze ticket at the gate.
• Delusion: Den of the Mosquito takes over the Beckett Mansion at 2218 S. Harvard Blvd. in West Adams — where the series began in 2011 — on select nights September 17 to November 8. The 1920s New Orleans brothel setting casts guests as secret-organization agents across 50 minutes and split paths. Tickets are a flat $143 including fees, 18 and over only, and several Saturdays (October 3, 10, and 17) are already sold out.
• Wicked Lit returns to the Chance Theater in Anaheim for its first season since 2017, with 10 performances from October 29 to November 2 and two plays; tickets go on sale August 1.

Cabarets, Costume Parties and Warehouse Nights

Beyond the mazes, the city's nightlife splits along neighborhood lines: Hollywood leans film-inspired, Downtown LA and the Arts District fill warehouse spaces with live music and large-scale productions, and Koreatown and Little Tokyo carry their own late-October programming.

• Tim Burton Rave Halloween lands Friday, October 2, 2026, from 10 PM to 2 AM at Boardner's by La Belle, 1652 N Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood, with alternative, emo, new wave, and darkwave sets, themed décor, photo areas, and costumes encouraged.
• The 31st Anniversary Heaven & Hell Halloween Party takes over Jungle Hollywood at 1640 N Cahuenga Boulevard on October 30, 2026, with two music spaces, a red-carpet setup, and a costume competition. Dress code is a costume, or formal attire with a mask.
• A Halloween Costume Party in Los Angeles runs October 31, 2026, 9 PM to 2 AM at Catch One, 4067 W Pico Boulevard, with reggaeton, hip-hop, Latin, and current hits. It is 18 and over with valid ID.
• Freaks & Horrors: A Halloween Cabaret & Cocktail Experience plays The Cat's Crawl at 660 Heliotrope Drive on September 24, October 10, and October 17, 2026 — doors at 8 PM, show at 9 PM — an original scripted Halloween story with cabaret performances and immersive theatrical elements. It is 21 and over, with alcohol served.
• Through the Veil, an immersive theatrical séance from Stage Fright Theater Co., seats roughly eight guests per candlelit sitting of 30 to 45 minutes, led by the host character Ambrose T. Attaway, with a story built on historic true crimes and audience choices steering the outcome. LA-area sittings at 7, 8, and 9 p.m. include Heritage Square Museum on September 19 and 26 and Broken Spirits in Anaheim on September 30.

A Family Night That Isn't a Scare

If you are traveling with children or simply want the pumpkins without the jump scares, Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns at South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes runs select nights from September 18 to November 1. It is explicitly family-friendly rather than a scare event: a mile-long illuminated trail, more than 10,000 hand-carved pumpkins, larger-than-life displays, s'mores stations, and a kids' fun zone. New scenes for 2026 include a whimsical circus, a Día de los Muertos tribute, and an undersea section, with tickets from $29.99 for adults and $24.99 for kids. It is run by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group. Note that Nights of the Jack in Calabasas has not announced its 2026 plans.

Build Your Week Around the Calendar

The rhythm of an LA Halloween is set by the calendar. Oogie Boogie Bash opens August 18 and Disneyland's Halloween Time on August 21, with most haunts following in mid-September; the season runs to November 1 at Halloween Horror Nights, Dark Harbor, the Haunted Hayride, Carved, and Six Flags Fright Fest. If you want the single best day for cultural celebration, plan around October 24 and Día de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever. If you want the biggest costume night, October 30 and 31 put Heaven & Hell at Jungle Hollywood and the Catch One party back to back. Because several Delusion Saturdays are already sold out and presale discounts for Dark Harbor and the Haunted Hayride are online-only, book the ticketed anchors first and let the neighborhood nights fill in around them.

Start with the dates that matter to you, secure the ticketed events before the select nights thin out, and leave room between them for the parts of the city that don't charge admission — the altars on the cemetery grass, the costume crowds on Cahuenga and Pico, the marigolds and copal smoke along Santa Monica Boulevard.