Event Report: Los Angeles’ Haunted Hayride Opens for 2019
Sean Decker
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It’s a SoCal seasonal staple: The Los Angeles’ Haunted Hayride, and we were there to celebrate its grand re-opening this past Saturday night. But what can visitors expect of the latest incarnation and its new creative direction, conjured up courtesy of Ten Thirty One and their new partner for 2019 Plague Productions? Climb aboard for our review.
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Now in its 10th season, The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has once again returned to Griffith Park, and to the thirty sprawling, hilly acres within it which house the remnants of the old LA zoo (4730 Crystal Springs Drive). And as in years past, the locale lends itself perfectly to the unique personality of Haunted Hayride. Eschewing more modern trappings, Hayride has always worked hard to recreate the vibe of a small town in the autumnal Midwest, and for 2019 they’ve succeeded once again, with an interesting and delightful shift in period to boot.
Arriving at the attraction (its entrance still containing their traditional and immense jack o’ lantern installation) we found ourselves transported back to the year 1985, and to the fictional town of Midnight Falls, which we quickly realized was in full swing celebrating its 13th annual Halloween bash. The only problem? The town’s citizens had been celebrating it nonstop since Reagan was in office, with the entire place trapped in a vortex of swirling fog and monsters galore. A cool narrative switch-up, certainly, and in keeping with horror fans’ current fixation on 80s nostalgia.
Making our way in, we passed a mock drive-in theater screen advertising 80s horror flicks, before journeying through the eye-popping, jack o’ lantern adorned archway, and then into the Town Square scare zone itself. Pure Halloween goodness, all of it. Ghosts hung from trees strung with orange lights and Halloween banners, while scare actors in vintage get-ups interacted with those navigating the straw and hay bale-covered areas below, fleshing out the narrative of Midnight Falls.
Nearby, a ghoulish singer entertained visitors from a Halloween-festooned stage, while other attendees lined up for mini escape rooms, an official Hayride photo booth, carnival food stands and more. (In our estimation, that rich atmosphere, which evoked the Heartland’s long-standing tradition of October hayrides and small-town celebrations, was alone worth the price of admission). And while we could have happily spent the majority of our evening in the town square, the titular hayride awaited.
Winding our way past a fog-enshrouded merry-go-round comprised of equine skeletons, a creepy ice cream truck, graveyards and more (production design there too was on point), we eventually (after a short wait) boarded the hayride itself. A straw-filled flatbed trailer pulled by an actual tractor, the ride departed, and during the course of its 20-something minute journey it slowly worked its way past a series of spooky vignettes, many of them set up in the zoo’s abandoned animal enclosures. From swamp monsters and werewolves to an animatronic pumpkin king and more, it proved itself a veritable variety show for all things that go bump in the night, if not one a bit disjointed in narrative.
Next up was the returning maze Trick or Treat, reimagined for 2019. A walk-through of the homes and streets of Midnight Falls, it brought back for us fond memories of ringing doorbells as children on Halloween night, albeit with a decidedly more sinister bent. The maze, overflowing with jump scares, eccentric characters (Frankenstein’s monster in a Tiki shirt!) and visually engaging design, did much to not only enrich the narrative of the attraction, but to put grins on our collective faces.
Equally as engaging was the maze Midnight Mortuary, which plopped us into a ‘choose your own adventure’ world (there are multiple paths within the maze one may select) populated with cultists and the goat beasts which they worshipped. From a giant animatronic Baphomet to tunnels which are entered via morgue cold storage lockers, things got pretty satan’y, and laughs and screams abounded.
Even the maze Roadkill Ranch, whose overly familiar narrative (cannibalistic rednecks) induced a bit of an eye-roll at first glance, proved to be quite a bit of fun. Inhabited by killers straight out of 1980’s Motel Hell and some rather convincing scare actors masquerading as besieged park visitors, the maze’s cornfield-inspired motif and saw-buzzing finale was a hoot.
Our consensus? We love The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. With free parking, VIP admission priced at a reasonable $59.99 and an ambiance unlike any other haunt in Southern California, it’s a must-visit for both haunt fans and for fans of the holiday itself. Don’t miss it.
For tickets and more info, visit The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride at https://losangeleshauntedhayride.com, and you can follow them on Instagram at @lahauntedhayride and on Twitter at @LosAngeleshaunt.
Writer’s note: our thanks to Pipere Boggio of PMK BNC for assisting in our visit.
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