GRIFFITH PARK—The month of October is full of frights, and the popular Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has returned to Griffith Park to add to the month’s spooky experiences.
The Haunted Hayride started seven years ago, and has grown and changed every year since then. Ten Thirty One Productions, the company that puts on the Hayride, has since expanded to put on other events such as The Great Horror Campout (also in Griffith Park), Ghost Ship Horror Cruises, and Great Horror Movie Nights in Elysian Park. This year, the Hayride has been redesigned “from the ground up.” The year’s theme is “Boogeyman”, and the event’s website promises “the darkest, scariest and most haunting experience to date.”
There are 5 different scare zones that are part of the experience: the hayride itself, a dark maze full of clowns called “The In-Between,” a door-to-door Trick or Treat experience, a claustrophobia-inducing area called House of Shadows, and Purgatory, also known as the Haunted Village. The Haunted Village area is home to a “Scary-Go-Round” ride of skeleton animals, a pumpkin carving shack, food and beverage vendors, an interactive show called Theatre Macabre, and more.
The Haunted Hayride began on October 2 and runs every weekend through the end of the month. During the first two weekends of October, the Hayride is in operation from Friday to Sunday. The third and fourth weekends of the month, the Hayride will also run on Thursday. During October’s final week, the week of Halloween, the Hayride will operate from Wednesday to Sunday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday hours are from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday hours are from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Tickets for the hayride can be purchased online. It is $30 to only ride the hayride, and $43 to access all of the scare zones. There is also a VIP, front-of-the-line pass option for $59, and group discounts are available. This event is not recommended for children under 8.
