Halloween Happenings in San Diego
Party it up at Monster Bash in the Gaslamp Quarter Dare to be scared at the Whaley House Enjoy family friendly halloween events
Joe Timko, 619-557-2812
Kate Buska, 619-557-2889
Stephenie Medina, 619-557-2838 SEPTEMBER 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS IN SAN DIEGO Mild autumn breezes in San Diego usually echo the region’s welcoming spirit, but as the end of October approaches a spooky wind sweeps in and strange things begin to go bump in the night. From family-friendly fright fests and historically-haunted tours, to terror-filled scream zones and wild, trick-or-treat parties, Halloween in San Diego is crazy fun for ghouls and boys of all ages.
AMERICA’S MOST HAUNTED
- The Whaley House in Old Town is “The Most Haunted House in America,” according to Life Magazine. Its haunted reputation attracts visitors from around the globe and has lead to numerous televised ghost investigations seeking to connect with the spirits believed to inhabit the historic property. Former residents Thomas Whaley, his wife Anna and their daughter Violet are rumored to still inhabit the house. The most famous spirit is “Yankee Jim” Robinson, a convicted desperado who was hanged on the grounds where the Whaley House now stands in September 1852, a few years before the building was constructed. Legend states that his spirit never left the spot where the gallows stood, and he now roams the halls built by San Diego pioneer, Thomas Whaley.
This Halloween, the Whaley House is home to a host of “spirited” events with extended hours, period lighting and music, exclusive guided tours (Oct. 26-28 at 10:20 p.m., $25 per person), an off-site tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery (Oct. 25 at 1-4 p.m., $25 per person) and after-hours ghost hunts (Oct. 16 and 23-24 at 12:30 a.m., $25 per person). www.whaleyhouse.org
FUN FOR LITTLE SCREAMERS
- Shamu and the gang will get into the “spirit” of Halloween with a new, not-too-scary celebration, SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular, featuring festive family fun on Saturdays and Sundays, Oct. 3–Nov. 1. SeaWorld’s walrus, sea lion and otter comedy team will star in a Halloween show called Clyde and Seamore’s Trick or Treat, and Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween musical will entertain the littlest guests. Other festive fun will include cookie decorating and photo opportunities with Halloween-costumed characters. Park hours during Spooktacular will be 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. www.seaworldspooktacular.com
- LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad is calling all monsters, mermaids, witches, robots and pirates to its Halloween celebration – Brick-or-Treat Party Nights. Every Saturday in October 5-9 p.m., the family theme park is transformed into a not-too-spooky Halloween haven featuring costume contests, nighttime trick-or-treating on the Brick-or-Treat Trail, live music and entertainment. Little ghosts and goblins can also enjoy activities like building glow-in-the-dark treats, a dance-off with special prizes for the best dancer and the Howler of the Hour contest for young guests who really want to scream. Every day throughout the month of October, families can also climb aboard a giant jack-o-lantern to capture a fun and memorable photo. The jack-o-lantern is more than 7 feet wide, made of 22,000 DUPLO bricks and weighs 850 pounds. All Halloween festivities are included in the price of a regular one-day admission. During Brick-or-Treat, the park is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. www.legoland.com
- On Friday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m., Fiesta de Reyes in Old Town State Historic Park will kick off a fun, freaky evening with a “Beetlejuice” movie night under the stars. Tim Burton’s famous “bio-exorcist” film will be projected on a big outdoor screen, and visitors are invited to bring a warm blanket and enjoy the movie with friends and family. Admission is free. www.fiestadereyes.com
- On Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 9-31, Old Town State Historic Park will host hilarious ghost tours through the park at 6:30 and 7 p.m. Lead by an unfortunately clueless ghost hunter, the tours will introduce participants to plenty of ghosts, many of them real San Diegans who experienced tragic deaths in Old Town during the 1800s. Tours will meet at the Old Town Visitor Center on Twiggs Street, located at the entrance to the park. Tickets will be available at the Visitor Center for $10 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com for $8 plus a service fee.
- Trick-or-treaters are invited to visit Old Town State Historic Park 4-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 to collect goodies from the park’s participating shops and museums where resident shopkeepers are always dressed in period costume. The haunting evening continues at 8 p.m. with a live story telling of Old Town’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow, occuring in the spooky yard behind the Seeley Stables on Old Town’s main plaza. Both events are free. http://parks.ca.gov/?page_id=663
MAYHEM AT THE MUSEUMS - Balboa Park, the country’s largest urban cultural park, will host a park-wide Halloween Family Day on Oct. 31 when all the park’s organizations, including the San Diego Zoo, will open their doors to kids free of charge. Children aged 17 and under will get in free with a paid adult admission into the park’s 15 museums; children aged 12 and under will get in free at the San Diego Zoo with a paid adult admission, and families can enjoy together a rich variety of free hands-on activities, music, performances and special programs. For example, the Japanese Friendship Garden will host Japanese crafts and treats for children in costume; the Mingei International Museum will teach Mexican cut paper crafts; the Museum of Photographic Arts will show films in collaboration with San Diego Children’s Film Festival; the San Diego Air & Space Museum will build paper pumpkins with parachutes and launch a Great (real) Pumpkin off the roof attached to a da Vinci-style parachute, and the San Diego Natural History Museum will offer bat-themed crafts and costume parades. www.balboapark.org
- Ghouls and boys of all ages can gather for the spooky, sea-faring Haunted Birch Aquarium at Scripps 6-9 p.m. on Oct. 23-24. Each evening, the famous marine life facility comes alive with creeps from the deep, wacky mad scientist experiments, tricky-treats, slimy encounters, spooky activities and monstrous live music. Families are encouraged to come dressed to impress for the costume contest, held each evening. Prizes will be awarded for the best marine-themed, family-themed and most creative costumes. The event is open to guests of all ages and costs $15 per person. Children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Light refreshments will be provided. http://aquarium.ucsd.edu
- From 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 30-31, ghosts, goblins, pirates and princesses will gather at the San Diego Maritime Museum aboard the Star of India for ghostly lantern-led tours of the historic ship and hear eerie legends from the ship’s past. During the tours, costumed docents will share tales of how young John Campbell fell to his death from the rigging, how an Army Captain on the ship slit his throat and more creepy events that occurred aboard the historic vessel. The museum will also host a carnival 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Oct. 31 with games, prizes, food and costume contests for parents and kids of all ages. Lantern-led tours are included with the general museum admission; admission to the carnival is an additional $5 per person. www.sdmaritime.org
- In October, the William Heath Davis House Museum, located in downtown San Diego’s oldest building, will become the frightful Dreaded Davis House. Throughout the month, the museum will be decorated with spooky, scary decorations that promise to tingle the spines of visitors, young and old alike. Guests touring the museum will find that something spooky lurks around every corner, while learning fun facts about downtown San Diego’s colorful history. The museum is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesdays–Saturdays and 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for seniors, military and children. www.gaslampquarter.org
- The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum at the historic Campo Depot in San Diego’s East County invites families to board the Pumpkin Express and ride the rails to the great pumpkin patch. In addition to a scenic one-hour train ride, kids can tour the haunted train, pick out a pumpkin and decorate it on-site. The train rides are available on Oct. 17-18, 24-25 and 31 with departures at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Cost for the train ride, haunted train tour, pumpkin and decorations are $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-12 and $5 for children ages 5 and under. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged; tickets will be sold on the day of each event, but the museum cannot guarantee availability of pumpkins to walk-up guests. www.psrm.org
HAUNTED HOUSES, HAYRIDES AND MORE - In downtown san Diego, Screamin' good times await brave souls at the Gaslamp Quarter's popular annual haunted house, The Haunted Hotel. Open Sept. 25-Oct. 31, Hollywood’s scariest horror film haunts come to life in the rooms and hallways of this historic downtown building. Visitors are also invited to run for their lives on the Haunted Trail of Terror in Balboa Park, Sept. 25-Oct. 31. The Haunted Hotel is open 7-11 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and 6 p.m.-1 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The Trail of Terror is open 7-10 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and 7 p.m. - midnight on Saturdays and Sundays. Both attractions are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays except for Oct. 26-27. Tickets are $14.99 per person. www.hauntedhotel.com
- Downtown San Diego’s newest spooky attraction is the twin terrors of Scareventures. By day, family-friendly frights are served up at the Pirates of Market Street, a walk-through adventure filled with special effects like cannon fire and supernatural spirits that tell the story of Capt’n Bones’ stolen treasure and Don Diablo, the double-crossing renegade. Daytime guests can also encounter the Creatures of the Abyss, a 3-D black-light walk-through tour that takes them through the wonders and dangers of the deep. At night, both attractions are amplified with live actors and scary surprises, which are advised for those at least 13 years and older. The Scareventures attractions are open on select dates and times, Sept. 25-Oct. 31. Tickets are $9.99 per person during the day and $14.99 after dark. www.scareventures.com
- The Scream Zone, San Diego County’s largest haunted attraction featuring the House of Horror, Haunted Hayride and the Chamber, will open in late September at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The House of Horror (not recommended for children under the age of 10) boasts 8 chambers filled with fiends, apparitions and scares. The Chamber is a twisting, turning labyrinth of thrills and chills inhabited by terrifying ghouls and monsters. The Haunted Hayride takes visitors on a journey through the back barns of the Fairgrounds where it is dark, cold and haunted. The actual dates for The Scream Zone are Sept. 25-26 (no Haunted Hayride on these dates), Oct. 2-4, Oct. 8- 11, Oct. 15-18 and Oct. 22-31. The Scream Zone opens at 7 p.m. and closes at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and at 11 p.m. on all other evenings. Admission costs are $14.99 for one attraction, $18 for two and $27.99 for three. www.thescreamzone.comTRICKS AND TREATS FOR BIG KIDS
- Downtown San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter will transform into a haven for ghoulish fun this Halloween with cobwebs and skulls festooning its famous gaslamps; the neighborhood will also play host freakish events like Zombie Walk on Oct. 10. This ghoulish event features throngs of “undead” volunteers marching through the streets in full costume. Exact time and location are TBA. www.sdzombiewalk.com
- Night crawlers will enjoy the annual Monster Bash in the Gaslamp Quarter occurring 6 p.m. - midnight on Oct. 31. This annual outdoor party in the streets of downtown’s historic Gaslamp Quarter will feature bewitching live bands and an extreme costume contest. The ticketed event is for guests ages 21 and older; tickets cost $20 for advanced purchases and $25 at the door. www.myspace.com/gaslampmonsterbash
- San Diego's uptown neighborhood of Hillcrest offers devilish delights during Nightmare on Normal Street, an annual Halloween street party and costume contest hosted by the San Diego LGBT Community Center. Festivities include adult beverages, drag queen hostesses, DJs and other ghoulish entertainment. The fun occurs 6-10 p.m. on Oct. 31. The ticketed event is for guests ages 21 and older; tickets cost $5 at the gate. www.thecentersd.org
- Hornblower Cruises is partnering with local radio station 91X for a rock ‘n’ roll Halloween Cruise on Oct. 31 on San Diego Bay. San Diego indie band Transfer headlines an evening that includes live DJs, a costume contest and spooktacular drink specials. The boat boards at 7 p.m. and returns at 10 p.m. to shore. This is a ticketed event for guests ages 21 and older; tickets cost $20 per person. Advance purchase is recommended. www.hornblower.com.
TERROR-FILLED TOURS
- The Anza-Borrego Desert in San Diego’s East County is home to a haunted history of early travelers who journeyed from Yuma, AZ to San Diego by way of a stage line known as “The Devil’s Highway” and the “Journey of Death.” En route on this treacherous journey, Anza-Borrego claimed the lives of hundreds of travelers who are rumored to still haunt the desert grounds. On Oct. 17 and 31, guests can join paranormalist Charles Spartley on the Ghosts and Legends of the Anza-Borrego Desert tour, an open-air vehicle tour of Anza-Borrego’s most haunted areas. Guests can partake in a six-hour evening tour ($75 for adults, $50 for children ages 12 and under) or stay the night and camp outside among the stars and spirits ($150 for adult, check for family pricing). All camping gear is provided; reservations are required. www.californiaoverland.com
- Haunted San Diego Ghost Tours offers year-round tours of San Diego’s scariest sites from the comfort of their ghostly-themed minibus. Tours depart Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and include real live tales of terror told by fully-costumed guides at the sites where the horror happened like downtown’s Horton Grand Hotel, the William Heath Davis House Museum, Villa Montezuma, Old Town’s oldest cemetery and the Whaley House, the most haunted house in America. Tours start at 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays-Mondays and cost $35 per person. www.hauntedsandiegotours.com
- Ghostly Tours in History offers a variety of phantasmagorical experiences during September through November. Three-hour ghost tours in a limousine depart from Old Town State Historic Park at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays-Thursdays and include stops at a haunted ship, Victorian mansion and graveyard or two. The cost is $50 per person. Also available are one-hour guided walking tours led by fully-costumed storytellers of the Gaslamp Quarter, starting at 7:30 p.m., and Old Town, starting at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., on Thursdays-Saturdays. The cost is $10 per person. www.ghostlytoursinhistory.com
Happy happens in San Diego. For more information on San Diego, including exciting vacation packages and valuable coupons for attractions, restaurants and more, visit the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau's Web site, www.sandiego.org, or call 619-236-1212. In San Diego, visit the International Visitor Information Center, located at the corner of West Broadway and Harbor Drive in downtown San Diego, or the La Jolla Visitor Center, located at the corner of Herschel Avenue and Prospect Street in La Jolla.
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