The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has become a yearly tradition for many people in and around the Los Angeles area. It’s one of the few times a year Angelenos leave the city behind in search for something seemingly remote…and spooky.
LAHH transports its guests to Midnight Falls where its cursed denizens are reliving Halloween night over and over again in the 1980’s. This is one of our favorite experiences at LAHH, simply because of the interactions. If you’ve read any of our reviews on this site, since we don’t often get scared, we are constantly on the look out for unique experiences for those with nerves of steel. LAHH is one of those places that allows for some fantastic interactions with the citizens of Midnight Falls. Each having their own role they play within the town. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and talk to them, because you never know what secrets you’ll uncover about the town. Even if you don’t seek them out, they’ll seek you out! While they are highly entertaining and funny at times, make no mistake, these monsters can scare you as much as they make you laugh. At one point in the evening, we even saw a monster stroll through the main gift shop shouting at guests to buy him “something cute”, startling many of the people trying to purchase their souvenirs.
The musical background to your Midnight Falls experiences is Monte Revolta and his Band of the Living Dead! This “undead irreverent lounge singer” is joined by Rotly & Ms. Muerte as they “exhume an ultra shocking musical, comedy revue.” The Monte Revolta Show is a major highlight of this event for us.
His self indulgent and self deprecating rock and roll style is the absolute perfect fit for the overall all style and tone of LAHH. Additionally, they take popular songs and turn them on their heads to make them dedications to horror movies that we all know and love. Whether that’s IT, The Exorcist, Lost Boys, or Pet Cemetery; there is a song for it and an accompanying comedy act as well. We implore you to stop for one of their shows because you won’t regret it. Or I’m sure Monte would say you would regret it!
The main attractions at LAHH are: the Haunted Hayride, Midnight Mortuary: Scorched Remains, Trick or Treat, and Hellbilly Halloween. Of course the main attraction for Los Angeles Haunted Hayride…is the hayride. In year past, we’ve been disappointed with its execution. But this year didn’t heavily rely upon large scale automated animatronics. Instead focusing on scare actor driven moments that allowed for a much more varied approach.
As mentioned earlier, we simply don’t scare easy, so it delighted us to learn that there were plenty of gags that were more entertaining and fun as opposed to outright scary. With that being said, we did have some people on our hayride that flopped right in the middle of our vehicle because they got scared! Our only issue with the hayride is its extremely loose connection to the story of Midnight Falls. According to the website descriptions the Haunted Hayride sits “Within the foothills of Midnight Falls, the leaves turn brown and the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. The Witch of the Woods has cast her spell to summon the spirits of the underworld to cross over and assimilate into form. The Hayride leads to a thrilling adventure of horrors afflicting the town. Dazed within the spell cast upon them, the Witch commands her army of crops and flesh to seek revenge on the people that have casted her out. The Spirit of Halloween comes to life surrounding helpless victims brave enough to board The Hayride.” But in execution, the story is absent. I think having some more blatant references to Midnight Falls or even establishing every scene as a connected piece of story would be helpful in connecting the hayride to the overall experience of LAHH.
Also, we’d be remise if we didn’t mentioned the newly reconfigured seating arrangement for the hayride. Long gone are the piles of hay and replacing them are actual bales of hay which are significantly more comfortable.
First up of the three haunted houses is Midnight Mortuary: Scorched Remains. When LAHH first received it’s makeover with the Midnight Falls story, Midnight Mortuary was one of the most impressive haunted houses at the event. Over the years, the impressive sets disappeared and were replaced with rather simplistic black walls.
While some of the scares were effective in this house, we missed the impressive sets from years passed. Other than the name, we also think it would be difficult to recognize this haunted house as a mortuary themed attraction. As mentioned previously, the scares in this house were plentiful and even got a small wince out of Gabe! There was a fantastic moment were an actor timed her running scare with the lights overhead which lead to a rather impressive and disorienting effect!
Next up is Trick or Treat, which allows guests to visit the different neighborhood homes of Midnight Falls. In the past, this was one of our favorite experiences because it was incredibly unique. You were able to walk up to each facade and ring the doorbell. You were either greeted by being given a treat or a trick! While the layout and experience of this maze has changed over the years, it still provides a rather silly experience that we enjoy. None of the scares were complicated and they were rather simplistic in nature, but were incredibly effective.
While enjoyable, we think this experience needs an upgrade from it’s current iteration. Something that better reflects the idea of trick or treating (handing out candy at each house would be fun) or furthering the story of the maze with the overall concept of Midnight Falls.
Lastly, we have Hellbilly Halloween, which is the newest maze at LAHH and our favorite of our visit. Not only is the facade and entrance into this haunted house impressive, but the experience as a whole was flawless for us. There were plenty of monsters and the maze was incredibly long. For an event where each person only gets to enter each haunted house once, you’ll want your moneys worth and we think everyone will get it from this maze alone.
We actually had a major highlight of the entire season happen inside this maze! There is a section of the maze where you’re traversing brick ladened walls and we were being harassed and followed by one specific character. They would appear in front of us, almost as if by some spooky halloween magic. It equally made us laugh and creeped us out. It’s one of the moments that we will remember for years to come.
If you’re headed out to the event this year, do not miss Hellbilly Halloween. It’s a shining example of the amazing work LAHH is capable of creating.
OVERALL
We didn’t attend LAHH in 2022, but visiting in 2023 reminded us why we love this event so very much. While Los Angeles Haunted Hayride might have flaws in some places, it does more than enough to help us forget its shortcomings. With amazing atmosFEAR, a rock and roll style all its own and fun attractions, LAHH is a perfect option for those who might be a bit timid in the halloween space. Yes, there are plenty of frights to go around, but there are plenty of laughs too, that will get even the biggest scaredy cat to have fun. Additionally, there are plenty of food options for those wanting to make a full night out of the event and plenty of incredible merch options for those wanting to take home a great souvenir. With cost starting at $29.99, Los Angeles Haunted Hayride delivers quality experiences for those not looking to break the bank. Let us just put it this way, we’d be happy to become permanent residents of Midnight Falls!
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LOS ANGELES HAUNTED HAYRIDE AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS, CLICK HERE
Last note for those who made it down to the bottom of the page…best part of staying late at LAHH is being able to snag a traditional LA hotdog from one of the many street vendors!
Theme Park Duo 
What an incredible review! It had me feeling all the chills and thrills. Your detailed account of the attractions, the spooky atmosphere, and the overall experience really brought the event to life. It sounds like an absolute must-visit for anyone who loves Halloween and a good scare. Thank you for sharing such a vivid and engaging review. I can’t wait to experience it for myself next year!
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