Halloween Events in San Diego

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 kids of all ages.

Fun For the Little Ones

• Shamu and the gang will get into the "spirit" of Halloween with a not-too-scary celebration featuring festive family fun on Saturdays and Sundays from late September through October. Guests at SeaWorld's Halloween Spooktacular will enjoy animal meet and greets, special Halloween shows and colorful costumed characters, plus "Countdown to Halloween," at Sesame Street's Bay of Play musical stage, features Count Von Count, Elmo and friends. Kids are encouraged to come in costume and use their Spooktacular maps to trick or treat at sea-themed stations.
• Calling all monsters, mermaids, witches, robots and pirates to LEGOLAND California Brick-or-Treat Party Nights. Every Saturday evening in October, 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.
• Lighting up the night this October at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido is the family friendly fall event, RISE of the Jack O'Lanterns! Come see more than 5,000 hand-carved illuminated jack o'lanterns created by professional artists and sculptors arranged in creative ways along a 1/3-mile scenic walking trail all set to an original music score produced exclusively for The RISE!
• Dress up your little ghouls and goblins for San Diego's only spooktacular Halloween parade, The Boulevard Boo! Parade.
• It's a Halloween celebration by the beach! Boomont Park Fall Festival and Haunt offers family fun including the kid-friendly haunted house Boomont Manor, a pumpkin patch, zombie laser tag, a spooky Giant Dipper roller coaster and free trick-or-treating.
• The annual HauntFest on Main is an exciting family friendly event in Downtown El Cajon featuring live music on 2 stages, costume contests, carnival rides and games, a Terror Truck, candy trails, a Kidz Zone with outdoor movies, craft and game booths, pumpkin patch and more!

Mayhem at the Museums

• In October, the Whaley House Museum is home to a host of "Spirited" Halloween Events with extended hours, period lighting and music, exclusive guided tours, an off-site tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery and after-hours ghost hunts.
• The country's largest urban cultural park hosts Balboa Park Halloween Family Day, a park-wide Halloween Family Day in late October. Many of the park's organizations, including the San Diego Zoo, open their doors to kids free of charge. Children aged 12 and under get in free with a paid adult admission into over a dozen of the park's museums; children aged 11 and under get in free at the San Diego Zoo regardless of paid adult admission; and families can enjoy together a rich variety of free hands-on activities, special tours, storytelling, music, performances and special programs.
• Ghouls and kids of all ages can gather for the spooky, sea-faring Haunted Aquarium: Shipwrecked! at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. 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 to be entered for a raffle prize.
• Climb aboard the Maritime Museum of San Diego's Star of India for Haunted Tales of our Seafaring Past featuring 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 creepy events that occurred aboard the historic vessel.
• Join the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association in their annual Pumpkin Express Halloween Celebration. Come ride our decorated vintage railcars through the San Diego county mountains as fall descends upon Campo, CA. Walk through their themed Display Building complete with two haunted trains, a pumpkin patch, and our creepy cast of ghosts and ghouls.

Haunted Houses, Hayrides and More

• Screamin' good times await brave souls at the Gaslamp Quarter's popular annual haunted house,The Haunted Hotel. Hollywood's scariest horror film haunts come to life in the rooms and hallways of this historic downtown building.
• Visitors are invited to run for their lives on The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, a mile-long trail through the twisted grove of pines and gnarled oaks.
• San Diego County's largest haunted attraction, The Scream Zone, features the House of Horror, Haunted Hayride and the Chamber boasts 8 chambers filled with fiends, apparitions and scares. The Haunted Hayride takes visitors on a journey through the back barns of the Fairgrounds where it is dark, cold and haunted.
• The Sheriff's Department is allowing the general public to tour this Savage House of horrors now that the crime scene has been secured...or has it?

Tricks and Treats for Big Kids

• Night crawlers will enjoy the annual Monster Bash. This annual outdoor party covering eight blocks of downtown's historic Gaslamp Quarter will feature bewitching live bands on three stages and an extreme costume contest.
• Seeking a spooktacular steal to experience Halloween festivities in the ghoulish Gaslamp Quarter? A San Diego Zombie Crawl ticket admits you to 20 Halloween Parties along the famous 5th Avenue with 13 welcome shots and more treats included!
• Home of famous resident ghost Kate Morgan, the Hotel del Coronado gets into the spirit of the season during its annual Hallo-wine and Spirits Party. On The Del's ghoulishly-decorated Garden Patio, guests can enjoy grown-up trick-or-treating along with a variety of wine, cheese and chocolate tastings from the hotel's ENO wine bar, then progress to the Crown Room for DJ music, dancing and hors d'oeuvres. A special Halloween-themed Kidtopia is also available for kids ages four to 12 at the Hotel del Coronado.
• San Diego's uptown community of Hillcrest offers devilish delights during Nightmare on Normal Street, an annual Halloween street party and costume contest on at the San Diego LGBT Community Center. Festivities include music, food, a beer garden and other ghoulish entertainment.
• Plan your spookiest costumes, grab your friends and get your freak on at the Hard Rock Horror Story! It's going to be the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego's biggest Halloween bash yet with 20+ DJs providing beats in five epic spaces and surprises around every corner.
• Guests will feel a haunted aura come over them as they enter Haunted Harrah's Halloween. A complete takeover with multiple stages, 30+ DJ's, and full of incredible, ghostly decorations.
• Prepare for the ultimate Halloween party cruise that will be transformed into a haunting Titanic Masquerade, filled with over 1000 Ghosts & Ghouls raised from the dead of the historic Titanic that sank hundreds of years ago