The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is heading back into the dark corners of Griffith Park for an 18th season, bringing back a fan-favorite scare that has been missing since 2014 and pouring alcohol on-site for the first time in the event's history. Tickets are already on sale for the run, which stretches across select nights from September 18 through November 1.
According to KTLA, the towering sway poles are returning to the Old LA Zoo grounds for the first time since 2014, giving longtime attendees back one of the attraction's most talked-about physical scares. The haunt is also introducing alcohol sales for guests 21 and older, a first for an event that has spent nearly two decades luring Angelenos into its dark trails without a drink in hand.
The Griffith Park haunt traces its roots to 2009, when co-founders Melissa Carbone and Alyson Richards launched it under Ten Thirty One Productions at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas before the event permanently relocated to Griffith Park's Old LA Zoo site the following year. The abandoned animal enclosures and dark natural trails at that site have shaped the haunt's atmosphere ever since.
A New Heavy-Metal Horror Story
This year's headline addition is Fallen Angel, a new scene that transports guests to the Condemned Halo Theatre on the Sunset Strip. Per KTLA's reporting, the scene depicts a heavy metal band dying in a pyrotechnics mishap while rehearsing its biggest show, set 41 years after the band's death. Fans in the scene believe guests are the band itself and perform a ritual meant to make sure the show goes on.
Fallen Angel joins a lineup of returning fan favorites including Hellbilly Halloween and Elvira's Trick or Treat Mayhem, plus new scenes layered throughout the trail with original musical scores and immersive soundscaping, KTLA reports. Guests can also explore the fictional town of Midnight Falls, the haunt's central story setting. That 1980s-set lore, in which the town perpetually relives Halloween night 1985, is being expanded in 2026 through Madame Aurora's séance show, according to All Hallows Geek. The site notes that the 2026 lineup also introduces Allister, a pyromaniac antagonist banished from Midnight Falls in 1981 who returns as the bloody evil twin of resident prankster Herschel.
Games, Food and a Redesigned Drive-In
Beyond the scare zones, the event offers interactive add-ons including mini escape games, Midnight Falls axe throwing, and a Zombie Splat Gellyball experience, per KTLA. The trail itself has gotten a production upgrade this year, with All Hallows Geek reporting that scene choreography was directed by celebrity choreographer Bobby Newberry alongside a redesigned drive-in spectacle.
Food options have also expanded. The returning Cider Mill Experience serves warm apple cider and fresh apple cider doughnuts, KTLA reports, while All Hallows Geek notes that the 2026 season adds a culinary partnership with plant-based quick-service restaurant Mr. Charlie's inside Midnight Falls. S'mores stations round out the seasonal offerings, and guests can browse seasonal merchandise on-site.
Getting There: New Traffic Pattern in the Park
Drivers headed to the event this year should plan for a changed route into Griffith Park. Crystal Springs Drive has been reduced to one lane in each direction to accommodate a new bike lane, and organizers are recommending guests enter via the park's northwest entrance, according to the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. Free off-site parking is available at the northwest corner of the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, with complimentary shuttle buses running to the entrance trail; the final return shuttle departs 30 minutes after the event closes each night.
A Local Startup Turned National Halloween Brand
The hayride's growth over the years mirrors a broader shift toward corporate consolidation in immersive Halloween entertainment. In 2013, founder Melissa Carbone pitched Ten Thirty One Productions on Shark Tank and secured a $2 million investment for a 20% stake from Mark Cuban, at the time the largest single investment in the show's history, before selling the business to Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group in 2018. Thirteenth Floor now bills itself as the world's largest Halloween-themed entertainment company, managing more than 15 attractions nationwide, including two other major Southern California fall draws: Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in Long Beach and Delusion in Los Angeles, whose 15th-anniversary run inside a West Adams mansion was covered by Hoodline earlier this month.
The Griffith Park attraction has weathered disruption before. During the 2020 pandemic, organizers temporarily relocated the event out of Griffith Park to San Dimas, converting it into a drive-in movie theater experience with roaming scare actors before the hayride returned to its Old LA Zoo home in 2021. Ticket prices for the 2026 season start at $38.99, with select nights running through November 1.
