DOWNTOWN — Haunted happenings are occurring all over this month. From the city’s biggest block party of the year to one of the spookiest haunted houses in the nation, downtowners are sure to have a frightening good time this Halloween. Dos Equis XX Monster Bash San Diego’s biggest Halloween block party is back! Hundreds of costumed partygoers will once again fill the outskirts of the Gaslamp Quarter on Seventh Avenue between Market and J streets and on Island Avenue between Sixth and eighth avenues for the annual Monster Bash. The madness begins on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. and lasts until midnight. The evening’s entertainment lineup, including 10 DJs, three bands, and Monster Bash’s famed $3,000 costume contest, are sure to bring a plethora of creatures out to the streets. If that isn’t enticing enough, attendees will be chilled to the bone by tantalizing superhero go-go dancers atop fully stocked bars, the first-ever all-girl DJ Sexy Slumber Party, and dance performances by Lady Gaga’s “Little Monsters.” The party doesn’t stop when the clock strikes 12, either. Monster Bash wristbands also serve as tickets for food and drink specials and entrance into the area’s hottest nightclubs. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance, visit www.sandiegomonsterbash.com or call McFarlane Promotions at (619) 233-5008. Partygoers must be 21 or older and have a valid ID to enter. Haunted Hotel Once the doors creak open at the Haunted Hotel, there is no turning back. The Haunted Hotel is located on the corner of Fourth Street and Market in a 130-year-old building, so the eerie mood is set already. Guests are welcomed into the hotel by the faint sound of cackling and buzzing chainsaws. Things start getting crazy as soon as visitors step foot into the elevator that takes them several floors below. An asylum full of clowns with chainsaws and a subway station waiting room where zombies like to hang out are just some of the frightening sights inside the hotel. If the dot room doesn’t send dizzy visitors for the exit, a creature with a chainsaw certainly will. The Haunted Hotel is open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 31. Organizers suggest buying tickets online to avoid the ticket booth line. General admission into the hotel is $15 on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and $17 on Fridays and Saturdays. The hotel is not recommended for children under 10, women who are pregnant or visitors who have a heart condition. Tickets are available online at www.hauntedhotel.com. Halloween Family Day No tricks. Children 17 and under get in free to more than a dozen museums in Balboa Park for this year’s second annual Halloween Family Day on Saturday, Oct. 30, with the purchase of an adult ticket. Treats will be in the form of hands-on activities, crafts, special tours, storytelling and many other free goodies at participating museums from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Children can get up close with creepy crawlies at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, build and decorate their own glow-in-the-dark ghostly steam engine at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, or go on a spooky tour in the San Diego Museum of Man’s Egyptian mummy collection. Children and adults alike can enjoy the special prizes given away throughout the park, including passports to Balboa Park, “Grinch” tickets at the Old Globe Theatre, Old Town Trolley tickets and Junior Theatre tickets. For a complete listing of all activities for the second annual Halloween Family Day and a map of the park, visit www.balboapark.org. Haunted Trail The Haunted Trail in Balboa Park is San Diego’s only all outdoor haunted attraction. The trail will be open until Oct. 31, but organizers recommend coming earlier in the month to avoid long waits. This terrorizing mile-long trail is no walk in the park. The path twists and turns through gnarled oaks and twisted pines with frightening surprises around every corner. A freaky toy room, a zombie-filled strobe light room and a school bus full of masked characters are only some of the attractions along the trail that send visitors running for the hills. For $5, visitors can access the black light maze where crazy carny folk lurk in the shadows, hoping to leave a carnival of carnage in their wake. They drive lost souls to the brink of insanity until they finally find their way out of the maze. The trail and maze is not recommended for children under 10. The trail is open Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 7 to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. General admission to the trail is $15 on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and $17 on Fridays and Saturdays. The Carnival of Carnage maze is $5. To purchase tickets in advance, visit www.hauntedtrail.net.
