Halloween and Día de Los Muertos bring out all manner of things that go bump in the night and Point Loma residents this year are going all out with parties, decorations, costume contests, pumpkin carving, and trick-or-treating.

HAUNTED HOUSE

There is a “real” haunted house featuring a half-dozen animatronic characters including pirates, eerie twins, spooky banjo players, and even a rooftop skeletal surfer and dog at the home of Alexandra Watkins and Glenn Millar at 1835 Venice St. The pair have made Halloween decorating a family tradition, wherein they try and outdo themselves every year. This is the fourth year they’ve haunted their neighborhood.

“We love it,” said Watkins of their constantly growing yard display. “Every year we add something new. This year the big new things are our OBooo display with upcycled Halloween lights, and our skeletal duo, Kentucky and Derby, a surfer and dog up on the roof with blue Mohawks and sunglasses.”

Watkins said she and Millar put their Halloween decorations up the first week of October, adding most of the display remains in place the week after the holiday. But some of their display favorites stay up all year, like pirates in a crow’s nest in a palm tree in their front yard. “Glenn put it up there, and the kids really liked it, so we leave it up,” said Watkins who added one of their favorite buccaneers is named Artieeeee.

Watkins and Millar both get a lot of satisfaction out of being creative year after year with their frightening display, and their payoff is seeing people’s positive reactions. “One neighbor refers to our place as the pirate house, and said it is their favorite,” Watkins said adding, “Kids come by our house all the time. One of the greatest things about our Halloween display is the window with two creepy little girl twins. That seems to be the thing that scares people the most. That and the creepy dueling banjo skeletons.”

Alexandra said she and Glenn think of their Halloween display as “our contribution to the community. We both have a good sense of humor and we like to have fun. It’s just a way to give back. We love the smiles on kids faces and love seeing cars pull up year-round to see the pirates in the front yard.”

The pair also pass out a fair amount of candy for trick-or-treating. “During COVID, Glenn built a long tube and rolled candy, pirate eyeballs, all the way down the tube into kids trick-or-treat bags, and that was popular,” Watkins said.

MONSTER BASH

For the first time in three years, Loma Portal Elementary School will be holding its Monster Bash on campus at 3341 Browning St. on Friday, Oct. 28 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Event co-chair Laureene Buck noted the creepy school tradition started in 2008 as a fundraiser and has just grown ever since. She said the elementary school’s Dad’s Club does the haunted house portion of the event, which began in the school’s auditorium and has since shifted to a hallway.

Buck noted the Monster Bash celebration has many facets. “Our nonprofit Loma Portal Foundation, with moms co-chairing, puts on the rest of the carnival,” she said, adding this year’s bash will include food treats, a pony ride, a petting zoo, face painting, henna tattoos, and balloon twisting. “We’ll have bounce slides, an inflatable obstacle course, a food truck, tons of games, a photo booth, a costume, and a pumpkin contest where we’re asking kids to bring an already decorated pumpkin,” added Buck.

The school’s Dad’s Club, as usual, is going all out this year to curate the haunted hallway. “They’ll be doing all sorts of things with animatronics, dry ice, smoke, and sound effects,” Buck said. “There will be a mad scientist. There will be a lot of fun and spooky things.”

LPE still needs volunteers to stage the event. Email [email protected] or [email protected] if you can help with games or decorations.

MUSIC MANIACS

The Holding Company, Ocean Beach’s three-story music venue, bar, and restaurant at 5046 Newport Ave., is holding its free EMO Halloween party with performances by Sang The Sorrow, Blazin Jane, and Lust for Life on Friday, Oct. 28 starting at 5 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to stop by before the show to enjoy The Holding Company’s award-winning, over-the-top cocktails, Asian fusion menu, and rooftop, sunset views.

STATION SPOOKTACULAR

Liberty Station is holding its annual Halloween at the Station on Sunday, Oct. 30 from noon-4 p.m. This all-ages, free event includes live music, crafts, entertainers, and an all-ages costume contest, with a pets round too. Additionally, select Liberty Station businesses will open their doors for attendees to enjoy trick-or-treating. Liberty Station is also home to a pop-up pumpkin patch now through Oct. 31. Goff Family Pumpkin Patch at Liberty Station holds movie nights, story times, and costume contests, and it has a Tap Truck on-site that dispenses beer and wine.

SUPERNATURAL CENTER

Ocean Beach Recreation Center at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. is holding a free, low-key Halloween-themed event outside featuring games, food, and arts and crafts on Saturday, Oct. 29 from noon-2 p.m. There will be no costume contest this year.

PUMPKIN CARVING

OB Women’s Club is holding a pumpkin carving contest again this year starting at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 2160 Bacon St. The event is BYOP, bring your own pumpkin and carving tools. Judged categories include the most creative pumpkin, scariest pumpkin, most creative pumpkin, and most OB pumpkin. Last year’s most OB contest winner was a pumpkin regurgitating seeds. You don’t have to be Michael Myers to try your hand at carving, Just come out and join the fun.

ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN

Halloween or Hallowe’en is celebrated in many countries on Oct. 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints and martyrs. One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which is believed to have pagan roots.

It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America. Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots. In Cajun areas, a nocturnal mass is said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Blessed candles are placed on graves, and families sometimes spend the entire night at gravesides. Halloween celebration was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and celebrated, coast to coast, by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century. Halloween traditions spread to many other countries, including mainland Europe, by the late 20th and 21st centuries.

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS

The roots of the Día de Los Muertos celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and internationally, go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and others living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life.

Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting place. In rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family members provided food, water, and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey. This inspired the contemporary Día de Los Muertos in which people leave food or other offerings on their loved ones’ graves, or set them out on altars called ofrendas in their homes.