Look, let's not beat around the diving board: It's hot in Southern California, really hot, August-style hot, and that happens to be the middle of October has more than a few Halloween fans a mite steamed.
We get it. You hear the changing leaves back east, you see the steaming mugs of cider on various commercials, and you want all of that, right now, right here.
It's not to be, yet, not in the land where fall arrives in December and spring ends at the Fourth of July. But look at it this way: You can be outdoors, at night, at the LA Haunted Hayride, and you won't need to wear two pairs of mittens to weather the experience.
You will, however, need a lot of bravado and derring-do, because this is not the song-and-sweetness hayride frequently seen in the Hollywood movies of yore; it's really scary, with a lot of jump-out-at-ya characters, so best leave your puffed-sleeve gingham dress and songbook at home.
Or, sure, why not, wear your gingham dress, if that's your jam: It'll probably be warm enough.
The hayride, which rambles through a shadowy and appropriately rustic corner of Griffith Park, has become a spooky staple on the Los Angeles Halloween attraction scene.
Now it in its lucky seventh year, the hayride isn't just a hayride but a series of scare zones and terrifying to-dos. The 2015 scare zones boast a new area called House of Shadows and Trick or Treat, which is also debuting. The In-Between Dark Maze is back, "with an all-new twist," and there's a place called Purgatory, if you're up for taking a pleasant evening stroll into a place called Purgatory.
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Wait, we meant "pleasant," in quotes. "Pleasant" evening stroll.
The hayride is also fresh "from the ground up," so even if you're a long-time attendee, you won't know which shoulder to look over as you go deeper into the trees.
Don't be too cocky, in other words; even venerable Halloween events know how to change things up, chillingly, in the scare-the-guests department.
So the prickly goosebumps you get on your arms will actually be honest-to-scared goosebumps and not, most likely, from the cool temperatures outside. There's one strange part of the lasting heat: If you're scared at a Halloween happening, you can't blame the brisk weather.
But we may get brisk weather yet for those who like to don a sweater on a hayride, even a frightening one. The LA Haunted Hayride clip-clops on select nights right into Halloween.
Which may be chilly this year, or not, but we've gotta give it up for the LA ghoulies who love to celebrate the scary season even while temps stay toasty. It may not seem like a traditional autumn, as of yet, 'round these sunny parts, but that can't stop fright fans for visiting all the eerie attractions, even if they have to do so in shorts and t-shirts.
