Spooky Sweet Times at the Zoo

A couple of seasonal events bring chills, thrills

Beasties, though they may be fairly tame, unterested in human interaction and highly content to go about their personal business, very often find themselves at the center of a big Halloween movie.

Snakes? Yep, they've cameo'd in a few (hello, "Raiders of the Lost Ark"). Spiders? If there's a creepy haunted house a spider or a hundred will be found within -- and don't even start us on "Arachnophobia." Even frogs have been feted in the fright genre.

The LA Zoo's annual Halloween shindigs perfectly fit the season, at least where the fictional side of animals is concerned. Nope, a swarm of frogs probably won't chase visitors into a murky bog, but we will spend our time Boo at the Zoo admiring koalas, waving at gorillas, and enjoying the Halloween-y haps.

Like? Spooky campfire tales, pumpkin carving, bags o' treats, and the ever-popular, open-Instagram Chomp and Stomp. Monkeys gnawing on gourds and squash? Call everyone who has ever used the word "cute" and tell them you've found something cuter.

Boo at the LA Zoo is going for two weekends this year: Oct. 19-20 and Oct. 26-27.

If you want something slightly scarier -- and designed for the all-grown-up crowd -- there is an Oct. 25 bash called Night of the Living Zoo. Heck, that's cute, too, though this one indeed is for adults only. "Creepy cocktails" are promised, DJs, food trucks, live music, psychic stations, and other such macabre-y merriment.

You'll probably department that one without a band of possessed toads on the chase, too. We know, that's disappointing, and Halloween pop culture has made us expect certain terrifying, anthropomorphic behaviors from our animal friends.

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They're pretty sweet, though, Halloween or not. We'll make an exception for giant, red-eyed, hill-climbing spiders, though. They're not real, right?

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