How LA’s Halloween Playground, Haunt O’ Ween, Reinvented Itself Again This Year

Hidden Hollows leads to Ghoul City by means of a 45-foot-long rock tunnel. The installation, which Smith said is one of Experiential Supply Co.’s “biggest to date,” was inspired “from the idea of smashing together Dick Tracy and Gotham City.” The result? “Lots of colors and vibrancy with, of course, a Halloween overlay.” Expect a 1921 Model T Paddy Wagon photo op, face painting stations, and a Happy Dad Speakeasy for adults. Once in Ghoul City, kids and adults alike are “encouraged to ‘tag’ the city with chalk spray paint,” he added.Photo: Courtesy of Experiential Supply Co.LOS ANGELES—A 220,000-square-foot corner of LA’s Westfield Promenade has been transformed into Haunt O’ Ween. The Halloween-themed playground is like a town in its design, with a welcome arch, ranch, scenic paths, and express lanes to the on-site graveyard, Hidden Hollows, as well as Ghoul City.

This year, “everything’s new,” said Jasen Smith, the chief experience officer of Experiential Supply Co., the production company that’s been behind the event since its inception. It’s no surprise, really, considering contracting COVID is much less of a concern than it was when Haunt O’ Ween debuted as a pandemic-friendly drive-through experience in 2020. Since Sept. 30 of this year, the LA-based experiential company was evidently able to spread its experiential wings outside of the confines of car windows and sanitizing stations.

There’s nine thematic environments, beginning with a quintessential photo op under the Haunt O’ Ween arch before entering into the Funnybones Ranch and winding through a 45-foot tunnel to Hidden Hollows and Ghoul City, which Smith said “was one of the biggest installations we’ve done to date.”

“There’s three exits from Ghoul City that take you into the Beyond The Grave Rave!,” which Smith explained infuses neons, florals, and glow-in-the-dark hair hay (yes, you read that right) into the usual Halloween-centric things that notoriously accompany the holiday. Oh, and the rave all takes place within a 60-foot geodesic dome constructed in partnership with Universal Music and Interscope Records to play Imagine Dragons’ new single, “Bones.”

After feeling danced out, guests are directed to Moon Light Magic, which Smith explained is “anchored around witchcraft, magic, and spooky wonder” complete with bubbling cauldron shows, DIY potion-making classes, and “a video op that has you soaring over Haunt O’ Ween.”

Not to be missed is the signature 100-foot pumpkin tunnel that “has become one of the most photographed and videoed sets of the entire experience,” Smith said, attributing its photo-worthiness to the “hundreds of dimensional jack-o-lanterns illuminated by thousands of LED lights” it takes to construct the “magical immersive moment.”

Keep scrolling to see inside, plus hear more from Smith about on-site activations, themed F&B, Haunt O’ Ween’s expansion to the East Coast, and more.