Haunted houses horrify the Bay Area

Good scares, good food, and good fun… haunted houses are popping up around the Bay this year, giving the community a chance to treat themselves to a scary good time. Many of these attractions are locally funded and locally run, with lots of fun ideas and themes behind them. If there’s one thing we love in the Bay, it’s something scary!

In its 33rd year, Pirates of Emerson is nothing short of a local tradition. Located in Pleasanton, people flock to its gates every year and can’t wait to see just what kind of scares the themed haunted houses will provide. Almost every year, Pirates provides a strobe-light maze and their titular haunted house, Pirates of Emerson. Besides that, they switch up their attraction annually. Clowns, dolls, and even Christmas aren’t safe from being respun into an iconic haunted house. Admission for the event starts at $40, and it extends throughout the entire month of October.

A new attraction has also popped up at NewPark Mall in Newark: Fear Overload. Locally founded and locally run, Fear Overload is an atmospheric (and less expensive) alternative to Pirates of Emerson, with a fee of $19.99 for a normal ticket. The attraction is a walkthrough “Scare Park” with actors in costumes, all hiding at set locations throughout the attraction. As you walk through the impressive sets, you can see all kinds of different horrors, from demonic nuns to demented doctors. 

Some real-life haunted houses are also being given a Halloween spin, including the Winchester Mystery House. Well-known for being eerie, unique and supposedly haunted, the Winchester is the perfect place for a terrifying walkthrough attraction. Their Halloween event this year is titled “Unhinged Housewarming.” The house is decorated for the event, and actors prowl the halls waiting to scare unsuspecting visitors. Tickets start at a pricey $69.99, and the event is scattered on random dates throughout October.

Ari Thomas, a visitor from Los Angeles, had her first experience with the Winchester during this event. 

“The haunted house was well done,” Thomas said. “The actors and effects were really great.” 

This atmosphere mixed with the house’s already creepy vibe makes for an unforgettable Halloween event, and one that people definitely shouldn’t miss.

On an even more local level to Castro Valley, the McConaghy House and Meek Mansions are offering nightly ghost tours to celebrate the season. These old houses have much history to learn during the tour and atmospheres like no other in the bay. One may have seen these old houses while driving through Hayward, and admired their beauty. Or maybe they just thought, “What a creepy old house!” Either way, these tours are a great way to help you get into that spooky Halloween mood. Tickets for this start at $30, and tours are almost every weekend in October.

If there’s one thing you can discern from this article, it’s that the Bay loves a good scare. Many different options offer themselves to the residents of the area, and everyone’s Halloween experience will be different and amazing. From scare parks to just plain haunted houses, Halloween is a mainstay around here. Just be careful, because, after these horrifying haunted houses, you may want to sleep with the lights on until November…