Feeling in the Mood to Be Spooked? : Halloween: Ghouls and goblins are set to do their worst. Here’s a rundown of the most bewitching spots to be scared senseless.

Catch a ghost. Greet a ghoul. Hear vampires read their bloody prose. All Hallow Even is nigh and the Southland is spooked with events fun and fearsome.

The Undead Poet’s Society

The room is dark. A white-faced ghoul in deadly black reads poetry by candelabra-light. Her guests sip wine, blood red, and listen in silence as shadows dance on every wall.

This is the “Undead Poet’s Society,” sponsored by the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and featuring readings “by and about vampires.” Poets scheduled to read include Monica Brett Serle, Joel Marsden, Marguerite Garner, Chet Henseley, and Denise Dumars, “who has published extensively in the vampire vein,” according to Meg Reed. Reed is producer of the event and a self-proclaimed 487-year-old vampire.

“Vampires are very romantic,” said Dumars, who writes of alabaster necks, the living dead and wolves’ night cries. “They are part of a romantic fantasy. To describe them, we must think up the strangest things.”

The poets will articulate such things in a cobwebbed room in a darkened corner of the Fullerton Museum. “All performers will be dressed to kill,” promised Reed.

Fullerton Museum, 301 N. Pomona, Fullerton. Saturday, 8-10 p.m. $5. Information: (714) 433-5972 or (714) 679-2394.

Rude Dog Halloween Contest

Rude or polite, terriers, golden retrievers, pit bulls and mixed shepherds will be dressed for largess at the “Rude Dog Halloween Contest.” More than 100 canines are expected to vie for top prizes of stuffed animals, T-shirts, mugs, visors and pencils. “We’re looking for dogs with attitude,” said contest organizer Joanne Thomson.

“All contestants must be vaccinated and on a leash,” said Thomson, who warned that masks, sharp objects and spray paint on bodies will not be permitted. A $5 entry fee for all contestants will be donated to Canine Companions, a nonprofit organization that trains dogs to assist disabled individuals.

Dog food, biscuits, shampoo and trick-or-treat bags will be distributed to all contestants. A howling-good time is promised.

Odyssey Video, 2499 Lincoln Blvd., Marina del Rey. Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 per dog. Information: (213) 823-1103.

Grave Line Tours

“Dearly Beloved,” begins a sinister voice as an unseen organ intones “The Funeral March,” “you are about to view the remains of 80 of Hollywood’s spookiest and kookiest attractions, most of which were dug up exclusively for this tour.”

So begins Grave Line’s two-hour hearse tour of scenes of “death, sins, scandals, murders, suicides” that allegedly occurred in Los Angeles.

“It’s meticulously researched and very amusing,” said Paul Hodges, 31, a London investment analyst, hearse-bound for the second time. “You’ve got to have some sense of humor to ride around in one of these, I believe.”

Mourners/tour-goers visit the death sites of notables like Janice Joplin, Truman Capote, Jean Harlow, William (Fred Mertz) Frawley and Carmen Miranda. A morning-suited driver reels off epitaphs, anecdotes and lurid Hollywood trivia between stops.

Grave Line Tours is run by Greg Smith, 38, a former mortuary-academy student turned entrepreneur. “When I read biographies of the stars,” said Smith, “I’d always turn to the end to see how they died.”

Tours depart at dead noon from the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Orchid Avenue (the East wall of the Chinese Theater). Daily. $30 per person. Information: (213) 876-0920. Reservations: (213) 876-4286.

Knott’s Scary Farm

This fog-shrouded ghost town is home to 500 professionally costumed ghouls and goblins. The wind whistles a ghostly chorale as spirits roam the streets, leaping out at startled mortals.

Beginning at 7 each night, Knott’s Berry Farm is transformed into “Knott’s Scary Farm,” a nether world of werewolves, skeletons, Frankenstein Brides and zombies. Included in the frightdom are a ghostly train ride into the Threshold of Doom; a Psycho-inspired Uncle Ernie’s Madhouse, where sadistic clowns twirl butcher knives, and Revenge of the Dead, a maze where preternatural gangsters, monsters and pirates terrorize passers-by.

For those nights the farm is in its scary state, parents are asked not to bring children under the age of 13.

According to Stuart Zanville, the farm’s publicity director, as many as 200,000 people are expected to attend the 10-day event. “We believe this to be the largest Halloween party in the world,” said Zanville.

Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park. Today, Sunday, Tuesday and Halloween: 7 p.m.-1 a.m.; Friday: 7 p.m.-2 a.m. $22 advance purchase; $25 (day of event). Information: (714) 740-2000, (805) 583-8700 or (619) 278-TIXS. Not recommended for children under 13.

Queen Mary “Room With a Boo”

Is the Queen Mary haunted? Do ghosts really appear in her staterooms and boiler rooms? Starting Friday and continuing through Halloween night, private 90-minute tours will take Queen Mary hotel guests into the most secluded areas of the ship--where ghostly sightings allegedly have taken place.

Tour-goers are handed flashlights, then led by a guide in captain’s garb through darkened corridors and deserted operations rooms. Lights are lowered; ghost stories are retold.

Featured on the tour is a former 1940s children’s playroom, where ghostly crying can still be heard; a poolroom, where two women specters have appeared to ship employees, and the engine room, where an 18-year-old crewman lost his life . . . and purportedly reappeared in uniform 20 years later.

At the conclusion of the tour, guests enjoy a Halloween dessert reception in the Capstan and a good night’s sleep.

Queen Mary, southernmost point of 710 Freeway, Pier J, Long Beach. Friday through Halloween; four tours nightly, beginning at 7 p.m. $110 per hotel room. Information: (213) 435-3511.

American Commerce National Bank “Pumpkin Poll”

This could be the scariest event of all.

At least 40 “Dianne Feinstein” and “Pete Wilson” pumpkins will be carved by the Anaheim bank’s employees during its “Second Pumpkin Poll.” Employees are asked to represent their choice for governor in carvings “silly to sublime.” Pumpkin votes will be tallied and a projected winner announced on Halloween.

“Keep in mind we are in Orange County and that gives us a kind of tilt,” said bank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gerald Garner. “But we expect to come pretty close percentage-wise.”

In 1988, bank employees carved Michael Dukakis and George Bush pumpkins to represent their choices for President. An air-brushed green pumpkin of George Bush received highest honors. “The outside layer of skin was removed. It looked very realistic,” recalled Garner. “And we came very close statistically (to the election results).”

American Commerce National Bank lobby, 3800 E. La Palma Blvd., Anaheim. Oct. 31, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Information: (714) 630-4500.

Art Deco Society Tour of Hollywood Cemetery

The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles will lead a Halloween-inspired tour through the 57-acre Hollywood Cemetery Saturday.

Tour-goers will view the final resting places of famous and infamous celebrities--Rudolph Valentino, Bugsy Siegel, Cecil B. DeMille, Marion Davies, Tyrone Power and Peter Lorre, among others.

Tours depart every 15 minutes from the fountain inside Hollywood Cemetery’s main gate, between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. $7 per person. Reservations: (213) 659-DECO.

BYOP: Bring Your Own Pumpkin

A nonviolent pumpkin-decorating workshop will be held at the Natural History Museum. The event will stress “safe ways to decorate without cutting or using knives,” according to Linda Ayers, supervising artist.

“The Great Pumpkin Patch” is for children ages 2 to 12 and their pumpkins.

Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Free with museum admission: $3 for adults; $1.50 for students and senior citizens; 75 for children 5-12; children under 5 free. Information: (213) 744-3335 or (213) 744-3534.

Halloween Redux

Halloween treats may be perishable, but the costumes can live on and on. Visitors to the Los Angeles Children’s Museum can learn to make hats, masks, capes and other Halloween-inspired outfits from recycled materials.

Los Angeles Children’s Museum, 310 N. Main. For children ages 2 to 12. Saturday and Sunday, 10-5. $4 per person, children under 12 free. Information: (213) 687-8800.