Scaring Up Fun at Your Favorite Haunts From Now Through Halloween

They’re not for the squeamish or the fainthearted. But for anybody who is interested in Halloween frights, a haunted house is the place to be.

As Oct. 31 approaches, service clubs, malls and schools will be rolling out the blood-red carpet to frighten those out for a holiday haunt.

The Factory of Terror, an annual event sponsored by the Ventura Jaycees and the Ventura County superintendent of schools office, runs today and Sunday as well as Thursday through next Saturday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura.

This year’s show, the “Maze of Massacre,” is open Sunday and Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $7, and participants must be 10 or older.

On Sunday, Matilija Junior High School will host a haunted house from 4 to 6 p.m. at the campus at 703 El Paseo Road in Ojai. Proceeds from the “two hours of terror” will benefit the school’s book fund. Tickets are $1.

The merchants at Ventura Harbor Village will hold Haunted Halloween Weekend today, Sunday and Thursday featuring a Ventura Boys & Girls Club haunted house designed for children 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult. The haunted house is in Harbor Village on Spinnaker Drive next to the Greek at the Harbor restaurant. Admission is $3 for children; $2 for Boys & Girls Club members.

The Esplanade mall is offering safe and fun Halloween activities through Halloween night, including a house haunted by Hollywood horror classics, and a visit today by Courtney Thorne-Smith, who plays Alison on “Melrose Place.”

Admission to the haunted house--open 4 to 9 p.m. today and Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday--is $5 for adults and $3 for children under 13. Among the benefactors is the Oxnard Police Department Police Assistance League.

Halloween evening activities begin at 5 p.m. with a magic show. Afterward, merchants will hand out treats to children 12 and under. At 6:30 p.m., Mark Beckwith and Mark Towner will perform spooky tunes in the mall’s Center Court. For more information, call 485-1146.

Ghost tours will be offered from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at the Olivas Adobe, 200 Olivas Park Drive. Costumed guides will lead 30-minute walks, telling of the mysteries and hauntings linked to the historic 1847 home.

Special for this year is a new “Garden of Ghoulish Delights.”

Tours are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Call 658-4726 for more information.