Photos: Fright night takes center stage with Halloween decor in the Southland

A boy turns around to make a scary face at his mother outside a home decorated with ghoulish creatures

Benjamin Varela, 6, makes a scary face for his mother Sandra to take his picture in front of a home decorated for Halloween on Davana Terrace in Sherman Oaks.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

By Mel MelconStaff Photographer

Oct. 29, 2021 10:16 AM PT

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Boo.

Well that may not be enough to get you in the holiday spirit, so how about these creations around Los Angeles.

A message from the departed gets the attention of a pedestrian walking past a home on Dixie Canyon Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

A pedestrian is encouraged not to tarry while walking past a home on Stansbury Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Zombies attempt to climb the fence as Sonia Tapia walks with her son, Josiah Green, 1, and dog, Cookie, outside their home in Arleta.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Buddy, a 3-year-old golden retriever, checks out a giant inflatable black cat that has taken over the front walk of his family’s home on Irving Boulevard.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Cesar De La Cruz, a kitchen appliance installer, makes his way past a tree decorated for Halloween while working at a home on Pandora Avenue in Los Angeles.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Jack-o’-lanterns glow outside a home on Moorpark Street in Toluca Lake.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

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Mel Melcon started out with the Los Angeles Times in 1984 as a summer intern, worked on a freelance basis from 1985 to 1997 and then was hired full time. Melcon likes to capture the offbeat and funny side of life in his images. He left The Times in 2024.

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