By Charly SHELTON

The crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake as spooks come out for a swinging wake … All Hallows’ Eve is upon us once again and the Crescenta Valley has a ghoulishly good time planned. From elaborate decorations to haunted house walkthroughs to classic trick-or-treating, there’s something for every little ghoul and goblin.

For more structured and safe trick-or-treating, look no farther than Montrose Shopping Park with its Halloween Spooktacular. This annual event shuts down the streets in and around Montrose Shopping Park to give kids and parents a worry-free trick-or-treat experience as costumed kids 12 and under go from shop to shop to collect candy. The Montrose Shopping Park Association has provided thousands of pieces of candy, which the merchants themselves will supplement with some candy of their own, while sitting outside their shops to distribute.

“It’s a community service, it’s not a retail event. Our retailers can’t really do much with it because of the nature of the event,” said Dale Dawson, event coordinator for the Montrose Shopping Park Association. “But they get seen and a lot of them give out coupons and special offers along with the candy, so they can promote their businesses. It’s really a community service to give folks a safe and sane place to bring their kids to trick-or-treat.”

The 2200, 2300 and 2400 blocks of Honolulu Avenue, the 3600, 3700 and 3800 blocks of Ocean View Boulevard and the 3700 and 3800 blocks of Wickham Way will be closed for the event, which runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31 with streets closed from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Over the three-hour event, Dawson expects attendance to be, as in years past, between 15,000 and 20,000 people, so plan to Uber in or come early to find parking. More information can be found at shopmontrose.com.

For those looking for scares instead of candy, Nightmare in Whiting Woods, formerly known as Nightmare on Vista Court, is one of the best-known private haunts in the Crescenta Valley. This haunt is designed, built and run by David Krohn at his home in Whiting Woods. Now in its 17th year, Nightmare is back with a new theme, a new maze design and more scares.

“This year’s [theme] is ‘Professor Fornicus’ Menagerie of Terror,’” Krohn said. “He’s the country doctor who performs experiments on his patients. The patients will come out from various spots in the haunted house and, you know, scare people.”

Each year, Krohn and his crew build the entire walkthrough and buy or build props, costumes, set pieces and everything else that goes into making a premium haunted house. After 17 years of adding and building and acquiring, Krohn’s collection has grown to an arsenal of scares that he can draw from in different ways to create a new event.

“It’s the same footprint, a few more actors and a little bit more elaborate [than last year],” Krohn said. “The buildout is a little bit more thorough this year, the rooms are better and there are more people jumping out this year.”

Last year’s biggest addition to the collection was a 15-foot mansion façade, which will be in use again this year, but everything else in the maze is new. Krohn and his crew, including wife Alisa Krohn, Gary and Steve Trousdale, Alan Bernhoft, Mark Endwright, and Geoff Deboskey, have been building since the first week of September and expect a “really great event” this year.

“I’m probably more excited this year than I think I’ve ever been because I feel like we’re ahead of schedule. I think it’s going to be pretty scary this year,” Krohn said. “It’s fun. It’s just an insane amount of fun.”

The haunt will run from sundown to 11 p.m. at 413 Whiting Woods. Admission is free but lines are possible. Krohn hopes to have around 600 attendees like they had last year, so plan on a bit of a line.

Halloween is also a time for decorating the front lawn with gravestones, zombies, bats and black lights. Many homes in the area get into the spirit of the season with elaborate decorations with residents ready to welcome trick-or-treaters.

In the 3900 block of Los Olivos Lane, just off of Lowell Avenue, trick-or-treaters will see a home transformed into a cemetery with an assortment of ghoulish gravestones, creepy coffins and spectacular spiders.

Skeletons adorn the front yard in the 4400 block of Cloud Avenue just south of Community Avenue. They can be seen cycling, filming and causing all types of mischief.

And in the 3400 block of Prospect Avenue, off of New York Avenue, the residents of this cul-de-sac have invested much time (and money) to make their block a spooky destination for trick-or-treaters. Almost every house will have some sort of display, incorporating spiders, skeletons, jack-o’-lanterns and cobwebs.

So for those who are looking for a hearty fright or a milder sight there’s much around CV on Halloween night.

  Charly Shelton