Halloween Re-Do, 2021 Here We Come!
As Cady Heron said in Mean Girls (my favorite movie), “In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up and beg for candy, but in girl world, Halloween is the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girl can say anything about it.”
Isn’t that the truth! But does it always have to be this way?? Since 2020 Halloween was technically “cancelled” I think we need to go big this year and bring back what Halloween is really about… Being Scary!
Haunted houses will be open, and trick-or-treating will be back in action, so why not give it our all? How many times can you really dress up as a playboy bunny with your boyfriend dressed as Hef anyways?
Here’s my step-by-step guide on making your costume the best it can be, and a few ideas for hot 2021 costumes.
Carole Baskin did NOT make the list. She’s so over like fetch.
First, plan your costume, and start ordering stuff online NOW. Since Halloween 2020 was cancelled, I have a feeling this year will sell out early.
Some hot ideas floating around for 2021 are:
– Disney’s Cruella de Vil
– Harley Quinn
– Crew Members in ‘Below Deck
– Natasha Romanoff
– The Scarlett Witch
– Emily and Paula in ‘The White Lotus’
– Cassie in ‘A Promising Young Woman’
– Daphne in ‘Bridgerton’
– Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar’
Here are the top scary costumes for 2021. Well, like I said, let’s bring it back to being scary!
– Jigsaw from the ‘Saw’ series
– Twisty the Clown from ‘American Horror Story’
– Samara Morgan from ‘The Ring’
– Ghostface from ‘Scream’ never goes out of style.
– Neither does Jason or Freddy!
Once you have everything ordered and ready to go, definitely book your hair and makeup, like I said things are going to book up fast! I have not even started thinking about Halloween util I decided to write this!
If you are in Las Vegas /LA here are some of the makeup artists that I use. Be sure to follow and book in advance!
@Sparkles.Beauty.Bars
@Make_Me_pretty_Kayla
@ToriHumphriesmua
@InspireBeautyStudioLV
@Brittneydoesbeauty_
@LightsCameraGlow
@GlaraMakeup
@Blondet0urage
Once you have your outfit in hand, be sure to try it all on! Trust me on this. I don’t know how many times I bought something and found out last minute that it didn’t look right, and Halloween 2021 is going to be epic, just like you!
Once that’s done, it’s time to plan your Halloween night. Below I’m listing some amazing activities to do in some of my favorite cities. Be sure to get an Uber booked. Don’t drink and drive!
Here are some top things to do In Las Vegas, ideas for all ages!
Fetish And Fantasy Halloween Ball
@ AREA15, 3215 S. Rancho Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Hours: 9:00pm – 3:00am – Saturday, October 30th
Price: Several open bar / free drink options available
You don’t want to miss the return of Halloween or the craziness of “The Worlds Wildest Halloween Party.” Singled out by the LA Times as “The One Party You Don’t Want To Miss,” the Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball features world-class DJs, aerialists, live theatrical performances, and partiers in their wildest, craziest costumes. There’s something for everyone, and something around every corner. Only 2600 total tickets are available (1/3 the usual number), so finalize your plans soon or risk missing out. 100% occupancy, or 50% occupancy, this party is gonna be lit. All you can drink open bar is included with each ticket purchase, as well as the freedom to leave the event and investigate why AREA15 was just named “The Best Immersive Art Destination In The Country” by USA Today.
Gilcrease Orchard
7800 N Tenaya Way, Las Vegas, NV 89131
Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Price: Free to explore, pumpkin and produce prices vary by item and size.
A must-see for wholesome family fun, Gilcrease Orchard is only a 30-minute car ride from the Strip. Explore their large pumpkin patch to pick your perfect jack-o’-lantern canvas before grabbing a jug of their fresh apple cider to wash down some caramel apples or sweet homemade donuts you can bring back home with you. Make sure to get their early to grab a parking spot and to avoid the lines.
Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum
600 E Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89104
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday- Monday
Price: $48 for a standard tour or $79 for RIP All Access Tickets that include a t-shirt, special lanyard and extended access that includes off-limit areas.
Year-round haunts always pull out the big guns for Halloween, and the Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum is no exception to this spooky rule. The final resting place for haunted artifacts like Peggy, the possessed doll, Bela Lugosi’s cursed mirror, and even the fake teeth of notorious cult leader Charles Manson. The museum adds creepy lighting and theatrics to the exterior, extra jump scares, and they even close on the actual holiday to embark on a live lockdown investigation with the Ghost Adventures crew. Each year, they hope to find new evidence of the evil that inhabits each item, and maybe even communicate with the demon that is said to live in the basement.
“Halloveen” – Kid-friendly Halloween Event
Location: Opportunity Village
Dates: Weekends in October starting at 5:30 p.m.
Price: $22 for ages 4+, kids 3 and under are free
Family-Friendly Halloween fun spans the entire 2.5 acre space that includes park rides, carnival games, live entertainment, two mini escape rooms, and plenty of trick-or-treating.
HALLOW-REEF – Kid-friendly Halloween Event
Location: Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay Aquarium
Dates: TBD
Price: $25 for adults, $19 for kids, kids under 3 are free
Eerie ambiance that turns the Shark Reef Aquarium into a creepy haunted shipwreck that offers trick-or-treating, costume contests and plenty of aquatic fun.
A Very B.A.D. Halloween – Adult Halloween Event
Location: Sahara Events Center 800 E. Karen Ave.
Date: October 31st at 6 p.m.
Price: $30 on presale
Warehouse feel EDM Halloween party featuring ghost tours, live painting, vendors, and other activities as well as multiple EDM DJs throughout the night.
Las Vegas Haunts: Asylum And Hotel Fear – Adult Halloween Event
Location: 4300 Meadows Ln, Las Vegas, NV 89107
Dates: Thursdays-Sundays in October
Price: TBD
Two different story-driven horror attractions to terrify all audiences. Hotel Fear checks you into a resort that has seen plenty of carnage where both the killers and the killers still haunt the halls. Asylum was once a medical facility to help the mentally insane but has since become a horrific home to medical experiments and torture.
Freakling Bros. Horror Show – Adult Halloween Event
Location: 6555 S Riley St. Southwest Las Vegas
Dates: Throughout October
Price: Starting at $50
Three different frightening haunted attractions await you at this Vegas haunt that was featured on the show “Ghost Adventures.” Coven of 13 brings you into the folds of a band of witches where you must prove your loyalty and power, Castle Vampyre blends classic Halloween terror with the fun, mesmerizing tricks of a magic show that make it more palatable for younger ages while still offering plenty of frights. Gates of Hell is the only R-Rated haunted house in Nevada and requires all participants to be over 17 and sign a waiver before entering due to its’ extreme nature.
Haunted Harvest – Kid-friendly Halloween Event
Location: Springs Preserve
Dates: Oct. 22-24, 29-31 from 5-9 p.m.
Price: $9 for non-members.
A family-friendly outdoor Halloween event that features trick-or-treating, vendors, live entertainment, and the child-friendly Boo Town haunt.
Zombie Run 5k & 1-Mile Walk – Kid-friendly Halloween Event
Location: Cornerstone Park in Henderson
Dates: Oct. 16th from 6-8 p.m.
Price: $35 presale or $40 on event day
Haunt the city of Henderson as the walking dead when you come dressed in your best undead costume for this 5K run. The first 300 participants receive a souvenir t-shirt.
Moapa Valley Corn Maze – All Ages Halloween Event
Location: Lewis Ranch Rd. Moapa, NV 89025
Dates: Thursdays-Sundays in October
Price: Varies based on chosen attraction
Kid-friendly corn maze, petting zoo, and hayrides during the day that becomes a haunted maze when the sun goes down that includes zombie paintball and a haunted hay ride.
Hallowheels: Trapped Haunted Drive-Thru Experience – Adult Halloween Event (16+)
Location: 2330 Industrial Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89102
Dates: Oct. 8-31
Price: $59.99 for 1-4 guests or $79.99 for 5-7 guests
An immersive, drive-thru attraction that features horrific special effects where guests are thrust into a post-apocalyptic environment where survival is key.
Parade Of Mischief – All Ages Halloween Event
Location: Park Centre Drive in Summerlin
Dates: Every Friday and Saturday in October
Price: Free
Summerlin gets taken over by the ghostly creatures of Halloween in this family-friendly parade where the local youth dress as zombies, goblins, and ghouls.
Area 15 Halloween Eve And Halloween Future Carnival – All Ages Halloween Event
Location: 3215 S. Rancho Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89102
Dates: October. 30 & 31
Price: Early admission (4pm-7pm) is $5 for guests 11+ and free for children under 11. Late entry (8pm-close) is $25 for all ages, Future Carnival late entry is for adults only.
Costume contests, delicious food, live performances, acrobats, and Area15’s signature psychedelic style create an unforgettable socially distanced revelry for all ages Hollow’s Eve.
LOS ANGELES EVENTS
Halloween Horror Nights – Universal City – Through Oct 31, 2021
Confront familiar foes at Universal Studios’ annual Halloween festivities, where big-budget scares meet iconic horror movie characters. You’ll be able to navigate multiple scare zones and mazes, including ones based on The Haunting of Hill House, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, The Walking Dead, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (a peculiarly specific choice in the Halloween saga) and the Bride of Frankenstein, plus the return of “The Curse of Pandora’s Box.” The Studio Tour will also morph into the Terror Tram, complete with a The Purge tie-in.
Delusion at Phillips Mansion – Pomona, Sep 16th – Nov 21st, 2021
Its past installments have found attendees stealthing their way through a Victorian home and embarking on a Blade Runner-esque bounty hunt. And now this celebrated immersive horror theater event is returning to L.A. for an event an a 146-year-old mansion.
Freeform’s Halloween Road – Montecito Heights, Oct 1st – Oct 5th, 2021
Freeform’s Halloween Road is back, and for the fourth edition it’s turning last year’s drive-through route at Heritage Square into an outdoor, on-foot event. From October 1 through 5, you’ll be able to wander the grounds of the Victorian village to find scenes inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, a Hocus Pocus drag show, an Addams Family photo op, Ghostbusters characters and more.
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride – Griffith Park, Sep 24th – Oct 31st, 2021
After a year as a drive-through in San Dimas, this haunted event heads back to Griffith Park with a traditional hayride and a return to its 2019 setting: the mid-’80s ficticious town of Midnight Falls, which borrows a little bit of the road culture of Sons of Anarchy and the isolation of Twin Peaks.
Knott’s Scary Farm – Buena Park, Sept 16th – Oct 31st, 2021
Encounter free-roaming monsters, terrifying mazes—spanning themes like a twisted carnival and an alien-inhabited space station—a “boo-fet” dinner and more haunting attractions at the OC theme park.
Escape Halloween – San Bernardino, Oct 29th – Oct 30th, 2021
The San Bernardino rave scene injects itself with a bit of Halloween flair at this annual music fest. Insomniac Events—the group behind EDC and the Wonderland series—is setting up four stages at the NOS Events Center; headliners include DJ Snake, Loud Luxury, Zedd, Playboi Carti and more. Explore the grounds to find mazes alongside ominous artwork and freak show performers.
Oogie Boogie Bash – Anaheim, Through Oct 31st, 2021
Well, well, well, what have we here? The Nightmare Before Christmas’s bug-stuffed sack is once again taking over the Halloween duties at Disneyland, once again holding the theme park’s annual after-hours, specially ticketed seasonal event at Disney California Adventure for Oogie Bash.
Nights of the Jack – Santa Monica Mountains, Oct 1st – Oct 31st, 2021
Walk across the grounds of the scenic King Gillette Ranch as the Santa Monica Mountains hideaway is illuminated with thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. Nights of the Jack reverts to an on-foot, two-thirds-of-a-mile trail this year (with a “Spookeasy,” too). Timed tickets required each night; expect to spend an hour to an hour and a half there.
Haunt’oween LA – Oct 1st – Oct 31st, 2021
Haunt’oween will celebrate spooky season with a walkthrough in Woodland Hills that features a pumpkin patch for both picking and carving, a scarecrow garden, a trick-or-treating–filled town and an illuminated carnival, plus face painting, performances, games and food trucks.
NEW YORK EVENTS
The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze
One of the best things to do in the fall in New York is check out The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in Hudson Valley, New York. Trust us, it’s worth the trip. Witness an army of more than 7,000 glowing, intricately carved pumpkins shining along the riverside near Van Cortlandt Manor. This is the tristate area’s most spirited Halloween happening, and also one of the best fall day trips from NYC. Ogling pretty gourds isn’t the only draw. There are also “stargazing” opportunities inside the Pumpkin Planetarium, flying ghosts and a special appearance by Sleepy Hollow’s Headless Horseman. This year there is a second location popping up for the first time ever, too, at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island. Adult tickets start at $24. Children two and under attend for free.
A Haunted Drive – Thru
Ulster Park’s Headless Horseman Haunted Hayrides and Haunted Houses is replacing its hayrides with an experience, “Dare to Ride The Horseman’s Trail,” that’ll give New Yorkers an opportunity to roll down the window and scream this Halloween, starting October 2.
I also found this list of Things to do In NY this fall which I loved.
SO now that you have ideas for Halloween, I expect you to make this the best Halloween year ever! As we know from 2020, not everything is guaranteed, and we need to make the most of everything!!! So, tell me what are your plans for Halloween?
