TRAVEL cargoshippingtimes 10/31/2025 0 Comments

LA’s most modern family haunted house might just be in Van Nuys

About a month ago, as he lay in a hospital bed after a stroke, Kenny Enya had one real concern: Will the Halloween decorations be finished in time?

“The only thing he was worried about was getting out and finishing,” says Anna Lovelace, his friend of 32 years.

Two sinister figures on the porch of a haunted house.

However, if the vast front yard space is not fully assembled by October 31, eight months of work will be in vain. This is the eighth and final year that Anna’s family of four will grace their Van Nuys property in a spooky, haunted walk that scares thousands of visitors every Halloween.

Today, Enya, 62, is on the road to a full recovery, and the Hatteras Halloween House — its official name, based on the street that borders the house — has been closed for the rest of the day. The family has a large-scale plan for Friday that includes tarot readers, a few players and even a wedding: Lovelace and Enya have decided that after more than three decades together, it’s time to get married. Their two daughters, Nia and Rena Lovelace, both in their mid-20s, will serve as “best man” and maid of honor.

The Hatteras Halloween House has become one of the most popular haunts in the San Fernando Valley, an area now known for its extravagant, self-contained Halloween displays, especially in Burbank. Passing through a small cemetery to enter, before encountering a flurry of themed attractions – a skeleton sitting on a decrepit antique piano leads to a rickety bridge, a lush swamp, a tea temple full of dolls, a chapel and an exile room.

A haunted house with a giant skeleton and scary lights.

The displays are so large that when the facades for the bridge and mini-church begin to take shape, the family receives a visit from the city inspector. A neighbor, Nia says, complained that the family was building an unapproved ADU.

“They thought it was a real extension of the house,” Anna says. “We were like, ‘No, it’s a Halloween decoration.’ The inspector came, and I was like, ‘No, it’s foam.’

A part of the house was lit by a plastic tea light with blood on it. Now the stairways to the place hide bones and body parts beneath them. Handwritten notes, about the story dreamed by Nia, mark the place and hint at the story behind the envelope. Moody’s soundtrack sets an open, slow-waltz, mysterious tempo courtesy of Raina. Store-bought animatronics, handmade props and found objects – a mix of vintage lamps, long-necked creatures and a collection of mystical, magical knickknacks – fill every corner.

A church scene inside the Hatteras Haunted House.

Consider it a collection of intimate rooms, each with new revelations and surprises. For example, if you spy a snake, near a water fountain. Elsewhere, a cabinet never stops as we wait for its door to open. Months were spent building fences around and an old-fashioned covered wooden bridge – grandma and grandpa run a construction company – and luxuries like vacations were foregone because the family anticipated that an evening or weekend would pass without any work being done in the haunted house. Anna puts the total cost in the $20,000 range. And Rena is quick to quip, “Don’t ask about the DWP bill.”

Hatteras Halloween House

In a way, the haunt feels like an extension of the family home. On a recent afternoon the four of them, Nia’s friend, Darragh Hattrick, were gathered in a living room that felt like an antique shop, a tarot tent, and an apothecary. Or perhaps a witch statue—candles, crystals, and whimsical objects (a tiny mermaid hangs on one wall)—enlivens the space.

“It’s not just Halloween,” Enya says. “We are attracted to the dark side of everything in life. Everything is just a little off center. More off center.”

“We’re looking to marry the dark with the light,” Anna says, noting that she’s loved Halloween, costumes and masks since she was a child.

A haunted woman at the Hatteras Halloween House.

The family nest started relatively modestly at first—a hodgepodge of Halloween decorations. But in the last four years, in particular, the couple and their children have experimented with different topics. Last year, for example, there was a “hell hotel”, whose rooms were set up for rioters or terrorists at sea. In other years they experimented with aliens, complete with a 12-foot spaceship that hung above the action.

It became a family craft project taken to its maximum. Anna says she wants something the neighborhood kids can experience for free. Many neighbors started participating, either leaving old Halloween decorations or even acting in the nest. Anna says the project brought her joy during our stressful and divisive cultural climate.

“In these times that we are experiencing in this country and the world, there is no politics and there is no religion,” Enya says. “We’re really just having a good time. There’s no left or right. Everyone’s alone in herAnd have a good time. I see the experience of people who come with children, and everyone is very happy. Can’t we have it all over the world? I know it’s Pollyanna’s idea, but we can give Van Nuys this little piece of happiness.

Many home sites in the San Fernando Valley have attracted attention in the Southland in recent years. Jane Spank created the 2020 Halloween in Burbank and Beyond map and site to list them all. Spank’s accompanying Instagram includes some of the best-known dives, which this year include a house made with “Wicked” and “The Wizard of Oz,” a spooky exploration of all things clowns and a joyful celebration of Disney-inspired culture.

“It’s really exploded in the last three years,” Spinak says. “More and more people are decorating. It’s a destination. I see people on the news calling it Halloween City.”

Halloween in 2025 often extends into late summer, and increasingly there are conventions, theme parks, and movies that celebrate the spooky mood year-round. Spink also attributes the growth to our cultural climate, saying people need community and tension-free places to gather around. “Everybody hates each other these days, with political differences or whatever,” Spinek says. “It brings people together. People laugh, connect and talk.”

Props, scary antiques and strange dolls are found at the Hatteras Halloween House.

But all this raises a question. The Hatteras Halloween House obviously brings the family closer. Nia can explain the Byzantine narrative she created for the animals in more than five minutes. Rena speaks proudly of experimenting with jazzy sounds for the soundtrack (the two daughters were currently in the LA rock band Hey Violet). Do they really leave?

Nia says her family is fond of the days before they turned their home into a destination, when they explored the creativity and artistry of others.

“They bought a cabin and they want to spend the next year building it,” Nia says of her parents. “I don’t think we can do anything. Mother and I will prepare some supplies next year, but before we start on the walk we will go to the Reign of Terror (at Thousand Oaks) and all the house sites. It has been a tradition for the family.”

Anna says she needs a break too. This year he worked with the local fire department to make sure the venue was up to code, and on Halloween night they hired actors and security. But before Anna can calm down, Anna fears a series of dreams for the future – perhaps the family opens a Halloween-inspired pizza parlor, or perhaps a “haunted” house that can be rented out.

“My ideas are endless,” he says. “I have to figure out how to get Kenny into it.”

And moments after the family talks about retiring the haunted house, for example, they’re also talking excitedly about the Kramps figure they’ve bought that will appear during the Christmas season. They may be able to remove the nest from the yard, but don’t expect the Hatteras house to go completely silent at night.