L.A.'s most epic family-run haunted house might just be in Van Nuys

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About a period ago, arsenic helium was lying successful a infirmary furniture aft a stroke, Kenny Enea had 1 main concern: Would the Halloween decorations beryllium completed successful time?

“The lone happening helium was disquieted astir was getting retired and finishing,” says Ana Lovelis, his spouse of 32 years.

Two ghoulish figures connected the structure of a haunted house.

After all, if the elaborate front-yard haunt wasn’t afloat assembled by Oct. 31, 8 months of enactment could beryllium for naught. This is the eighth and last twelvemonth Enea’s household of 4 volition beryllium remaking its Van Nuys spot into a frightful, walk-through attraction that spooks thousands of visitors each Halloween.

Today, Enea, 62, is connected the way to a afloat recovery, and the Hatteras Halloween House — its authoritative name, based connected the thoroughfare that borders the location — was wrapped with days to spare. The household is readying a large-scale bash Friday featuring a tarot reader, a fistful of actors and adjacent a wedding: Lovelis and Enea person decided that aft three-plus decades together, it’s clip to necktie the knot. Their 2 daughters, Nia and Rena Lovelis, some successful their mid-20s, volition service arsenic “best man” and maid of honor.

The Hatteras Halloween House has go 1 of the much well-known location haunts of the San Fernando Valley, a portion present known for extravagant, do-it-yourself Halloween displays, particularly successful Burbank. To participate is to locomotion done a tiny cemetery earlier encountering a winding array of thematic spaces — a skeleton seated astatine a decrepit vintage soft gives mode to a rickety bridge, a smooshy swampland, a doll-laden beverage temple, a chapel and an exorcism room.

A haunted location with elephantine skeletons and spooky lights.

The displays are truthful monolithic that erstwhile the facades for the span and mini religion started taking shape, the household received a sojourn from a metropolis inspector. A neighbor, says Nia, complained that the household was gathering an unsanctioned ADU.

“They thought it was an existent location extension,” Ana says. “We were like, ‘No, it’s Halloween decorations.’ The inspector came by, and I was like, ‘No, it’s foam.’”

One conception of the haunt is lighted by bloody hands holding integrative beverage candles. Stairways to obscurity are hiding bones and assemblage parts successful their underbelly. Hand-written notes, courtesy of a communicative dreamed up by Nia, dot the abstraction and hint astatine an enveloping backstory. An abstract, slow-waltz of a moody soundtrack, courtesy of Rena, sets the mysterious tempo. A premix of store-bought animatronics, handmade props and recovered objects — vintage lamps, creatures with elongated necks and an assortment of mystical, witchy knickknacks, capable each nook.

A religion country wrong the Hatteras Haunted House.

Consider it a postulation of intimate rooms, each 1 holding caller reveals and surprises. You whitethorn privation to duck, for instance, if you spy a snake adjacent a foggy h2o fountain. Elsewhere, a furniture ne'er stops quivering arsenic we hold for its doorway to plaything open. Months went into constructing the surrounding fences and the vintage-inspired covered woody span — Enea and Ana tally a operation steadfast — and luxuries specified arsenic vacations were skipped arsenic the household estimates that not an evening oregon play went by without immoderate enactment done connected the haunted house. Ana puts the full outgo astatine determination successful the $20,000 range. And Rena is speedy to joke, “Don’t inquire astir the DWP bill.”

The Hatteras Halloween House

In a way, the haunt feels similar an hold of the family’s home. On a caller day the four, positive Darragh Hettrick, Nia’s partner, were gathered successful a surviving country that felt similar a premix of an antique store, a tarot structure and an apothecary haven. Or possibly the embodiment of a witch’s coven — candles, crystals and fantastical items (a tiny mermaid hangs connected 1 wall) — grace the space.

“It’s not conscionable Halloween,” Enea says. “We’re benignant of drawn to the darker broadside of everything successful life. Everything is conscionable a small near of center. A batch near of center.”

“We’re looking to wed the acheronian with the light,” Ana says, noting she’s held a fascination with Halloween, costumes and masks since aboriginal childhood.

A creepy pistillate fig astatine the Hatteras Halloween House.

The family’s haunts astatine archetypal started comparatively humble — a hodgepodge of Halloween decorations. But successful the past 4 years, especially, the mates and their children person experimented with assorted themes. Last year, for instance, was a “hell hotel,” with rooms themed to demented clowns oregon panic astatine sea. Other years they person experimented with aliens, implicit with a 12-foot spaceship hanging supra the proceedings.

It became a household trade task taken to its maximalist extreme. Ana says she wanted thing the vicinity kids could acquisition for free. Many neighbors started participating, either dropping disconnected aged Halloween decor oregon adjacent acting successful the haunt. Enea says the task brought him joyousness during our stressful and divisive taste climate.

“In these times we’re experiencing successful this state and the world, there’s nary authorities and there’s nary religion here,” Enea says. “We’re virtually conscionable having a bully time. There’s nary near oregon right. Everyone is conscionable in it, and having a bully time. I spot the acquisition of radical coming done with the kids, and everyone is conscionable truthful happy. Can’t we person that passim the world? I cognize it’s Pollyanna thinking, but we tin springiness this small conception of Van Nuys happiness.”

A Van Nuys location lit up for Halloween.

Multiple location haunts passim the San Fernando Valley person been garnering attraction successful the Southland successful caller years. Jen Spincic successful 2020 created the Halloween successful Burbank and Beyond representation and tract to catalog them all. Spincic’s accompanying Instagram contains dives into immoderate of the amended known, which this twelvemonth included a location that’s a mash-up of “Wicked” and “The Wizard of Oz,” a creepy exploration of all-things clowns and a joyous solemnisation of Disney-inspired culture.

“In the past 3 years it’s truly exploded,” Spincic says. “More and much radical are decorating. It’s a destination. I spot that radical connected the quality support calling it ‘Halloween town.’”

Halloween successful 2025 often stretches into the precocious summer, and progressively determination are conventions, taxable parks and films that observe a spooky temper year-round. Spincic besides attributes the maturation to our taste climate, theorizing radical request assemblage and tension-free places to rally around. “Nowadays everybody hates each other, with governmental differences oregon immoderate it is,” Spincic says. “It brings radical together. People are laughing, connecting and talking.”

Props, creepy antiques and weird dolls are recovered passim the Hatteras Halloween House.

But it each raises a question. The Hatteras Halloween House intelligibly brings the household closer. Nia tin speech for much than 5 minutes explaining the byzantine communicative she has constructed for the haunt. Rena speaks proudly of experimenting with jazzy sounds for the soundtrack (the 2 daughters were successful the now-defunct L.A. stone set Hey Violet). Can they truly springiness up the haunt?

Nia says the household is getting nostalgic for the days earlier they turned their location into a destination, erstwhile they explored the creativity and artwork of others.

“They bought a compartment and they privation to walk clip gathering that adjacent year,” Nia says of her parents. “I don’t deliberation we tin bash nothing. Mom and I volition beryllium retired determination adjacent twelvemonth putting up immoderate props, but earlier we started doing the walk-throughs we would spell to Reign of Terror (in Thousand Oaks), and each the location haunts. It was a contented for the family.”

Enea says helium besides needs a break. This twelvemonth helium worked with the section occurrence section to guarantee the haunt was up to code, and connected Halloween nighttime they person hired actors and security. But earlier Enea tin relax, Anna is rattling disconnected a bid of dreams for the aboriginal — possibly the household opens a Halloween-inspired pizza parlor, oregon possibly a “haunted” location that tin beryllium rented out.

“My ideas are endless,” she says. “I conscionable person to fig retired however to propulsion Kenny successful connected it.”

And moments aft the household talks astir the haunted house’s retirement, for instance, they besides talk excitedly of the Krampus fig they purchased that volition marque an quality this Christmas season. They whitethorn beryllium capable to region the haunt from the yard, but don’t expect the Hatteras location to wholly spell softly into the night.