Home haunts and yard displays are always a hit-or-miss endeavor. We often pack a series of ten or so in a geographically similar location together, planning a Burbank Haunt Crawl – or an Orange County Display Hunt. And while most are fun and blend together into one haunt tapestry in the weeks following, we often find one that stands out in terms of ingenuity, scares, or special effects. And while Haunted Groundz 2023 does not have many scares, the innovation, the humor, and the shooting gallery theme surprised and delighted us in a way that had us laughing like we were young again. This was a Halloween gem and provides a much-needed Halloween joy to an otherwise frightening holiday.

Located in Granada Hills, CA, Haunted Groundz 2023 is part show, part shooting gallery, all experienced in the front yard of Dmitriy Slobodski. Beginning in 2012, the experience offers trick-or-treaters a solid five minutes or so with gun in hand to shoot various targets with surprising outcomes to each one. Participants wait in line, witnessing a short, humorous show prior to getting their gun and letting loose on a Western façade of skeletal animals and tombstones. There are no actors and nothing terribly frightening—Haunted Groundz focuses more on the laughs, the banter, the wittiness of its characters and the strong voice acting behind them.

With a childish plastic pirate pistol in hand, the shooting is easy and even the most uncoordinated can land bullseyes with ease. Each gun comes equipped with a scope that provides some zoom to the targets. Align the scope with the red laser light of the target and pull the trigger, bringing the graveyard to life. Tombstones break apart revealing a skeletal head inside, a hand giving a thumbs up after emerging from the fresh dirt of a grave, and a skeletal snake readies for attack as you ready your shot. It’s a blast seeing how each connected hit causes a reaction in the surrounding details of the yard haunt.

Constructed entirely of his own learnings, Slobodski has crafted this experience to be better than any theme park shooting range. The sound effects are top notch, immersing participants in the hectic firing of a real wild west shootout. Ricocheting bullets, shattering glass, and evil taunting laughter echoes all around as the cartoonish sounds of bullets wizz by each time the trigger is pulled. The characters also fire back at you, yelling things like “Hey, watch it, kid!” giving them enough personality to make them feel real. The banter between the jester skeleton and the raven is hilarious, making us laugh on a few different occasions. It felt very reminiscent of Opechee’s Jack’s Halloween JamBOOree, and filled a spot in our heart with Opechee’s absence.

Haunted Groundz 2023 is a charming yard display with interactive elements that create a fun and festive feel to the Autumn holiday. The technical know-how is impressive, especially with the fact that Slobodski is not personally involved in the entertainment industry and developed all of this through educating himself through online resources and CalHaunts. The voice acting is superb and the dialogue is witty and perfect for children audiences. We are so happy when we find Halloween gems like Haunted Groundz 2023 on our journey and hope you add this to your list in an upcoming Halloween Haunt Crawl.

For more information about Haunted Groundz, check out their Facebook page. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.

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