In December of 2015, I flew out to Los Angeles to attend the live finale of Survivor: Cambodia. This had been at the very top of my bucket list since I was about 14, so to be able to make that a reality was a dream come true.
my claim to fame
One of the cool things about LA is that besides transportation costs (and hotel if you aren't staying with friends like I did), there are tons and tons of things that you can do for very cheap or free of charge.
From the beach
to game show tapings
to awkwardly standing around in hotel lobbies meeting future winners
to gastro distress after eating at The Grove
It was an amazing week, and it felt really cool to be able to cross so many things off of my bucket list.
While each of the things I did that week were a little unique, there was one afternoon, the day of the finale in fact, that may have been the dorkiest thing of all.
Amongst the craziness of finale week, I and three other Survivorfans drove to South Pasadena. Or as we like to call it, Haddonfield, Illinois. For these were the locations from the 1978 horror classic, Halloween.
Intersection of Montrose Ave. and Oxley St.
S. Pasadena, CA 91030
As you read the rest of this, I highly encourage you to listen toLaurie's Themefrom the Halloween soundtrack. Nothing has ever set the tone of a movie better than this one track. Well, not including the toilet scene from Dumb and Dumber.
The cool thing about South Pasadena is that it looks nothing like the rest of Southern California. You turn a corner and suddenly it feels like you're in the Midwest somewhere. And for the four of us, who had seen Halloween way too many times to count, it truly felt like we were in Haddonfield.
It's been nearly 40 years since the release of Halloween, but so much of that neighborhood in South Pasadena looks the same. Even some of the trees are recognizable, like in the establishing shot above. Many of the locations are in walking distance of one another, and for a clear, sunny day in SoCal, it was just about perfect.
After the establishing shot, we jump to the home of Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
Other than some aging, not much has changed. As for the house, there's been a noticeable paint job.
My friends Mario and Mike wondering if they should go inside
1115 Oxley St.
S. Pasadena, CA 91030
Our next location is just a few feet away from the house. I couldn't believe this location still looked the same.
Laurie is on the way to babysit Tommy Doyle, and while she waits for her ride, she sits on a pillar.
We're basically twins
These pillars are pretty distinctive. In fact, they're so distinctive that I noticed them in another movie! I don't think anyone else has posted this, so I'll attach my business email in case CNN wants to contact me.
If you don't recognize him due to all of the botox, that's Pee-wee Herman in his newest movie, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, exclusively on Netflix. While the movie was actually better than I thought it would be, seeing a Halloween location thrown into it made the experience especially worth it.
As a matter of fact, Pee-wee's house in his original movie, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, was also filmed in that neighborhood. It's right down the road from the establishing shot shown above. I'd love to know if the choice to return to that area was a total coincidence or if they had known about it from Big Adventure. I'm going to guess the former.
Anyway, back to something much less scary: Halloween. Our next location is when Laurie and Lynda Van Der Totally are walking home from school.
Have I mentioned how I felt like I was in 1978?
Their friend Annie "Doesn't how to speak like a normal person" Brackett catches up with them, and they chat about things all 28-year-olds posing as high schoolers chat about. Shortly after, they spot a car driving by. The dim-witted Annie yells out, "Hey, jerk! Speed kills!"
The mysterious figure in the car slams on the brakes.
One thing I love about these locations is seeing how the trees have grown in 40 years. Even after all this time they still have a distinct shape about them.
Mike wondering if speed does, in fact, kill
Highland St. and Fairview Ave.
South Pasadena, CA 91030
They continue their walk and say goodbye to Lynda when Laurie notices something near the bushes.
I bet you can't tell which one is me.
Mike #2 getting his Mike on
1019 Montrose Ave.
South Pasadena, CA 91030
One cool thing about these locations is that no matter where you walk, you're walking in an area that was shown in the movie. I'd practically have to recreate the movie shot for shot to truly capture each location. And thanks to the greatness of Halloween,all of these locations are authentic. They really filmed in those houses, they really walked around those streets, and they really had an insanely low budget. These simplistic, slow-building scenes, arguably some of the most atmospheric scenes in horror history, help make visiting these locations so much fun.
Our next location is the Myers house. This location has seen the most change, as the house isn't in the same spot anymore! The original spot was 707 Meridian Ave, but it is now housed a few hundred yards south at the intersection of Meridian Ave. and Mission St. I believe it is now a chiropractor's office.
More than enough proof to show that osteopathy isn't a fake science
Funnily enough, this new location is right across the street from another Halloween spot.
Stolen from Google Maps
This is the hardware store from the movie (now an Indian restaurant), where Michael buys his William Shatner mask, some rope, and a knife. When Michael does this, no one bats an eye, but when I do it, I'm considered "weird" and "someone his parents should keep an eye on." WTF, Home Depot?
At this point I was thinking more about Indian food and less about taking good pictures
If the Pee-wee thing wasn't weird enough, I noticed this location in another film I watched recently, Caddyshack. It's shown in the first couple of minutes.
Caddyshack was released just a couple of years after Halloween. I have to wonder, were the producers aware that they were filming at a location featured in one of the most successful horror movies of all time? Judging on the quality of that movie, I'm going to guess that the producers didn't know much about anything.
966 Mission St.
South Pasadena, CA 91030
That's about it for the Halloween locations I saw. Special thanks to my friends Mario, Mike A., and Mike K. for such a great afternoon. It was pretty amazing and surreal to be able to walk around Haddonfield with you.
If you're a fan of Halloweenand you're ever in LA, I highly encourage you to make the drive to South Pasadena to check out these sights. But just remember, speed kills.
Oh, and before I sign off, I should mention one more location. If you're wondering where the houses Laurie and Annie babysat at are, you'll have to drive about half an hour west and head to N. Orange Grove Ave (1530 and 1537) in West Hollywood.
The frustrating thing is that I've actually been to this neighborhood before, seeking out another prominent horror location.
Recognize it?
What about now?
If you said Big Top Pee-wee, you would be way off. It's from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, and it's arguably more prominent than any of the Halloween locations. My dad and I were staying with friends about 10 minutes south of there, so we had to make the stop. Little did we know, however, that we were a 5 minute walk away from a couple ofHalloween sights. For some reason, I had no idea about this, and I've been kicking myself ever since. So if you're ever checking out the Nightmare house, head on over to the Halloween houses too (and vice versa)!
If you stop at that Chipotle you're going to experience
something far more scary than anything in Halloween
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! If you have no idea what I'm talking about in this entry, stop watching that forgettable movie with all of the jump scares and turn on the original 1978 Halloween. You won't be disappointed.
