When I think of Halloween, the first visions that come to mind are of my neighbor.
He goes all out every year with his 12-foot mechanical spider blocking the doorway, a walkway dripping with fake blood and permanent outdoor LED lights set to black and orange.
The spirit of the season, however, extends beyond these enthusiastic households, theme parks and haunted houses.
You’re reading the Essential California newsletter
L.A. Times reporters guide you through the most important news, features and recommendations of the morning.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Many local restaurants, bars, pubs and eateries are also offering creative seasonal treats such as bat-shaped finger sandwiches along with cocktails with names such as Blood Moon and Liquid Lobotomy.
Colleague Melody Xu has curated a list of must-try haunts from L.A. to Long Beach and Orange County.
Here are a few spooky selections from the entire list.
The Haunting at the Ordinarie (Long Beach)
For the first time this year, the creators of Christmas cocktail pop-ups Miracle and Sippin’ Santa are debuting a Halloween concept called the Haunting.
Every day through Nov. 2 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., the Ordinarie will transform into immersive hideaways serving up surprises — think childhood haunted houses, glowing jack-o’-lanterns and late-night horror movie marathons.
Creepy cocktails include the Widow’s Whisper, Scream-sicle, Poison Apple, Liquid Lobotomy and Clown Pear-anoia, along with spirit-free drinks.
Witching Hour Afternoon Tea Chado Tea Room (Torrance)
Until Nov. 1, stop by any Chado Tea Room location for an afternoon tea full of spooky treats.
The $78 experience starts with a witch’s welcome refresher, and the first course offers a choice between cream of pumpkin soup and spooky skeleton caprese salad.
Next, dig into a three-tiered tea stand featuring four Halloween-inspired finger sandwiches. As for sweet treats, enjoy shattered glass scones served with witch’s cream and bewitched berry jam, spellbound butter cookies and witch’s spell cupcakes.
Guests will also receive a bewitching tea of choice: Black Magic, Día de los Muertos, Basic Witch or pumpkin spice chai. Reservations are available. Chado has locations in downtown L.A., Hollywood, Torrance and Pasadena.
Pete’s Spookeasy at Pete’s Sunset Grille (Huntington Beach)
From now through Nov. 2, find Pete’s Spookeasy haunting the bar within Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.
Perhaps you’ll start with some Dracula Bat Wings and the Char-BOO-terie board. Then bite straight into entrees like the Grill-Reaper’s Ribeye, a 10-ounce house-butchered ribeye served with cowboy butter, or the Haunted Harbor Cake, a lump crab cake with roasted corn salsa and house remoulade.
To satisfy your sweet tooth, try the Witches Brew Tiramisu, made with chai tea-soaked chocolate lady fingers and purple sweet potato mascarpone mousse, or Poison Apple Toffee Pudding with apple compote, miso caramel and vanilla bean streusel. Cocktails are also themed, like the tropical Creepy Colada and the Black Magic margarita with blackberries, lemon and lime juices, agave nectar and a black salt rim.
(Kimpton Everly Hollywood)
Tarot cocktails at Written Hand (Hollywood)
Drop by the Kimpton Everly Hotel’s restaurant and bar, Written Hand, through Oct. 31, and your server will fan out a deck of tarot cards to decide your cocktail based on one of the seven deadly sins.
Gluttony is a zombie-style tiki drink that’s so stiff the bar cuts you off at two; sloth is a lazy purple Rickey of butterfly pea tea, London dry gin, lime and soda; envy is a riff on the Red Ant with rye whiskey, mezcal, Cherry Heering and a lemon twist; pride is a white negroni featuring a pink-lit ice cube with a grapefruit peel; wrath is a spicy mango margarita rimed in black volcanic rock salt; greed is a bourbon Gold Rush with lemon and honey, rimmed in gold flakes; and lust is a smooth, sweet pumpkin-spice Brandy Alexander with cognac, rye, crème de cacao, pumpkin puree and oat milk.
For much more, check out the full list here.
The week’s biggest stories 
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Santa Ana winds and SoCal FireDevastating hacks and AITrump administration policies and reactionsWhile the Department of Justice has made big assertions and sharp exchanges, there is little clarity in its election battle with California.The Justice Department sent L.A. County the names, birth dates and addresses of some 20,000 ‘likely noncitizen’ voters. But the list included voters from across the state.Trump’s team is in chaos as midterms enter final stretch.Entertainers in the wrong spotlightMore newsEditor’s pickMore picksThings to do 
Karina Longworth for Sunday Funday (Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by AP Photo / Chris Pizzello)
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by AP Photo / Chris Pizzello)
Today’s recipe 
(Courtesy of Elena Veselova/fahrwasser )
“Lasagna soup is not new,” wrote content strategist Sara Kitnick. “It has been on Pinterest boards and cozy-season roundups for years. But the weather is shifting, and we just want something warm. Something nostalgic. Maybe a little dramatic. And now, TikTok is giving the dish a second life.” Here’s a look at a fast and simple recipe.
Photo of the day 
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches from the dugout during the ninth inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series between Los Angeles and the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Dodger Stadium.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Games 
Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.