Let the ghoul times roll: A guide to Halloween events in the Lower Mainland

Whether it’s dressing up as your favourite character, carving pumpkins, or embracing horror and the supernatural, Halloween is a great way to get out and have fun with family and friends.

On and near Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus and across Metro Vancouver, there are various parties and activities taking place on Oct. 31 — and in the lead up to it — to mark the spooky holiday.

Below are some events promising a witching time that you can add to your calendar!

• KPU Spooktacular Halloween Bash(2023)

The university’s Student Health Promotion department will host its third annual Spooktacular Halloween Bash on Oct. 31 from noon to 2:00 pm in the Maple Atrium of the Surrey campus.

Interested students are encouraged to dress up to take part in a costume contest during the event. There will be secret judges who will walk around and monitor the participants’ costumes to select three winners.

The contest categories are Best Homemade, Best Character, and Judges’ Choice, which is based on their overall favourite look. Each winner will receive a $50 gift card from the KPU Bookstore.

Students will be able to take photos in front of Halloween photo backdrops, participate in themed crafts, and eat some treats. 

The bash is part of a larger initiative of events, KPU Thrive Month, which takes place every October. 

“We thought we would host it as a fun opportunity for students to come and celebrate Halloween together,” Student Health Promotion Manager Megan Matthews says, adding the bash is one of the ways Thrive Month connects students and promotes health and wellness. 

“I hope they have lots of fun, make new friends, show off their creative side, and really bring their best costumes forward,” Matthews says.

For more information, visit www.bit.ly/spooktacularbash. 

• Cougar Creek’s House of Horrors(2023)

Just a three-minute walk from the KPU Surrey campus is Cougar Creek’s House of Horrors, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The haunted house started out in a backyard in Delta, before expanding and moving to Potter’s Farm and Nursery, which later became the site of what is now the Cougar Creek Garden Centre.

There are five houses part of the event — each scary, loud, and filled with bright lights, says Heather Gibbons, customer relations representative for Cougar Creek’s House of Horrors.

While the event has a no-touch policy, meaning actors and visitors can’t touch each other, this year, the centre is introducing Terror Touch Thursdays, where the characters can touch customers — a long-requested feature.

“Going in, you will sign a waiver, and if you’re there on a Thursday and you don’t want to be touched, you’ll get a glow stick to carry through — and that signifies that you do not want to be touched,” Gibbons says.

While waiting to enter an attraction, visitors can enjoy the event’s live entertainment on the main stage, including dancing, singing, and trivia, she says.

Among the performers is Dandy of the Dead, a “drag icon who slays with spooky style,” the haunted house’s website reads.

Other features of the event include a coffin ride, which simulates being buried alive, a photo booth, games, concession food, and spooky merch and makeup from the gift shop. There are also two characters, Haunted Herb and Mr. Weeps, who provide roaming entertainment and can take photos with guests, Gibbons says.

On Oct. 15, KPU students can access $5 off per ticket using the promo code “kpu_scary!” at checkout.

The scary celebrations don’t stop on Halloween, however, as the haunted house is open two more nights. On Nov. 1, the centre will put on Whisper Night, a popular attraction from last year.

“The music is turned way down. The lights are almost off, and each group is given a little tea light to walk through all the mazes with the actors,” Gibbons says. “It is far scarier than the original one, simply because the little tea light throws the shadows and you don’t know what’s moving and what’s not. It’s very quiet and it is really scary.”

On Nov. 8, the haunted house will host its new Winter Craving Madness attraction, which Gibbons says serves as a goodbye to fall and a welcoming of the winter season.

“It’ll be a more party atmosphere,” she says. “In the maze are flashing lights. You’ll [also] be given flashing lights, and there’s dance beat music and lots of screaming and dancing. Even the actors will participate as you’re going through.”

Pumpkins will also be available by donation to support the Surrey Food Bank, which the Cougar Creek House of Horrors has supported for around a decade, Gibbons says.

“We also have nights where if you bring non-perishable food items, you get a little bit of a discount.”

She adds the event offers a fun environment, while also being very scary.

“We want to provide a good scare. That’s important to us, but we also want [visitors] to go away having had a blast.”

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.cougarcreekhouseofhorrors.com. 

• Beer Creek Park Train(2023)

Jassy Hans has been the owner of the Bear Creek Park Train in Surrey for the past eight years.

The trains were originally brought over from England by resident Kevin McKlusky, who convinced the City of Surrey to allow him to run the trains at the park. In 1997, David and Linda Penn bought the business because of their passion for the trains and children.

The special events around the trains were designed by David to delight children — something he did until his death in 2012.

In 2017, Hans bought the business. Previously a daycare owner, Hans and her husband were on the hunt for another daycare when they reached out to the previous owner. Since they wanted to do something geared towards kids, they bought the place, which is run as a privately owned family business.

This year, the BC Trains team is hosting their annual Halloween trains event at the location until Oct. 31. The Pumpkin Daytime Train runs daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The experience includes a train ride through a decorated forest, crafts, pumpkins, and treats. 

Hans says the business has gotten bigger and bigger over the last few years.

“We have noticed that it has changed quite a bit in a good way, and therefore, the Bear Creek train has grown, [with] more decorations, more things to do now that there’s a lot of people coming in.”

Entry for children under the age of two is free, with adult tickets priced at $12 per person. There is no online booking available, and tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Scream Train will run from 6:00 to 10:00 pm every night until Nov. 2. Tickets are $17.50 per person and can be booked online via the BC Trains website.

While the ride is open to all ages, it is recommended for people aged 12 and above. The experience will include a ride through the haunted forest.

“The nighttime [train] is geared towards adults, because there’s a lot of scary actors that run into you. So if you’re looking to get scared, then that’s where you’re going to be,” Hans says.

She hopes the family train at Bear Creek becomes a part of each family’s Halloween tradition every year.

“The good thing about Bear Creek Park is there’s a playground here and a beautiful garden for walking around. They have a beautiful track, if kids just want to run around and through the leaves. It’s amazing to see [how families] can make a whole day out of it.”

The area is wheelchair accessible and accepts Access 2 Cards, which provide free access for support workers.

On Oct. 12, the trains will be closed to support the Canucks Autism Network — something the park does each year, Hans says. For that day, the trains are closed to the general public and reserved for families within the autism network.

• Arts Nursery Scarecrow Festival(2023)

Surrey’s Arts Nursery Garden and Home is hosting its 11th annual Scarecrow Festival, which started on Sept. 20 and runs to Halloween.

The festival will feature over 60 hand-crafted scarecrows made by the team at the nursery, depicting movie stars, animated characters, and superheroes. Some of the scarecrows are inspired by Jurassic Park, Minecraft, The Wizard of Oz, Dora the Explorer, Winnie the Pooh, The Simpsons, and more.

“They definitely are a bit of a labour of love, but we’ve got a creative group and they do some amazing things,” Arts Nursery owner Rebecca van der Zalm says.

Each scarecrow is sponsored by a local business, with proceeds benefiting four local charities: the Surrey and Langley food banks, Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP), Inclusion Langley Society, and Orphaned Wildlife (OWL) Rehabilitation Rescue Society.

“All these charities are a little bit close to our hearts,” van der Zalm says.

After taking over the Arts Nursery family business from her parents, van der Zalm says she’s been involved with the festival since it started.

“My parents went on a vacation and they saw the scarecrows in Nova Scotia one year in the fall,” she says. “They came back with photos. I saw that and I thought, ‘Maybe we can do something like this.’”

Some highlights of the festival include a scavenger hunt open to all ages, live music, and food trucks on the weekends and holidays.

“This has turned into a wonderful event where we can engage with the public and community in a different way. And hopefully, when they’re here, they can see that a garden centre is a pretty fun place … and they can fall in love with fall colours,” van der Zalm says.

Tickets for children under the age of five are free, with adult tickets priced at $6.99 on Fridays, the weekends, and holidays. The ticket price also includes a mini pumpkin with purchase.

Entry on all other days is by donation, and non-perishable food donations are encouraged.

Attendees can also go home with take-n-make kits to build their own scarecrow, with the proceeds going towards a charity. The venue will also include a pumpkin patch with hundreds of unique pumpkins, gourds, and fall displays in a covered outdoor patch.

The OWL Rehabilitation Rescue will also be at the festival grounds to meet attendees on Oct. 25 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

“I hope [visitors] take away a little bit of joy and happiness and maybe some inspiration to beautify their own yard,” van der Zalm says.

• Little Mexico Cantina Halloween Party(2023)

A Mexican restaurant, Little Mexico Cantina, in Richmond’s Stevenston Village will turn into a Halloween club-like party on Oct. 31 at 8:00 pm.

Alex Sagert, the event’s coordinator and owner of Stevenson Sound and Stage, teamed up with Little Mexico Cantina to bring the community together. 

“This time of the year in Stevenston, it slows down with visitors and stuff like that, so we’re trying to get creative and we thought, ‘Let’s try this,’” says Sagert, who will also be the DJ at the event.

“With the Halloween event, we are going to try and turn that restaurant into a full-on club. It’s going to be smoke, professional lighting, everything you’d expect at a club,” Sagert says.

The event will include a Halloween costume contest, with staff members keeping an eye on people’s outfits. Closer to the end of the night, the owner and staff will announce the winner, Sagert says.

There will also be Halloween-themed cocktails.

“We want [guests] to have an option to, if they’re a local in Stevenston, to have a fun, safe place to come and meet some new community members,” Sagert says.

“We just want everybody to enjoy themselves and have a fun, safe, friendly atmosphere while putting on a good show. Something like this doesn’t usually happen in Steveston anymore.”

Tickets are free and can be found on www.bit.ly/stevenstonhalloween.