6 family-friendly Halloween thrills and chills in Orange County

Looking for family-friendly activities for Halloween? To scare up a few thrills and chills this Halloween, Orange County has a lot of activities for the entire family.

For family-friendly activities for Halloween, host a scary movie night

Instead of staying up all night worrying about mobile data security, enjoy a few things that go bump in the night with your kids!

For a spooky way to stay at home and have fun with your kids, put on scary (or not-so-scary) movies. Pop the popcorn and throw in a few candy fingers so kids will be surprised. Turn out the lights and enjoy.

Parenting.com suggests a few fun Halloween movies, including Coco, Hocus Pocus, Monster House, Coraline, Casper, Beetlejuice, Hotel Transylvania or Gremlins.

Can’t decide on one? Write the movies on slips of paper and pick from a hat—filled with plastic spiders, of course.

Get creeped out at the annual Trick or Treat Festival in Costa Mesa

Get ready for a fright at the Trick or Treat Festival and leave your IT spending fears behind.

Located at the Orange County Market Place Fair and Event Center Lot A in Costa Mesa, from 9 am-2 pm on October 29th, the first 500 children will receive prizes. Enjoy stilt walkers, pumpkin carving, face painting and puppet shows. Wear your costumes.

Admission: Free

Head to the Happy Hallowiener Doggy Dress Up and Kids Costume Party in Huntington Beach

Instead of being concerned about ransomware attacks, grab the kids and the dog and attend the Happy Hallowiener Doggie Dress-Up and Kids Costume Party.

Located in Huntington Beach at the Old World Village Festival Hall at 7561 Center Avenue, #49, on Sunday, October 28th from 2-7:30 pm, the entire family and pooches, too, can enjoy dog races, face painting, a bouncy castle, carnival games AND there’s German beer and sausages for adults.

Admission: $7 for adults, $3 for children, and free for ages five and under, as well as participants

*Under 21 must be accompanied by a parent.

Attend the Halloween Extravaganza in Newport Beach

Stop worrying about scary IT tech troubles and get your scariest Halloween goblin gear on for a Halloween Extravaganza.

Located at the Central Library Children’s Room at 1000 Avocado Avenue on October 31 from 4-5:30 pm, there will be fun trick-or-treating, scary stories, yummy treats and arts and crafts. Wear your costumes!

Admission: No registration required, but kids must be accompanied by an adult

Get spooked out with the Halloween Trick-Or-Treat Through the City of Irvine

Instead of fighting about budgeting managed IT services, have a frightful time at the Trick-Or-Treat Through the City.

Located at Pretend City Children’s Museum at 29 Hubble in Irvine, on Wednesday, October 31st from 10 am-3 pm, get ready for ghosts, pirates and princesses. Wear your best Halloween costume and enjoy the bug bash and trick or treat at various station points.

Admission: Included with museum price

Bring your older kids to a hair-raising Haunted Trails event in Laguna Niguel

Instead of being buried under cloud computing concerns, dig up your scariest zombie costume and bring your teenagers to the Haunted Trails.

Located at the Crown Valley Community Park at 29751 Crown Valley Parkway, from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm on October 18th, and 6:30 pm-10 pm on October 19th and 20th, this VERY SCARY event is a medieval walk through darkened trails once the sun sets. As groups of 10 are escorted through, you can scream but no one but the other 9 people in your group will hear you.

Admission: $15 or $13 pre-sale. Kids must be 8+.

With so many ghoulishly fun ways to enjoy Halloween activities with your family, you might have a hard time selecting just one!

Happy Halloween!