From Betsy Malloy,
Your Guide to California Travel.
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If you're looking to celebrate Halloween in a big way, California's cities and towns have lots to offer. To kick the season off, Half Moon Bay's Pumpkin Festival (held the second weekend in October) includes a biggest pumpkin contest as well as lot of other fall-themed activities.

• Los Angeles Theme Parks: The theme parks in the entertainment capitol go all out for Halloween. Disneyland gets all dressed up and the Haunted Mansion begins its run as the "The Nightmare Before Christmas", which will last until the end of the year. For a truly scary time, Universal Studios says their Halloween Horror Nights are the scariest in town. Not to be outdone, Knotts Berry Farm becomes Knotts Scary Farm.

• San Diego: Goings-on planned in San Diego include a Haunted Hotel in the Gaslamp and Haunted Trail at Balboa Park. Any time of year, the Whaley House is reputed to be one of the most haunted in the country.

• San Francisco: The "official" annual street party in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood is cancelled according to the San Francisco Chronicle, after nine people were injured in a shooting during the 2006 event. The Exotic Erotic Ball is still on, and Vampiress Mina Harker will be hard at work after dark, leading the San Francisco Vampire Tour.

• Silicon Valley and Santa Clara County: Gilroy Gardens offers a Halloween Treasure Hunt for kids 12 and under on October weekends. Even though tour guides make a point to tell you it's not haunted, it's kinda creepy, and Winchester Mystery House offers special flashlight tours for Halloween.

Any time of year, California has plenty of haunted houses, hotels and other places you can visit.