Fall is the perfect time for fun, and haunted houses are an ideal opportunity to hold loved ones tighter and celebrate. Although most haunted houses are geared toward older children and young adults, there are some fun ones that welcome the entire family. Read along about these carefully crafted, kid-friendly, free haunted houses.

Spider Lights 2012
806 Catalina St.
Burbank, CA 91505
www.hollywoodgothique.com/

Price: free
Hours: Oct. 27 to 31 – dusk to 9 p.m.

This neighborhood haunted house is filled with eerie characters including ghosts, skeletons, witches and entrapped beings in coffins. The streams of hanging lights and moving shapes like the lit-up spiders contrast not too scarily against a dark night. The fluorescent lights and haunted house sounds are guaranteed to catch children’s attention. Even toddlers may safely navigate the decorated yard here. It is not gruesome, nor does it have unexpected characters lunging at guests like those houses geared toward older crowds. On Halloween night Spider Lights visitors receive candy as well.

Mishap Manor
1547 Garden St.
Glendale, CA 91201
www.hollywoodgothique.com/

Price: free
Hours: October – lights until 9 p.m.; Oct. 31 – 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Mishap Manor, a residential haunted house, is open to entire families. There are a couple of images they may be a little frightening to children, like a hanging body or a body that fell into a grave, but older kids will do just fine here. The cemetery scene features classic Halloween decorations such as jack-o-lanterns and black cats. The vivid lights and illuminated candles give the house a special glow. To add to these effects there are interesting moving Halloween objects such as skeletons and tons of cob webs. The haunted sounds, special light show effects and Mishap Manor employees dressed up in costumes make this haunted house a fun adventure for children. Children as young as 8 will enjoy this one.

The Haunt with No Name
19351 Hatteras St.
Tarzana, CA
www.hauntwithnoname.com/

Price: free
Hours: Oct. 29 – 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Oct. 30 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Oct. 31 – dusk to 10 p.m.

The Haunt with No Name is decorated with witches, a lot of pumpkins and tombstones. The hanging additions such as ghosts and floating candles make the house more mysterious. The flying creature within a tomb is also bewitching. The flickering lights, candles and nostalgic movies from an early horror movie are also a nice way to intensify a night at the Haunt with No Name. This house is well received by youth as young as 7 years old to teenagers, but even adults enjoy it. It’s one of the best children’s haunted houses in the area because the owners are friendly, have a child, and they avoid horrific scenes.

Boney Island
4602 Morse Ave.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91432
www.boneyisland.com

Price: free
Hours: Oct. 20 to Oct. 31 Sun to Thurs – 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri and Sat – 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Boney Island has to be one of the most fun and unique haunted house for families. It features dancing skeletons, talking skeletons and skeletons that respond to guest’s questions. These bags of bones are humorous as well; they crack jokes, do magic tricks and act as fortune tellers in certain parts of this exhibit. Both children and adults will chuckle at their outrageous conversations and acts. It’s safe for children as young as toddlers without frightening scenes. The entire atmosphere of this production is fabulous. The brightly colored spouting water fountain sets it apart from other haunted houses.

Forest of Mirrors
6124 Lederer Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 932-9491
www.forestofmirrors.com/

Price: free
Hours: Oct. 31 – 6 p.m. to midnight

This haunted house features tons of skulls on the ground, rows of pumpkins and an aisle of hanging ghosts. Fog, candles and special lighting effects turn up the suspense in this house. There is even a large image of a green witch’s face. The magical effect that truly makes this house stand out is that there are more than 50 mirrors as you make your walk through the haunted area, making it seem like there is no end to the haunted walkway. This haunted house does have characters that like to roar, leap and scare visitors. It’s open to all ages, but it is recommended for children 8 and older.

Cassandra Bautista is a freelance writer from Los Angeles. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.