All manner of ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, and other things that go bump in the night are haunting the Peninsula for Halloween. Some of the scary goings-on between now and Tuesday, Oct. 31 are listed below.

HAUNTED HOUSE

For several years, Alexandra Watkins and Glenn Millar at 1835 Venice St. in Point Loma have gone all-in on decorating their place morphing it into a “real” haunted house. Ghastly displays include a gang of animatronic characters including pirates, eerie twins, and spooky banjo players. The pair have made Halloween decorating a family tradition, wherein they try and outdo themselves each year.

Millar said their tradition began almost by accident. “I was just starting my handyman business and a client asked me to haul his crow’s nest down from his yard saying, ‘My wife hates it,’” Millar said adding, “So I took it back to my house and Alexandra hated it. That Halloween she had the idea of putting the crow’s nest up in the front yard and putting a pirate in it. She liked it so much, we left it there.”

Millar said the crow’s nest quickly became a neighborhood attraction and they’ve accommodated local interest by adding to and improving it and the rest of their ghoulish display every Halloween. “We have new animatronics including a dog chasing a skeleton up a tree this year, as well as a jumping spider and a vicious dog,” he said. “We also added a skeleton with his head in his hands, and put out more lights this year.”

Millar said their Halloween decorations are fun for everyone especially them. “We love it. The kids love it,” he said. “Every year they come by and ask, ‘When is it going up?’ It’s been up since Oct. 1 and we’ll take it down the second week in November.”

MONSTER BASH

Loma Portal Elementary School will be holding its annual Halloween celebration on campus at 3341 Browning St. on Friday, Oct. 27 from 5-8 p.m. The haunting happenings include food, treats, a bounce house, an obstacle course, pony rides, a petting zoo, and face painting.

Event spokesperson Laureene Buck noted the creepy school tradition started in 2008 as a fundraiser and has just grown ever since. She said the elementary school’s Dad’s Club does the haunted house portion of the event, which began in the school’s auditorium and has since shifted to a hallway.

The event will be adult as well as kid-friendly this year said Buck noting: “We’ll have three food trucks serving Mexican, Greek, and burgers as well as having Kona ice and a coffee truck outside the school on the blacktop. We’ll also have inflatables, balloon artists, and carnival games, as well as a professional doing caricatures. We also have vendor sponsors who buy tables featuring their businesses. There is no charge to get in. But we do have paid wristbands granting access to all the attractions, like pony rides, and the games. Food cost is separate.”

HALLOWEEN AT LIBERTY STATION

Liberty Station’s annual spooky festivities are a dual attraction this year celebrating both the scary holiday and the centennial of the establishment of the former Naval Training Center. The free celebration from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29 will be held in Ingram Plaza. It will include traditional elements of the annual Halloween event, with trick-or-treating, live entertainment, a costume contest, prizes, crafts, and inflatables. Also included will be the honor of NTC’s oldest living recruits, including a 90- and 100-year-old. To cap off the celebration, a time capsule – to be opened in 25 years – will be buried.

Guests can take a break from being scared out of their wits by going on Liberty Station’s revamped, self-guided walking tour titled “A Walk Back Through Time.” The free tour now features 17 stops throughout the property, with both audio and visual components and a focus on the site’s unique roots as Naval Training Center San Diego. To take the tour, go to libertystation.com/events/centennial/a-walk-back-through-time.

HAUNTED REC CENTER

Ocean Beach Recreation Center at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. is deviating from its usual Halloween costume carnival this year by doing a scary fall movie in the park night and carnival at Ocean Beach Elementary field on Friday, Oct. 27 starting at 4 p.m. with the movie starting at dusk. There will be games, snacks, and more. For information call 619-531-1527.

PEOPLE’S HALLOWEEN

Community-owned OB People’s Food Co-op at 4765 Voltaire St. is hosting its annual Halloween party on Saturday, Oct. 21 from noon to 3 p.m. The event features a costume contest, free chocolate tastings, frightening tunes, a bouncy house for kids, and pumpkin painting with pumpkins, paints, and brushes supplied by the co-op.

SPIRIT HALLOWEEN

For Halloween costume ideas, look no further than Spirit Halloween, your one-stop shop for women’s, men’s, and kids’ costumes at 2790 Midway Drive. Spirit’s multitudinous offerings include costumes for men and women, boys and girls of all ages, as well as costumes for couples, groups, and toddlers. Spirit also carries a selection of decorations to create a haunted house, both inside and out. For more information, call 855-704-2669.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve is a celebration observed in many countries on Oct. 31, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints’ Day. One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which is believed to have pagan roots. Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century. Then, through American influence, various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.

DAY OF THE DEAD

Día de los Muertos is traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1-2 and is widely observed in Mexico, where it largely developed. It has a much less solemn tone than Halloween and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.