For nearly 10 years, Ocean Beach has been a little spookier around Halloween time, thanks to Thomas Marshall. During that time, the local teen has turned his family’s house at 1070 Devonshire Drive into a haunted house, which locals can check out at their own risk all day Saturday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 31. The event is but one of a host of All-Hallows antics, devilish delights and ghoulish gimmicks happening on the Peninsula through the end of the month. “It really just started when I was five or six in the backyard,” Marshall said. “I decorated a tree we had and just hung a couple plastic skeletons. I had a couple friends over, we played around in that, and it was really fun.” From hanging skeletons and cardboard tombstones to animatronics, lights and a maze, Marshall said the dressing up of his house has grown over time. The high school freshman has been working on the decorations since the beginning of October, primarily on the weekends. “Really it’s a collection from all the years previous,” Marshall said. “Everything just accumulates.” Marshall makes a majority of the items that will be on display — with very few purchases. His imagination and creativity has kept the project cost at less than $100 since it started. “Of course, there are some things you kind of have to buy. But a majority of the stuff I just put together,” Marshall said. “I’ve gotten pretty good at making stuff look pretty old and creepy.” Animatronics at the Marshall house include a big spider and a hanging man that writhes. A new addition to this year’s fun is an indoor/outdoor maze with plastic sheeting to add effect. “I’ve never had an indoor section before, and I basically built an entire maze on one side of my yard out of pallets,” Marshall said. “At Costco, they were going to throw them away. So we loaded up the back of my mom’s van and brought them down here.” The decorations will be complete the weekend before Halloween and up and lit in time for the bewitching weekend. Visitors are welcome to stop by and check it out, he said. Marshall said he’ll do his best to spook up the Halloween celebration, adding to the brew of other planned activities and events for children and adults in the community and at local recreation centers and schools. SUNSET VIEW ELEMENTARY Marshall said the inspiration for his haunted house came from the Sunset View Elementary Halloween Carnival, which will hold its 52nd annual edition Oct. 30 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. “That was one of my inspirations to start this,” Marshall said. “They always have their Halloween carnival and maze in there and I loved going to that.” The Sunset View carnival features spooky games, prizes, a cakewalk, costume contest, pumpkin patch, haunted house, face painting and food and treats. The free community event will be held at the school, 4365 Hill St. For more information, call (619) 223-7156. SILVER GATE ELEMENTARY In like fashion, Silver Gate Elementary will hold its annual Harvest Festival on Friday, Oct. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets will be available at the event, which features a costume contest, haunted hallway, cakewalk, pumpkin patch, games and face painting. Tickets are 8 for $10, 16 for $20 or 24 for $30, and $5 buys you two chances to win a prize in the drawing. The school is located at 1499 Venice St. For more information, call (619) 222-1139. CORREIA MIDDLE SCHOOL Correia Middle School will hold a Spooktacular Concert on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m., featuring the school’s bands and orchestra. The free event includes a chili dinner before the concert and a costume contest. The school is located at 4302 Valeta St. For more information, call (619) 222-0476. LOMA PORTAL ELEMENTARY Loma Portal Elementary School will hold its free annual community Monster Bash on Friday, Oct. 29 starting around 5 p.m. The bash will have its first-ever haunted house, presented by the school’s Dads Club. The school is located at 3341 Browning St. For more information, call (619) 223-1683. REC CENTERS The local recreation centers will serve up their own frightening offerings Halloween weekend, starting with Cabrillo Recreation Center’s 70th annual community Halloween carnival on Oct. 29 from 5 to 8 p.m. The carnival will be held at Cabrillo Elementary School, 3120 Talbot St. For more information, call (619) 531-1534. Meanwhile, the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave., will hold its Halloween Carnival on Saturday, Oct. 30 from 2 to 5 p.m. A $2 wristband is good for all the games and activities and those who attend should bring a trick-or-treat bag for prizes and treats. A costume contest will be held for six different age groups starting at 2:40 p.m. For more information, call (619) 531-1527. CANINE ‘HOWL-OWEEN’ CARNIVAL The dogs will have their day on Sunday, Oct. 24 at the fifth annual Ocean Beach “Howl-oween” Canine Carnival and Costume Contest. The Kiwanis Club-sponsored carnival for dogs will be held at Dusty Rhodes Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a costumed pet parade from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and an all-day street fair. Registration for canine contestants will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and costs $5 for individual dogs and $8 for multiple dogs or floats (a dog riding on something). Prizes will be awarded around 3 p.m. and all entrants receive a doggie bag of treats. For more information, call Melanie Nickel at (619) 225-8705, or e-mail [email protected]. PEARL HOTEL Those interested in early carving can attend The Pearl Hotel Pumpkin Carving Contest on Thursday, Oct. 21 from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at 1410 Rosecrans St. Bring a knife and your imagination to carve out a winner. For more information, call (619) 226-6100.