It’s no secret Halloween in West Hollywood is legendary. Every year, it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people pack the Blvd. for Carnaval: a blur of costumes, bodies, energy, various states of “influences” and often, highly charged libidos. But for all the celebration, the holiday also carries a few ghosts of its own.
Thirty years ago, River Phoenix collapsed outside The Viper Room on Halloween night, 1993, and never woke up. The actor’s overdose on Sunset Boulevard shocked Hollywood and left an imprint on a generation (X) and the city that never really faded.
And in 2013, tragedy struck during our Carnaval itself. Tragically, a man’s costume caught fire near Santa Monica Boulevard during the peak of the party. Witnesses saw him running for help, flames spreading as the crowd parted in confusion. Sadly, he died later from his injuries, a reminder that even a night built on fun can suddenly turn really dark, really fast.
I think it’s safe to say WeHo residents have learned to balance the joy and chaos of Halloween, but it isn’t the only part of Los Angeles haunted by it. The archives are full of strange, violent stories that happened on or around October 31 — cases so unsettling they sound made up. But as CrimeReads.com uncovered, they weren’t.
A Party Turns Deadly
In 1967, a Halloween party in Van Nuys ended with a man named Kenneth Lindstrand shot dead in front of nearly a hundred witnesses. He wasn’t wearing a costume, which made him stand out — and that may have been what got him killed. Police said another man at the party became jealous after seeing Lindstrand dance with his wife. At first, everyone thought the shooting was part of the act. One woman even danced over the body before realizing the blood was real.
The Wolf Man in Chinatown
On Halloween night in 1974, two trick-or-treaters wearing monster masks forced their way into an elderly couple’s home in Chinatown. They shot and killed Pok Suey Low, 81, while his wife watched. The gunmen ran, leaving their masks — and a bag of candy — behind. Detectives eventually arrested two 15-year-olds and a 20-year-old man after one of them bragged about another crime.
Murder at the Door
Back in 1957, a beauty-salon owner in Sun Valley named Peter Fabiano answered the door to a figure wearing jeans, red gloves, and a mask. He handed over a bowl of candy and joked, “Isn’t it a little late for this?” Seconds later, he was shot point-blank and killed. Months later, police uncovered one of the strangest motives in Los Angeles history — a love triangle involving Fabiano’s wife and two women, Joan Rabel and Goldyne Pizer, who carried out the shooting in disguise.
These cases show a side of Halloween that’s easy to forget when the streets are full of glitter and laughter. Masks and makeup can hide a lot: jealousy, anger, desperation and every so often, the night that celebrates fantasy brushes up against something real, something evil.
So as we gear up for another Halloween Carnaval with lights flashing, music pounding, thousands of people spilling into the streets, it’s worth remembering that the city of Angels, for all its celebration of life, has seen its share of death… darkness… and devils too.
The ghosts don’t just belong to the movies. Some of them walked (and are walking) these same streets with you and me.
Boo!
