Riverside County Yard Haunts 2020: Pirates of Magnolia, Reichland Asylum, Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire, and More
Riverside, CA
Just like our Santa Clarita Valley haunts coverage, Riverside County gets a twofer for its home haunts in order to give more focus and to let the poor title text have a better chance of fitting over the cover image (even then, sorry if it spills over depending on your browser or screen resolution). We’re actually pretty much in the city of Riverside for this update, near the Woods Streets neighborhood for two of our features and a little east on a street called Glenhaven Avenue for two others.
Oh, and one of the haunts we’re showcasing might have been something you’ve seen or heard about on the news!
Pirates of Magnolia
And that one is the what we’re kicking off this update post with! The “Fire House,” as some have called it, has been garnering attention on local news because some neighbors or passers-by have actually thought the house was on fire and called 911! It’s happened enough that the local 911 dispatch has actually gotten the location recorded in their notices and now asks callers if they’re sure the house is on fire and to describe it and the nature of the fire they’re seeing.
The Pirates of Magnolia is lit up in a moment of lightning as a “fire” rages inside.
That “fire,” though, is one of the iconic effects from the attraction that the Pirates of Magnolia (aka the “Fire House”) is inspired by: Pirates of the Caribbean. It, of course, occurs in the burning village scene, and the owners of this home, Carmen and Travis Long, have used the exact same technique as DIsney did in its legendary ride. Incidentally enough, popular story tells that when the effects were first turned on, the fire marshal on site actually nearly panicked because he thought it was a real fire. The warmly lit, billowing fabric flames seemed that realistic! Over fifty years later, it’s amusing and also kind of fascinating to see the same practical effect be just as effective.
The Longs started decorating their house in 2017 on the first Halloween season after they moved in. They’re longtime fans of Disney, and the style of the residence seemed perfectly suited for one of their favorite rides! Initially, they had a modest collection of skeletons dressed in pirate garb and some smoke machines to give a bit of ambiance. The following year, a canon on the back porch with the crooning buccaneers was added. Last year came faux fire along the second floor windows and a pirate ship in front, and this year, the balance of the fire has migrated downstairs as well.
The result has been a hit, and ever since the Long residence started gaining coverage in both normal and social media, there have been plenty of curious Pirates of the Caribbean fans and Halloween aficionados passing by each night! Last Sunday when I visited, there were dozens of guests gawking and admiring and savoring the environment and taking photos of and with the house. In a year when Disneyland has been closed for the majority of the time, the Pirates of Magnolia are playing a small part in restoring some of that Disney magic!
Along the side, more skeleton swashbucklers scale the house and fire off a cannon over the porch.
Pirates of Magnolia is located at 5121 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA 92506, right on the corner of Magnolia and Chapman Place. Due to the high popularity this haunt has attracted from being on the news, parking may be a little difficult, and there is pretty high vehicular and pedestrian traffic at that corner and on Chapman. Please drive carefully if you do swing by!
Reichland Asylum presents Crawford Gardens
Just a few streets down from Pirates of Magnolia and in a much quieter setting, Reichland Asylum awaits to those looking for a more sinister scene. This was actually the original reason I had planned on being in this neck of the woods. It was a friend who tipped me off to the previous haunt the night before. Although Reichland Asylum may not share any inspiration from a beloved Disney IP, it does amaze with its towering 16 ft tall facade, one of the biggest we’ve seen (rivaled perhaps only by Beware the Dark Realm in breadth and 1870 Haunt Manor in height).
It’s got so much character, the front of Reichland Asylum almost feels like a living building.
Normally a walk-through maze, this frequent Midsummer Scream Hall of Shadows member is just a yard display this year due to COVID concerns. Formally, this year’s production showcases Crawford Gardens, named after the villainous doctor developed as the main antagonist of the asylum last year. I’ll be honest and confess that I don’t see much in the way of gardens here—unless it’s gardens of despair or decay. But there is a little sanitarium office area that offers a peek-in into the doctor’s work space.
It’s definitely worth a look and more than a few moments taking in all the intricate details that have been jam-packed inside. Assorted bottles, an old toaster oven and mini-fridge, a typewriter and television, and more are located across several shelves and cabinets and a desk—all aged super convincingly to look like relics of a bygone era. They also contribute to a very creepy and unsettling vibe that meshes very well with the haunted asylum theme. We can only imagine this sort of detail incorporated into a full-fledged haunt. Alas, we’ll have to wait at least until next year!
Outside, the asylum facade dominates the frame. A patient on a gurney and another lying in an open casket seem to be littered about the front yard, almost like discarded souls. Eerie green and purple light cast upon the decrepit building front, clearly ravaged by time. Behind the locked gates, this scene sits powerfully and boldly as an establishing shot that sets the tone for the entire attraction. It’s amazing that all of this is “just” from an “amateur” home haunt, since this sort of meticulous theming would be stellar at most professional haunts!
Dr. Crawford working space is definitely worth peeking in to admire all the intricate details that have been added.
Reichland Asylum’s Crawford Gardens is located at 3980 Bandini Ave, Riverside, CA 92506 and runs nightly from 7:00 - 10:00pm. Even though it’s not its usual full walk-through maze, it’s still an incredible feat of home haunt construction, theming, and atmosphere!
As an aside, there’s also a cute little Halloween graveyard display a few houses down from Reichland. It’s nowhere near as elaborate, but it’s cute! I hear there are also plenty of houses in the general neighborhood that have decorated nicely for Halloween too, but didn’t have a chance to explore more thoroughly last Sunday.
This house is just several doors down southeast from Reichland Asylum.
I liked the cozy, homemade character of this display!
Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire
About ten minutes or so away from Reichland Asylum is a lovely, alluring Halloween display that has an entirely different character than either of the two locations we’ve covered above. Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire is an entry on the SoCal Haunt List, and though it is nowhere near as elaborate as Pirates of Magnolia or Reichland Asylum, it still brings a cozy, family-oriented, almost nostalgic feeling of Halloween.
Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire has a mouthful of a name but plenty of Halloween charisma to boot!
It helps that the house itself has a really nice charm with a traditional brick and siding aesthetic that already sort of gives off Hallmark vibes. The family has decorated accordingly, providing a whole host of various jack-o-lanterns lined across the length of the front facade. These grinning gourds seem friendly and perhaps a bit mischievous, and they blend perfectly with the green and purple wall-washed light behind them.
A few other details contribute to the adorable grace of this display, including a couple of little sheet ghosts that seem fixated on haunting the front windows, a excessively cheerful skeleton with a party hat and a raised arm in jovial salutation, and a witch wreath that adorns the front door. Hanging pumpkins from a broad tree in front also add to the scene, but unfortunately, they weren’t lit on my visit. Orange string lights running along the roof eave offer a framing accent, matching the jack-o-lantern orange on the ground with a line up top. All in all, it’s an excellently decorated Halloween residence!
I really love this super friendly guy who just looks thrilled to see any passer-by!
Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire is located at 5343 Glenhaven Ave, Riverside, CA 92506 and runs nightly all month from 6:00 - 10:00pm. It’s a really charming, family-friendly display, and even though it lacks the super custom-fabricated aspect, it still packs in a ton of character—demonstrating that providing a filling Halloween ambiance can be done in all sorts of ways!
“Buccaneer Graveyard” Display on Glenhaven Ave
This would have been the end of the update, except that as I was driving north on Glenhaven Ave from Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire, I happened to pass another home display that caught my eye enough that I felt compelled to stop for a few minutes. This one doesn’t have any official name that I know of, but it seemed to be a mix of a cemetery and pirate theme. Although there appeared to have been some storebought props, the extended layout of this haunt, with its bountiful lights, spooky trees up at the top of the driveway, and countless jack-o-lanterns and gravestones was sufficient for me to count as qualifying for a “haunt credit'“ and meriting of its own feature in a section of an update.
That’s the beauty of going home haunt hunting. Sure, there are haunts on a list—most of them very elaborate and on a strong commercial haunt level. But there are also little surprises along the way—places that aren’t on any social media radar, but which present a wonderful Halloween surprise nonetheless! This display is one such example.
The “Buccaneer Graveyard” is located just down the street from Ghostly Gourd Howlenshire at 5172 Glenhaven Ave, Riverside, CA 92506. I’m not aware of any social information, so just assume it’s on the standard 7:00 - 10:00pm nightly.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this latest installation of our 2020 home haunts coverage, i.e. our Majority of 2020 Haunts coverage. We’ve got plenty more from all over Southern California featuring haunts of the same type of caliber. We are so fortunate to have a region that is so rife with Halloween love and activity, and for fans of Halloween who’ve been starved this season due to the non-operations of Knott’s, Universal, Queen Mary, Six Flag, etc…, these smaller scale endeavors have definitely provided some relief and solace that the spirit of Halloween is still very much alive—pandemic be damned!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
