The Annual Downtown Riverside, CA, Halloween Ghost Walk

Each year on the weekend before Halloween, several businesses in Downtown Riverside, California put on a very cool show. Both Friday and Saturday there are scary tours hosted by volunteer staff. The tours visit various locations around the historic Mission Inn hotel in a fright-fest of stories, dances and skits. The address of the Mission Inn is 3649 Mission Inn Ave. in Riverside.

Each tour costs $15.00, and you get to visit five attractions. There is a bit of walking involved, so be aware that disabled or injured people may have difficulty. There are four Halloween tours that leave at various times. They are denoted by color; blue, red, yellow and green. You are given a wristband of corresponding color so that you can find your group of tourists easily.

One stop is at the dance studio on Orange Street. This is an upstairs venue with lots of steps. You will be treated to tiny zombies and skeletons dancing to a rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller. The act is super cool, and gets lots of praise each Halloween.

Another stop is the church on Mission Inn Avenue, just east of the Mission itself. At this stop, watchers are treated to a scary story that has moralistic values. It is a very nice setting and is always a favorite stop of mine.

Another attraction is at the Downtowne Bookstore on Main street just north of the Mission Inn. Each year, a different story is told, usually by an aspiring writer who won a contest in order to strut their stuff on the Halloween Ghost Walk. I have never been disappointed in their show, and the stories are top-notch bone-rattlers. They really go all out to make a good production.

Twice I have seen a really spooky show at the art studio where the seven deadly sins are represented by horribly scary looking performers. There is much blood, loud bangs and eerie laughter at that venue, and it never ceases to really scare folks, but in an entertaining way. This year, there was a vampire cabaret that featured attractive dancers and a mystery story - it was really super cool!

Throughout the evening on the Main Street Walk that goes past the Mission Inn, there are various performing acts out in the night air. There are plenty of benches and grassy areas along the way to stop for a bit, and the shows are always fun and exciting.

The entire Ghost Walk event lasts from about 5:40 PM to 11:00 PM, with various two-hour tours happening throughout the evening. It is a very family-friendly event, and nothing is too scary, so the kids won't have nightmares for two weeks after the walk. The guides are always very nice, and there is a general air of relaxation about the whole thing. It comes highly recommended for anyone in the Riverside, CA area around Halloween time.