Dateline>City of Angels

Except maybe during rush hour when traffic grinds to a crawl, the winding drive along Laurel Canyon Blvd. can border on the mystical. After all, this rustic L.A. neighborhood is steeped in history and lore. Once a stage pass from the San Fernando Valley through the Hollywood Hills, since the late 1800s the ravine has been a haven for banditos, movie cowboys, prohibition-era boozers, bohemian artists, musicians and other sundry counterculturists. Little wonder so many Angelenos insist the free-spirited road remains a prime connection to otherworldly adventure.

Perhaps no Laurel Canyon site better symbolizes this than the mysterious ruins of a once-posh estate near the intersection of Lookout Mountain Road. Allegedly haunted by master-illusionist Harry Houdini, the private grounds continue to draw lookie-loos seeking fleeting glimpses of his lonely shade amid the property’s rocky stairs and grottoes.

Of course, Halloween is an especially popular time for Houdini drive-bys, since he met the Grim Reaper on this night in 1926. Over the years, there have even been rumors of trespassers sneaking onto the property for clandestine seances in the hopes of conjuring up his spirit — an ironic twist, considering Houdini actually spent much of his career trying to debunk such occultism. Nevertheless, true believers claim the so-called Houdini Mansion is among L.A.’s most haunted places. Read more

Today, of course, is the Eve of All Saints, the Christian feast honoring the hallows in heaven, which is followed by the Nov. 2 Feast of All Souls, a commemoration of all the Christian dead. How this day ended up as a festival for spooks, monsters and demons is a long but interesting story. Suffice it to say that the old Druidic ways die hard. Read more