October 15, 2005

So, I was out in Burbank for the Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors convention at the beginning of June. (2005) A few days after the convention experience, I got together with my friend Paul Swearingen who kindly showed me around to all of the locations where the majority of HALLOWEEN’s Part 1 and 2 were filmed in South Pasadena. Other spots included Tommy’s elementary school in Alhambra, the town square (from HALLOWEEN II), the cemetery (from HALLOWEEN) and THE FOG church which were all located in Sierra Madre. And let me tell you… there is nothing more surreal then actually standing in the exact spots that you’ve seen on television hundreds of times before!

Granted, I didn’t think to watch the first two HALLOWEEN movies before my trip, so all of these angles aren’t exactly as they were in the movies. I did my best to capture the spots from memory. But the screen shots paired with my photos should help you recognize these spots. As an added bonus, we happened to stumble upon some of the locations from one of my all-time favorite 80’s movies, the original BACK TO THE FUTURE! The BTTF houses were in South Pasadena, and Doc Brown’s house in Pasadena. Check out all the pictures below! Special thanks, yet again, to Paul Swearingen for showing me all these incredible shooting locations. -Rob G

(*Editors note from 9/2025: I was saddened to learn that Paul passed away back on June 26th, 2020, I believe after battling Parkinson’s disease. I will never forget how kind it was of him to take an entire day to show me around these locations as a fellow HALLOWEEN fanatic. Since then, I’ve done my best to pay it forward and I often bring people visiting Los Angeles from out of town on the very same tour he first gave to me. I will keep doing that in his honor. And it’s also the main reason I wanted to completely restore this original article, with the original high res images, 15 years later. Bless you, Paul.)

Our first stop was the Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery located at 535 E. Sierra Madre Boulevard in Sierra Madre, California.

Next up was the church from John Carpenter’s THE FOG! It’s the Episcopal Church of the Ascension located at 25 E. Laurel Ave., Sierra Madre, CA 91024

This is Kersting Court Plaza, Sierra Madre, CA, located at 51 N Baldwin Ave Sierra Madre, CA 91024

Tommy Dolye’s school was the Garfield Elementary School located at 110 W. McLean Street, Alhambra, CA

These scenes were also shot at the Garfield Elementary School located at 110 W. McLean Street in Alhambra, California. Michael is starring at her across from where the front entrance is on McLean Street.

The opening title card shots of Haddonfield on Halloween morning were shot on the corners of Montrose Avenue and Oxley Street in South Pasadena, California.

Lynda’s house is located at 1027 Montrose Avenue, South Pasadena

The infamous “bush,” aka the Michael Myers “hedge” is located between 1019 and 1025 Montrose Avenue

The high school that Laurie and her friends attend in HALLOWEEN is South Pasadena High School located at 1401 Fremont Ave. in South Pasadena, CA

Laurie Strode’s house is located at 1115 Oxley Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030 

The hardware store from the 1978 film Halloween was Nichol’s Hardware Store, which was actually a real location called The Frame Shop located at 966 Mission Street, in South Pasadena, California. The building is now home to the Radhika Modern Indian restaurant.

The Michael Myers house was moved one block from it’s original location to the corner of 1000 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030, on the same block as the hardware store location right by the train tracks!

The “alley” featured in Halloween II is actually Magnolia Lane in South Pasadena, California, located behind the Elrod house at 716 Meridian Avenue

The Ben Tramer scene was shot at the corner of Meridian Ave and Magnolia St, South Pasadena, CA

Loraine Baines 1955 house is located at 1705 Bushnell Avenue in South Pasadena

Doc Brown’s mansion is actually a historic museum, The Gamble House located at 4 Westmoreland Pl, Pasadena, CA 91103. His garage is the gift shop.