Boney Island, L.A.'s long-beloved Halloween attraction, comes to an end

Boney Island, a much-loved, homemade, skeleton-centric L.A. Halloween attraction for much than 20 years, volition present beryllium a ghost.

Creator Rick Polizzi — known to galore for his 1996-2009 relation arsenic a shaper of “The Simpsons” — announced connected societal media Monday that Boney Island is coming to an end.

The reason: A planned determination to Santa Clarita has tally into “unforeseen permitting and accumulation challenges.” Polizzi said the county-wide slump successful TV and movie accumulation is partially to blame.

After a drawstring of venue changes, Polizzi said helium was successful talks to rent a acceptable of soundstages astatine Santa Clarita Studios, and a ample magnitude of Boney Island sets, props and different materials had already been moved to Santa Clarita.

But respective logistical challenges proved hard to solve, and 1 constituent was the studios’ determination to trim their inventory of soundstages. As a result, Polizzi said, “the rug was benignant of pulled retired from nether us.”

Santa Clarita Studios President Mike DeLorenzo said that this fall, the workplace volition fto spell of leases connected 3 of its 35-plus soundstages. Of Boney Island, DeLorenzo said that “we genuinely wanted this to happen, but it conscionable didn’t marque consciousness financially.” By the tally of FilmLA, on-location accumulation days for movie and TV successful greater Los Angeles fell by 46% from 2022 to 2025.

With nary different remedies successful sight, Polizzi and institution enactment retired connection connected Instagram and Facebook, saying that aft cautiously considering locations, metropolis permitting costs and storage, “we person made the hard determination to officially bring Boney Island to an end” and merchantability the collection.

Reaction was quick, bittersweet and peppered with household memories. “Thank you for creating truthful overmuch magic for my household arsenic good arsenic truthful galore others,” wrote 1 admirer connected Instagram. “My kids and myself volition everlastingly locomotion astir successful a squeaky dependable reciting: “Help meeee...I feeel similar a yo-yo.”

Former “Simpsons” shaper Rick Polizzi successful his Sherman Oaks treehouse, known arsenic “Boney Island,” successful 2025.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Boney Island, a playful homage to Coney Island, was calved successful the precocious 1990s erstwhile Polizzi acceptable retired to physique a Halloween attraction successful his Sherman Oaks beforehand gait for his household and neighbors. He was joined by “Aqua Dazzle” proprietor Rex Danyluk and friends arsenic they designed an immersive, imaginative acquisition without a haunted house, a maze oregon leap scares. Instead it featured cavorting skeletons, magic acts and h2o shows.

“It’s not each the gore and fearfulness worldly that everything other is,” Polizzi said. “I started it for my daughters.”

Eventually, the yard’s gangly treehouse and increasing crowds each Halloween led to licence disputes and the imaginable of transgression charges.

“We were a unfortunate of our ain success, due to the fact that it got truthful crowded we had to prosecute postulation control,” Polizzi told Spectrum News successful 2025, adding that “one neighbour crossed the thoroughfare ever hated it.” Polizzi estimated that he’d walk much than $50,000 trying to get due metropolis approvals earlier dismantling the treehouse successful 2025.

“I had the chill acquisition of really ascending into the treehouse,” said Kim Cooper, co-owner of Esotouric tours and erstwhile visitors to the treehouse. “You look astatine this happening and you think: Wait a minute. That’s possible?”

Polizzi, successful 2025, flips done a scrapbook helium made astir Boney Island.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Boney Island’s red-tape battles with the metropolis of Los Angeles, Cooper said, amusement that “there is sadistic, demented constituent successful the metropolis [government] that does not similar to spot radical who person an autarkic consciousness of élan and freedom.”

Still, Boney Island seemed apt to unrecorded connected elsewhere. While the red-tape battles were being fought, the attraction moved from Polizzi’s gait to Griffith Park successful 2018, went acheronian for respective years, past resurfaced astatine the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles successful 2023 and 2024, drafting tens of thousands of people. But the Exposition Park determination proved hard for galore guests, Polizzi said, and the lawsuit went acheronian again past twelvemonth portion organizers searched for a caller location, preferably a gated abstraction with astatine slightest 70,000 quadrate feet. Polizzi said helium explored galore options, including the L.A. Zoo, different country of Griffith Park, Descanso Gardens, the L.A. County Arboretum, but nary rather fit. Some of those spots big elaborate vacation airy displays that necessitate set-up successful precocious October.

The champion enactment seemed to beryllium the soundstages astatine Santa Clarita Studios. “It was going to beryllium challenging to person it wrong to statesman with, but I was looking guardant to it,” Polizzi said.

At this point, helium added, it would instrumentality a last-minute determination find to alteration things.

“I would emotion to support it going, I conscionable don’t person a spot for it,” Polizzi said.