The “Seaside Fun Park” in Lilac’s 3rd book, The Halloween Moon is based on a real-life place… the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California!
It’s a super special place for me — a magical seaside amusement park that I loved visiting as a child and still love as an adult. You might also recognize the “Seaside Fun Park” as the location for the vampire movie “Lost Boys,” because the fictional town of Santa Carla was also filmed in Santa Cruz, California.
If you’ve ever been to the “real” Boardwalk, you probably know why it’s an awesome setting for a Halloween caper! If you haven’t been, here are some of my photographs that (I hope!) capture the spirit of the place.
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- The cliffs of Santa Cruz, CA, the real town that inspired Lilac’s hometown of Steamville
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- The inspiration for the Haunted Citadel… it’s called the Haunted Castle in real life. Yes, I’m that silly!
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- Which kind of candy apple would you pick?!
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- I can’t go on this without imagining myself flinging off of it the entire time. Terrifying!
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- The classic red candy apple! Mouthwatering
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- Spooky detail from the Haunted Citadel… err I mean Castle.
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- This one freaks me out, too!
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- Cave train! Didn’t make it into the book, which is actually a shame xoxo
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- The gorgeous shoreline of Santa Cruz, CA
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- Me, the author, standing on the famous “Lost Boys” trestle by Logger’s Revenge
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- Hey! How’d my cat Cornelius get in here? He’s not in the book!
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- The boardwalk takes on an otherworldly look at night…
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- Me, the author, getting a little too sassy for middle-grade with my candy apple!
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- What better scene for a haunted Halloween adventure?
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- Will Lilac ride the Giant Dipper? err, I mean the Giant Ripper?!
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- Mystical!
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- These gargoyles are clearly up to no good
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- What’s the boardwalk without Marini’s candy and fudge?