...amid tombstones, hanging corpses, and wicked witches each year at Halloween. The neighborhood known for its large stock of well-preserved Victorian clapboard houses draws many hundreds of people to trick or treat at the done-up homes -- on Carroll Avenue in particular. At 9 p.m. this evening Douglas, Kellam, Carroll Ave. were packed with children and adults, the houses buzzing with parties up and down the blocks, the candy supply already dead at some locations. There were low riders and set designers. And scores of three-year-old Supermans.

We had the pleasure to arrive at Harvey Shields' house on Carroll Avenue in time to see three of four of the famous Mighty Echoes -- an a cappella doo-wop group -- sing "The Monster Mash" for a crowd in front of the house, below:

Before the singing, Chicken Corner had the pleasure of meeting three grass men, the first is below, dressed in military camouflage. Hallowgreen:

There was a witch:

And a rocket-powered lapdog:

And the moon between houses:

A man with the head of a horse:

And a couple visiting from another era, waiting for the bus down on Sunset Blvd. where it was quiet.

Good night, Halloween.

This morning at about 9, there was a pre-production gang scouting the hills of Elysian Heights, looking for the right kind of exteriors for a remake of The Little Rascals. Well, they had come to the right place -- almost! -- Chicken Corner clucked. The original Little Rascals was often filmed just on the other side of Glendale Boulevard in a wooden bungalow court off Duane Street, about a quarter mile from where we were talking. Some of the Hal Roach child actors may even have been housed in the same Duane Street Location. In those days, of course, the neighborhood was called Edendale.

Crew members were unaware of the proximity of their modern day search to the Lil' Rascals original haunts. "Do you mean the 1994 [Penelope Spheeris] version?" one guy asked.

They said the new movie will go straight to video. I am guessing it's the old housing stock in this neighborhood that attracted the new filmmakers who may want to approximate the old series' look.

Here's the Edendale days' way to make a cake: recipe here. They suuuure did set the bar high for subsequent generations. Watch and learn.