Making the Halloween Scene for an Evening of Thrills

Today is the most celebrated holiday in Clubland L.A. Hardened scenesters think New Year’s is amateur night. All the clubgoers who like playing dress-up all the time anyway pull out the stops for Halloween.

The annual stampede of night crawlers on Hollywood and Santa Monica boulevards is enough to make you want to run for some club cover. For those who are all dressed up with no place to go, a few macabre suggestions:

“No costume, no entry” is the threat being levied by Hollywood Moguls, whose third Halloween extravaganza promises some of L.A.’s best deejays mixing it up with hip-hop, funk, acid jazz and modern rock. Live bands and an “underground fashion show” are also slated.

At the Palace, Grandpa Munster Al Lewis emcees “Hollyween ‘96: For Adults Only!,” a bash featuring adult video actors, go-go dancers and a performance by “the reigning world champion topless dancer.” Don’t expect much of a dress code.

West Hollywood’s Roxbury is hosting the “Friction Pumpkin Bash,” which promises a $1,000 costume contest and three rooms of music to “wake the dead.” Among the choices are the Dungeon Room, which will feature live bands all night; the Graveyard, which promises deejayed sets of scary Halloween music and even scarier trance mixes; and Bats in the Belfry, which has three deejays rotating ‘70s disco and funk and modern house music and hip-hop.

The Aftershock in Studio City is also offering a grand in cash for best costume, and is mixing scary and contemporary music on vinyl with live acts, including Hair of the Dog and American Gothic.

For a devil-may-care mix of surfin’ and Satan, go to the Alligator Lounge in Santa Monica for “Halloween Scream,” where guests will be treated to ghoulish performances by, among others, Devil and Bomboras, a local surf-meets-sci-fi act. With the Alligator’s blood-red, belly-of-the-beast interior, it’s a perfectly frightful prospect.

And last but not least, those who can’t afford to deal with cover charges can troll on over to the Union in West Hollywood, which is planning a free evening of danceable fun. But keep in mind, the theme is “Eternal Damnation.” Nothing’s free.

* Hollywood Moguls, (213) 891-2775; Palace, (213) 462-3000; Roxbury, (213) 656-1750; Aftershock, (818) 752-9833; Alligator Lounge, (310) 449-1844; Union, (213) 654-1001.