Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Horror hounds with a hunger for Halloween can sink their fangs into zombie-themed Takis, glowing ghost-shaped gummies, Disney-villain coffee, eyeball jawbreakers and some of the world’s most ghoulish grub at the Horror Boodega, a snack shop where the scary sips and bites last year-round.
The twins from “The Shining” peer out from a hot sauce label, the fridge is stocked with zom-berry Ghoul-Aid, and monster-themed cereals get your morning started with a jolt of sugary spooks at this retro-inspired Burbank store.
“It’s fun searching for it,” said owner Erick Wessel, who also owns neighboring shop and art space the Mystic Museum. “It’s a very hard task to search for everything because you have to find 100 different companies that maybe have one or two things either Halloween- or horror-themed. It’s a great exercise.”
Based on the trademarks submitted for his business, Wessel believes the Horror Boodega is the very first horror- and sci-fi-themed convenience store in the world, or at least in L.A. It helps form a stretch colloquially called “Horror Row,” where a handful of shops along Magnolia Boulevard sells Halloween- and other spooky-themed items all year.
The Crypt Keeper is stationed between shelves of ghoulish candies at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
At the Horror Boodega, which launched in late 2024, everything is meant to evoke ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia or horror. Some treats, like candy vampire fangs or candy corn pumpkins, are tied to Halloween while others — such as Twinkies, as seen in “Ghostbusters” and “Zombieland,” or the exact brand of stovetop popcorn Drew Barrymore heats at the beginning of “Scream” — are nods to specific movies.
It’s been so successful that Wessel just signed a lease to bring a smaller outpost to Wunderkammer, at the Port of L.A. in San Pedro, later this year.
During the off-season, when goods can be harder to source, the Horror Boodega might stock only 200 items. During fall it can offer as many as 2,000. Wessel said that most guests enjoy perusing, but some, namely the horror fanatics, come in looking for specific limited-run items such as a new Jason Voorhees Monster Energy drink. It’s also one of the only places to find Boo Bars, John Carpenter’s chocolate line.
“I have to make sure that, being the horror-themed convenience store, I find it and carry it,” Wessel said.
The hunt for these items is time consuming. Wessel looks for new products almost daily; sometimes he stumbles upon them at horror conventions or through social media. Sometimes he takes requests from customers, who mention devil-themed chips they grew up eating and would love to taste again.
For Wessel, the shop marries three of his loves: horror, nostalgia and food.
He has suffered from social anxiety since childhood, and on Halloween — his favorite holiday — Wessel would often stay home to watch scary movies, opting to avoid throngs of people while his siblings went trick-or-treating. He’d settle in for the night with a bevy of snacks and marathon whatever horror films were airing.
Vintage Halloween pails and monster-themed holders carry a bounty of candy at the Horror Boodega.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
As he grew older, Wessel took some of his first jobs cooking in professional kitchens, first in Cleveland, then eventually in the L.A. area, and continued cooking into his early 30s.
In 2013, he turned his focus to opening the Mystic Museum. Through the years Wessel watched “Horror Row” draw an increasing number of guests and wanted to cater to them; he originally envisioned the Boodega as a horror-themed restaurant.
“I have a career of being a chef, and I always wanted to take what I do with immersive experiences and do something food-related,” he said.
It took six years to find the right space, which sits a few doors down from the Mystic Museum. But after placing all of his savings into securing the lease, he lacked the funds to add a full kitchen. Wessel scaled back his plans, instead launching a horror-inspired snack shop that riffs on candy shops and video stores of yore.
He brought some of his large-scale horror sculptures from past Mystic Museum exhibits, such as a giant Chucky doll or the horned green monster peering over a sign from the cover of Goosebumps book “One Day at Horrorland.” (Now, it’s gripping a sign that welcomes guests to the Horror Boodega.)
Hidden buttons activate some of the bric-a-brac, including a monster arm that emerges from a box and, near the “Alien” wall, an alarm that sounds as if you’d pressed the self-destruct button aboard the Nostromo.
“I went back to my roots thinking about retro horror toys, which we used to have on exhibit, and I was like, ‘I want to incorporate these really bright retro colors because I don’t think horror or Halloween is necessarily all dark and gloomy,’ ” Wessel said.
During Halloween season the store sees a little over double its usual revenue compared with the rest of the year, though Valentine’s Day and winter holidays also provide large spikes, especially when it comes to guests shopping for stocking stuffers.
The Boodega is also intended to foster community among spooky small companies.
As with the Mystic Museum, which has seen pop-ups from the likes of vegan horror-themed hot dog vendor the Frankenstand, Wessel views the Horror Boodega as a way to platform local makers. He recently began stocking Oxnard-based horror cake company Deadly Sweet, which makes baked goods emblazoned with Beetlejuice, the Martian from “Mars Attacks” and the Horror Boodega’s own logo.
Eventually, Wessel would love to host other food pop-ups in the space as well as tasting events for products.
“It’s important for me to not only keep the horror and monster things alive,” he said, “but to make sure that small businesses and mom-and-pop shops keep moving.”
And what’s to become of Wessel’s plan for opening a horror-themed restaurant? It’s still a goal, he said, and a dream — or a nightmare — for another day.
The Horror Boodega is at 3116 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank and is open Tuesday to Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
