California beachgoers used to the sight of surfboards on the cresting waves got a frightful surprise when scores of surfers donned Halloween costumes and plunged into the Pacific for an annual event.

The creatively costumed surfers showed up at the Santa Monica State Beach on Saturday to take part in the fourth annual 'Haunted Heats' Halloween costume surf contest hosted by ZJ Boarding House, a landmark surf and skate shop in the Los Angeles area.

"Be a part of what has become a phenomenon with all sorts of eerie, creepy, bloody and downright zany costumery and some excellent 'surfmanship' while grappling with uncooperative costumes!" the store wrote on its website.

Among the "uncooperative costumes" this year was a Wonder Woman, Aladdin, Woody the Woodpecker and a Hooters waitress, each spotted "hanging 10? instead of trick-or-treating.

According to the store's website, "Santa Monica has never looked so fearsome with hoards of ghouls, ghosts and goblins crawling along the beach looking for that perfect tube!"