ANIMAL HOUSE? Harvard University-based Inside Edge magazine...

ANIMAL HOUSE? Harvard University-based Inside Edge magazine has taken on the all-important task of deciding which are the country’s top 300 “fun� colleges. “Fun� was defined mainly as best bar scene, best-looking women (the magazine is run, of course, by men), and good sports. . . . Good or bad, UC Irvine came in 127th. Good or bad, Cal State Fullerton and Chapman University didn’t make the list. The most fun college, the magazine says? Florida State University.

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STILL HALLOWEEN: Some of the UCI fun has a purpose. Some students there figure that even children left homeless by this week’s fire devastation still know that today is Halloween. So they’re hosting a Halloween party for them. . . . It’s from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Student Center. There’ll be a haunted house, face painting and treats. And if you can’t get your youngsters there, call (714) 509-7813 and the college students will provide a ride.

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IT’S THEIR TURN: “Mr. Murder,� the latest thriller from Newport Beach best-selling author Dean Koontz, is about a nameless psychotic who shows up on the doorstep of a mystery writer, saying “You’ve stolen my life, my wife and my children and I want them back.� . . . Koontz chose the Halloween season for his new book’s release. The latest in a string of Koontz thrillers set in Orange County, much of “Mr. Murder� unfolds in Mission Viejo. Says Koontz, laughing: “Every town gets to be trashed sooner or later.�

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RETURNING A FAVOR: A huge swath of the Laguna Beach fire Wednesday was just 30 yards from the Moulton Theatre on Laguna Canyon Road. The building was spared by the hard work of firefighters. To say thanks, the Laguna Playhouse will give up to four tickets to any firefighters and their families for the Dec. 5 performance of their new musical “Oliver!� which opens there this week. . . . “We just want to show our appreciation,� says Playhouse chief Richard Stein.