Halloween in London
Halloween in London
If you are the kind of person who likes going all out and getting involved in all things spooky and gruesome on Halloween then there is no better place to be on October 31st this year than in the capital city. The very history of London lends itself well to the concept of all things bloodthirsty from the Tower of London to the London Dungeons.
There will be a whole host of horrifying Halloween events taking place in London from parties to scarified attractions and much more so if you ever needed an excuse to dig out that fancy dress costume then come to London. Make sure you book your hotel, so that you can be out all night on Friday 31st October and have somewhere local to come back to at the end of your Halloween adventures. There are a number of fantastic luxury hotels in London which would be the perfect petrifying place to lay your head at night.
Some of the more popular events include:-
Boo at the Zoo, ZSL London Zoo
This week long event has been created to coincide with half term and visitors will be able to experience a whole host of spooky goings on. You can meet rats, bats, mini beasts and owls as well as visiting the Grim Curiosity Shoppe which will be full of creepy objects. There will also be a full schedule of spooky storytelling, creepy crafts and a special owl demonstration. Designed to be family friendly this is a great way of involving the whole family in the Halloween fun. Many of the best luxury hotels in London are family-friendly so you could have a real weekend of spooky fun here.
Death in the Archives, National Maritime Museum
This special late event takes place on Friday 31st October from 7pm until 9.30pm and is not for the faint of heart! Come and discover stories of gruesome and mysterious deaths and disappearances of explorers traversing the seas. From cannibalism to disease, visit the archives of Caird Library and you can be privy to some of the most hideous of them all. Visitors will also be taken on a candlelit tour of the ‘Art and Science of Exploration’ exhibition and there will be the chance to observe Margot Magpie demonstrating taxidermy and a ‘death drawing’ session by London Drawing.
Grant Museum After Hours
The Grant Museum with all its quirky and interesting specimens is the perfect place to get up to some Halloween fun. Stand alongside skills and skeletons as you explore Halloween-themed specimens and discover some rather creepy animal facts. Dressing up is a must; there will be a prize given for the most scarily dressed guests and all guests will also receive a glass of wine, to calm their nerves, naturally.
Halloween Raveyard
The majority of clubs and bars in London will host their own Halloween themed nights and encourage guests to dress in their best fancy dress outfits but one event of particular note is Halloween Raveyard. Held in the subterranean Vaults near Waterloo, the whole aim of this party is to recreate this location’s particularly gruesome history. The Vaults were once used as a makeshift morgue for London’s dead before their corpses could be transported to the cemetery. Halloween fancy dress is an absolute must for this event and be prepared to see plenty of walking dead doing their best to petrify party-goers.
Jack The Ripper Ghost Walk
If you want to try and have your socks spooked off on the scariest night of the year then this is the tour for you. Led by expert guides, many of whom have written books about Jack the Ripper, you can follow in the bloody footsteps of this infamous murderer on a spine-tingling twilight tour.
Halloween at the London Dungeons
No Halloween list would be complete without mention of one of the most gruesome attractions in the whole of London; the London Dungeons. It is a scary place to be on most days of the year but they really go all out on Halloween. This year sees The Master of Tricks take up residence alongside the regular notorious characters who reside here to ensure that all guests are treated to a Halloween full of tricks, treats and fun. Once inside the dungeons, guests will be dealt out trick or treat cards which will determine their fate as they journey through 1,000 years of London’s bloody and dark history.
Halloween Movie Mash Up Weekend
Taking place at the Portobello Road Pop-Up Cinema, this is a 3 day outdoor cinema event which is dedicated to showing the best of comedy horror films. As well as the films themselves you will find Halloween themed refreshments, sing-a-longs, pumpkin carving and apple bobbing. Films being shown include The Lost Boys and The Shining.
There are also a whole host of other spooky cinema showings taking place throughout the city, so if you want something even more chilling than this, make sure you have a look online.
If you don’t enjoy being scared for fun then you should probably avoid the capital on the 31st October as it will no doubt be full to the brim of zombies and vampires and all manner of creepy creatures.