PrimEvil, Norfolk’s largest live Halloween event, is appropriately in its thirteenth year – and is set to be bigger and more terrifying than ever. Many of the award-winning scare experience’s haunts are returning, but there is one new attraction making its PrimEvil debut this October: Hell’s Hollow. Set in a “bygone era”, this new experience will evoke the smells, sounds and sensations “of a time where people prayed for mercy”. Other highlights include Mayhem Manor Hotel, where there are mazes within mazes, and The Crypt, where the hidden chambers have been opened, releasing a new evil into the ruins.
Waxwork museum Madame Tussauds’s famous Chamber of Horrors is returning to the Baker Street attraction this month, featuring some of the capital’s most infamous criminals from the last 150 years. Expect to see the Kray Twins – the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London – and serial killers John Christie and Dannis Nilsen, alongside others. The Chamber will also feature historical true crime artefacts, including the pram used by Mary Pearcey to transport the bodies of her lover’s wife and child, who she was convicted of murdering in 1890.
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The stunning Trentham Estate in North Staffordshire has introduced its first ever pumpkin patch to celebrate Halloween. Nestled among the autumnal colours of the 725-acre estate’s award-winning Italian gardens, the Enchanted Pumpkin Patch will feature snacks and beverages, and an interactive pumpkin pantomime. Visitors will also be able to explore the surrounding woodland, looking out for fairies as they take a stroll around the mile-long lake and across the beautiful gardens.
Creepy corpses and neon cobwebs are among eerie new installations at Blenheim Palace’s immersive Halloween trail this month. The palace’s magnificent gardens will be cast in a spectacularly spooky light, enabling family and friends to wander from one ghostly space to another after dark before bringing the energy levels back up with a fiendishly good hot toddy or devilishly decadent toasted marshmallow.
The eco-conscious tea mixology company is hosting a one-off spooktacular lock-in at its Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Norwich, Nottingham and Oxford stores on 27 October. Up to eight visitors at a time can try all the Bird & Blend Tea Co. seasonal spooky blends and Halloween-themed tea cocktails (plus each attendee will receive a £10 voucher to spend in-store).
Blackpool Tower Dungeon is transforming into the “Home of Halloween” this month, with the addition of Reaper’s Retribution, a 90-minute immersive Halloween show telling the grisly tale of Renaissance occultist Edward Kelley as he tries to cheat death. One hundred lucky visitors (aged 18 and over) will also be randomly selected to win a free bottle of Grim Reaper Ale – the dungeon’s first limited-edition beer, marking the launch of the new show. Reaper’s Retribution will feature alongside the permanent live shows which include the Pendle Witches, The Torturer and Dark Chapel, each telling the story of Lancashire’s dark historical past.
7. Rock Orchestra By Candlelight, various locations
Regular dates throughout October and November
A real feast for the senses, Rock Orchestra By Candlelight is a chamber ensemble of classical musicians who perform stunning arrangements of classic rock and metal favourites. Styled in skeletal outfits (and standing on a stage illuminated by more than a thousand candles, plus puppets, floating lanterns and more), these talented vocalists will perform tracks from bands including Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against The Machine, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Rolling Stones and Iron Maiden. Locations include London, Nottingham, Stoke-On-Trent, Liverpool and Oxford.
From 22-30 October, the Staffordshire-based Drayton Manor Resort is inviting families far and wide for a week of frightful fun, offering Halloween-themed additions to its 100+ rides and attractions. Guests can try their hand at the new Pumpkin Smash Bash or head into the Castle of Spooks – a 15-minute walk-around experience with a range of “fang-tastic” activities from scary stories to classic trick-or-treating with special Halloween characters. And for slightly older visitors (14+), there’s the ultimate scare experience, Night at The Manor and the Castle of Screams (on selected evenings only), an immersive 15-minute walk in the dark, where those who dare to enter will have to brave countless jump-scares from ghoulish inhabitants.
The Mandrake, Fitzrovia’s multi-award-winning boutique hotel, is inviting guests to a night of “freakish merriment”, where the party will continue until 3am. Activities include thrilling games – including a “private seduction show” – where top prizes will be on offer, an immersive performance from drag queen Charity Kase, and live music from the mystical and groovy Deer Jade. Guests can also enjoy a three-course Carnival Dinner (£200pp) served in the hotel’s South American-inspired Yopo restaurant. A strict dress code of “Circus of the Damned” will apply all night.
Adventure Cinema, the UK’s largest touring outdoor cinema, is hosting an 18-day Halloween special, screening a selection of spooky classics from 14-31 October. Films range from the family-friendly Hocus Pocus to far more frightening favourites like The Lost Boys, The Shining and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The open-air cinema will pop up in 13 locations including London, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield, with tickets starting from £9.50.
The east London hotspot favoured by millennials is throwing a Dia De Los Muertos Halloween party, with guests encouraged to arrive in their most extravagant Halloween costumes. Three guest DJs will provide house beats, plus there will be live entertainment from professional dancers and a grand Dia De Los Muertos procession. Face painting and tarot card reading in the hotel’s Crypt are optional, as is a three-course Halloween-themed dinner (£50pp) that features “creepy canapes”.
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