This year has been a frightening one, but if you’re up for a few more scares then there’s many fun ways to celebrate Halloween.
From spooky cabaret shows and online Jack the Ripper tours to scary films and Dia de los Muertos feasts, there’s something for everyone (and every tier).
DesignMyNight picks out the best things to see and do this Halloween.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cabaret All Stars - London
This Halloween weekend Proud Embankment has turned its two-story cabaret club into a sinister space, hosting an All Stars extravaganza featuring Denise Van Outen. Opening its doors at 6pm, guests are invited to settle into the supernatural soiree before enjoying a welcome drink and a three-course menu during the titillating show. Expect a stage spilling with talent and some ghostly surprises along the way.
31 October; Tickets £45-£130; 8 Victoria Embankment, WC2R 2AB; designmynight.com
Forbidden Forest Cinema - London
The Forbidden Forest Cinema is one of this year’s best Halloween events. In traditional pop-up fashion, it’s disappearing on 8 November, giving you a limited time to enjoy the spooky experience. The movies you can watch include the likes of Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters. With cinemas exempt from the 10pm rule and social distancing in place, it’s another reason to stay out late and swap your sofa for the big screen.
Until 8 November; Tickets from £19.50; Unit 8 Copeland Park & Bussey Building, 133 Copeland Road, London, SE15 3SN; popupscreens.designmynight.com
Dia de los Muertos Feast - London
For meat aficionados, temper needs no introduction. This Covent Garden restaurant specialises in barbecued meats, and to celebrate Halloween the team have created a Dia de los Muertos feasting menu. Starting with a complimentary margarita, things will heat up with smoked short rib tacos, before moving onto smoked pork and white hominy pozole with a side of coal roasted plantain and mole negro. Finishing the meal as it started, dessert is a slab of boozy rum banoffee.
30-31 October; Tickets from £55; Yard 5 Mercer Walk Mercers, London WC2H 9FA; designmynight.com
The Cocktail Man - UK-wide delivery
If your hometown falls into the Tier 3 category or you just can’t leave the house as often as you like to, there’s another way to get your booze fix this Halloween. The Cocktail Man has rustled up a very special and limited edition cocktail for All Hallow’s Eve and it includes four blood orange margarita serves. Packaging premium tequila, blood orange liqueur and slices of dehydrated blood orange, you can raise a toast to the spirits at home.
£34.99; thecocktailman.co.uk
Halloween cocktail recipes you can make - and enjoy - at home
Dante’s In Furlough - London
The Vaults are hidden underneath Waterloo station and the team are known for their unusual and politically-charged storytelling events. This new socially distanced theatrical show, which is inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poem Billy Markam And The Devil, written for Playboy in 1977, will take its audience to the ring of hell to watch the devil get hitched. The catch? Ticket holders have to lie, cheat and sin their way into the chapel.
From 29 October; The Vaults, Leake Street, London, SE1 7NN; designmynight.com
Magic and Mind Reading - London
Magic and mind reading might seem like things you’d entertain small children with, but Sonic says different. Tony Middleton is the prestigious winner of the Magic Circle’s Stage Magician of the Year, and this Halloween you have the chance to sit in on his intimate show in the drawing room of one of London’s five-star hotels. For just over an hour, the mastermind will talk you through magic’s history before submerging you in some mind-boggling feats.
Various dates from 31 October; From £35-£65; Le Meridien, 21 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0BH; designmynight.com
Jack the Ripper Tour - UK-wide online event
For many cities across the UK, going out for Halloween just isn’t an option this year, but not all is lost. There are a handful of unique online events that can entertain you in the comfort of your own home. Jack the Ripper should need no introduction, but if you’re unfamiliar with the hair-raising tale, this virtual murder mystery will get you clued up in no time. Join the experience to untangle the truth from your guide and get a full picture of the East London legend.
Every Saturday; From £5; Online; designmynight.com
Halloween cocktails - Birmingham
Dirty Martini is a reliable bar to lean on come Halloween. Each and every year, without fail, the team creates a handful of limited edition cocktails for the spooky season and 2020 is no different. Book a table and pick between Heaven Sent or the Devil’s Advocate. If you’re a fan of rum, the latter comes mixed with Bacardi Spiced rum, Chambord, raspberry, vanilla, citrus and a couple of drops of Ms Better’s Bitters.
Dirty Martini Birmingham, 7 Bennetts Hill, B2 5ST; designmynight.com
For more info on the best Halloween events in London and across the UK, visit DesignMyNight.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook; @DesignMyNight
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
Is Donald Trump finished in New York?Today's Big Question How the former president's fraud ruling could ruin him in the city that made him famous
-
Windmill whales
Cartoons
-
Why the FTC antitrust lawsuit against Amazon is so consequential
Talking Point While it's not the first case the federal agency brought against the company, it might be the biggest challenge yet
-
Movies to watch in October, from 'The Exorcist: Believer' to 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
The Explainer Taylor Swift and Martin Scorsese are coming to a theater near you
-
Sport on TV guide: Christmas 2022 and New Year listings
Speed Read Enjoy a feast of sporting action with football, darts, rugby union, racing, NFL and NBA
-
Halloween drinks: six spooky bottles to get the party started
The Week Recommends Featuring gruesome glow-in-the-dark and sinister skull-shaped designs
-
Halloween 2022: 11 of the best spooky events happening around the UK
feature From a ‘Mayhem Manor Hotel’ to a candlelit rock concert, there are all sorts of enchanting and eerie events happening this October
-
House of the Dragon: what to expect from the Game of Thrones prequel
Speed Read Ten-part series, set 200 years before GoT, will show the incestuous decline of Targaryen
-
One in 20 young Americans identify as trans or non-binary
Speed Read New research suggests that 44% of US adults know someone who is transgender
-
The Turner Prize 2022: a ‘vintage’ shortlist?
Speed Read All four artists look towards ‘growth, revival and reinvention’ in their work
-
What’s on TV this Christmas? The best holiday television
Speed Read From films and documentaries to musicals for all the family
