Halloween activities in London this Autumn!
Tricks, Treats, and Thrills: London’s Ultimate Halloween Guide. From Ghost Tours to Creepy Movies to Killer Cocktails!
Autumn is my favourite season of the year, not only for cosy knits, spiced chai and crunchy leaves, but also because of spooky season! Halloween falls on a Thursday this year but the festivities will start soon so I wanted to round up some fun + scary date night activities for you now to plan ahead!
Watch a spooky film at Rivoli Ballroom Pop up Cinema, Crofton Park, £10 a head, from 28th October, link
If you haven’t been to the Rivoli ballroom, I really recommend a visit. It’s one of the last remaining ballrooms in London and feels like you’re stepping back in time to the 1950s. This year they are showing some halloween movies like Carrie, Hocus Pocus and the Rocky Horror Picture Show as part of their Fright Night Cinema Club. See the full listings here!
London Potion Making Experience, from £49.99 per person, link
At the Wands and Wizard Emporium you can don a cape and witch hat, down a shot of ectoplasm (omg love this) and learn to brew up magical and weird cocktails… sounds great and mad, right? For Halloween you’ll be making a cocktail called the Stingy Jack’s Doom, which is glow in the dark and bubbling, inspired by the legend of the Jack-O’-Lantern. This is available at two locations, The Cauldron in Dalston or the Wizard Explatorium in Soho. I went here with my family many many years ago and we had a great time!
Halloween at Kew, 18th Oct-3rd Nov, from £15, Richmond, link
This year Kew are doing a brand new Halloween trail through their beautiful gardens. Similar to their Christmas set up which is a light trail, this one will also include fire performances, scary actors, scary installations and illuminated trees - it sounds so fun! Slots are between 6-7.30pm and moonlight slots (when it’s fully dark) are from 7.30pm. They will also be serving hot toddy’s and devilishly decadent hot chocolates and you can toast a marshmallow or two too (all for an added cost).
Hunterian Museum, Holborn, free entry, link
One of my favourite museums in London isn’t halloween themed but is gruesome. The Hunterian Museum can be found in Holborn and it’s a museum of anatomical specimins. They have countless brains in glass jars, a necklace of human teeth and the foot of an ancient Egyptian Mummy, alongside so many preserved specimens and gruesome instruments. Afterwards take a walk to Covent Garden and get a drink to complete the date!
Take a Haunted Pub Tour for Two, Temple, from £33, valid all year round, link
I love the sound of this haunted pub tour for two people as a date idea with a twist. You’ll be led around by a knowledgeable guide to three different London pubs to learn about spooky history, you’ll cover Sweeney Todd & visit his supposed laneway and will also include a visit to London’s first bank. You can have a drink in each pub if you choose and the tour takes around 1.5 hours!
A Terrifying Night in Soho Cabaret, Soho, from £20, from 28th October, link
From 28th October you can visit London’s legendary cabaret + variety club, The Phoenix Arts Club in Soho for a spooky west end cabaret experience. There will be drag artists, aerial performances, themed cocktails, spooky decor and lots of frights!
Sandbox VR in Covent Garden for zombie themed experience, Covent Garden, £35-60 per guest, link
If you want a thrill but don’t actually want to go head to head with zombies, this is the perfect alternative. At Sandbox VR in Covent Garden you can book a futuristic virtual reality experience where you can see and physically interact with everyone inside… it feels like you’re in a movie! The spooky Deadwood Valley is one of their many experiences where you engage in an adrenaline pumping zombie thrill ride through a town overrun by zombies - can you and your squad survive?
Explore the streets on a scary walking tour.
We are so lucky to have inundated with walking tour options in London this year, I love the sound of Jack the Ripper Walking Tours around Whitechapel, the Bleeding Hearts + Body Parts Walking Tour in Farringdon, the Ghost Walking tour of Royal Maritime Greenwich, The London Bridge Ghost Walk Tour, The Ghosts, Ghouls and Gallows Boat tour and also there’s a London Ghost Bus Tour too! So many options!!!
Party at Sky Garden’s Day of the Dead, The City, Tickets from £65, link.
A halloween party in the sky? At the top of the Walkie-Talkie building you can find Sky Garden, a fantastic bar with great panoramic views of London. For £65 a ticket, you can party there on Halloween evening with live music, DJ sets, halloween cocktails and a scariest costume competition. Tickets include either a cocktail or champagne and tickets are running out so be quick if you want to book.
Eat some Pumpkin Doughnuts at Bread Ahead, Borough Market, 29th-3rd Nov, link
Only available between Oct 29th-November 3rd, the bakers at Bread Ahead are whipping up pumpkin + toffee sauce doughnuts in either their Borough Market or Wembley stores! I really recommend their original jam doughnuts too!
Ice some ghoulish biscuits at Biscuiteers, from £90, From Sat 12th-30th October, link
I love Biscuiteers biccies, they are truly delicious and this year you can attend a hallowen icing class at either their Belgraia or Notting Hill stores! You get to take your tin of iced biscuits home and all materials are included - I really recommend this!
Seance at the London Dungeon, from Friday 18th October, from £26.50, link
It’s the London Dungeon’s 50th anniversary and to celebrate their are hosting a seance! You’ll complete an Ouija board with the help of legendary psychic Agnes Guppy on the hunt for a prolific serial killer. Tickets also include entry to the rest of London Dungeon too!
I hope you have found this helpful for things to do over the halloween season this October! Let me know if you end up booking any of it!
Love Katie