Things To Do
Guide
13 Halloween events to celebrate the spooky season
From thrilling Fright Nights to childhood classics brought to life on stage, make this Halloween memorable with Ticketmaster
The leaves are orange, crunchy, and falling to the ground. The rain is back with a vengeance. Pumpkin spice lattes are on sale at Greggs – which means Halloween is on the horizon. If you’re looking for something new to do this Halloween, you’ve come to the right place. Here are our unlucky 13 top picks for how to spend your Halloween this October.
1. Ally Pally Fireworks and Drone Festival
Head to Alexandra Palace for their “Halloween Spooktacular” Fireworks and Drone Festival, taking place on 31 October and 1 November. See a round of Halloween-themed fireworks, all whilst ice skating, enjoying a spooky bonfire, a ghost tour, and even a line-up of DJs and live music. It’s equal parts wholesome, scary and festive – don’t miss out.
2. Phantom Peak
Halloween isn’t just a one-day event – it’s the most important season for the townsfolk of Phantom Peak. With the summer season coming to a close everyone’s favourite immersive theatrical experience is back for Hallowed Peak, with more mysteries and more ghosts causing havoc in Jonas the Platypus’ steampunk town. What puzzles will you solve? What lies ahead for you discover? Whether you’re taking the whole family, your friends, your new hinge date or coworkers, Phantom Peak’s Hallowed Peak season is one Halloween event you don’t want to miss.
3. Thorpe Park Fright Night
Ah, Fright Night. Perhaps one of the UK’s most known Halloween events. One for the thrill-seekers, Thorpe Park’s Fright Nights invite visitors to the theme park after dark, where they can go on mind-blowing rollercoaster rides; explore live-action mazes; enter the Scare Zone for spooky live shows; and test their fear levels as zombies, witches, vampires and ghouls run free around the grounds.
4. Alton Towers
If the thrill of mazes and rollercoasters at Thorpe Park wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, then Scarefest at Alton Towers is the Halloween event for you. Set at the UK’s biggest theme park resort, Scarefest is a true spooky season marvel – featuring Scaremazes, haunted houses, rollercoasters and rides after dark, Día De Los Muertos celebrations and so much more. Put on your bravest face and make the most of all the thrills that Scarefest has to offer this Halloween.
5. Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Before the world turned upside down, before Vecna, there was Henry Creel, and the dark fate that awaits him in the small town of Hawkins. Set in the 1959, The First Shadow follows Henry, a young Jim Hopper and more, as they navigate their strange surroundings with the past casting a long shadow over the present. The Oliver award-winning West End production draws theatregoers in with its forward-thinking visuals and and design, guaranteeing a thrilling theatre experience this Halloween.
6. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Why not visit the Wizarding World with this West End two-part epic this Halloween? Join all of your favourite characters, and discover new ones, in “the eighth instalment” of Harry Potter. Watch as Harry’s youngest son, Albus, grapples with his weighty family legacy as he learns how easily darkness can emerge in this multi-timeline story.
7. The Phantom of the Opera
A French gothic fairytale turned musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is West End (and Halloween) favourite. It’s a story of love, obsession, and a mysterious disfigured-but-musically-gifted man who “haunts” a Paris opera house just for a chance to see his beloved… For big sweeping ballads, stunning sets and dollop of gothic flavour, consider The Phantom of the Opera for your Halloween plans this October.
8. Ghost Stories
Can you handle a “truly terrifying theatrical experience”? (Daily Express) Well head over to the Peacock Theatre for their exclusive six-week Halloween run of Ghost Stories. Follow Professor Goodman as he embarks on a journey to debunk paranormal activity, only to uncover chilling and inexplicable phenomena across three different hauntings. Are you brave enough to join him?
9. Paisley Halloween Festival
Celebrating over 10 years of one the UK’s spookiest festivals, the Paisley Halloween Festival is back on 24 – 25 October 2025. Take the whole family down to watch the Halloween Parade, buy handmade crafts at the Paisley Halloween Market and enjoy live music performances. You can even take a sip of the special potions at the spooky cocktail bar. Plus, you try your hand at the pumpkin carving, and enter the Best Dressed competition. A wholesome (and ghoul-some) experience for the whole family.
10. Terrible Thames
Another one for the history lovers, Horrible Histories‘ Terrible Thames tours take visitors on a 45-minute boat journey of the history of the Thames – with all the nasty bits left in. Join King Henry VIII, Captain Kidd, Anne Boleyn and more, as you experience the city’s most notable sights, from the Tower of London to Execution Dock. Travelling from outside of London? Make a weekend of it with our hotel packages and city guide.
11. Wicked
For the Halloween lovers hoping to defy gravity, the on-stage adaptation of the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West is where you need to be this October. Join Elphaba, Glinda the Good, and the many weird and wonderful characters of Oz in this emotive and magical saga that is sure to take your breath away.
12. Inside No.9: Stage/Fright
For the lovers of all things strange, slightly dark but still humorous, Inside No.9 is the ideal Halloween outing for you and yours. The BAFTA Award-winning black comedy is on a UK tour from 21 October through to 6 December 2025, bringing the West End adaptation of the BBC TV series to a theatre near you. Combining horror and comedy, Inside No.9: Stage/Fright is sure to keep you guessing from the start to the very end.
13. The Mousetrap
Don’t just see it. Solve it. Explore the mysteries of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the world’s longest running play, as seven strangers in a countryside guesthouse discover a murder in London. Who is the killer? Who will they target next? Can you solve the mystery? See this long-running Who Dunnit this Halloween, and prepare yourself for an evening of intrigue.
