There’s a chill in the air and the days are getting darker. The streets are full of dead leaves and the spirits of the departed are stirring. Yep, Halloween is coming and you’d better be prepared! Halloween in London means donning your creepiest outfit – whether that be a vampire’s cloak, a witches hat or a Donald Trump wig – and heading to the best party in town. As usual, City Countdown will be your guide to all of London’s biggest and best Halloween events, so, if you’d like to do the season in style, keep following us. Here’s our guide to the best ways to spend halloween 2019:
Take a ghostly walking tour
If you’d like a suggestion for a totally brilliant way to spend halloween in London, then why not take a ghoulish walking tour?
There’s plenty of choice when it comes to walking tours but if we had to choose, we’d definitely recommend the London Walks company and their Ghosts of the Old City tour. It’s choc a bloc full of ghostly and ghastly tales to chill the blood, the guides are excellent and best of all, the tour takes visitors round the old city of London, whose countless narrow little lanes provide a perfect backdrop to a spine chilling night out.
Take part in the Crystal Maze Halloween Edition
If you fancy doing something novel for halloween in London this year, then this might be the event for you.
You might be too young to remember the cult ’90s game show ‘The Crystal Maze’ but even if you are, you may still enjoy this incredible live experience. The original programme challenged a group of contestants to collect crystals as they made their way through a series of game zones. The show became a cult hit and it has now inspired this cool live action challenge.
The format is exactly the same. Each team journeys through the maze, moving from one zone to another as they look to win crystals by successfully completing challenges. The crystals can be used to buy teams more time to complete the final challenge – the Crystal Dome.
Things have been spiced up considerably for this halloween version of the game as not only will the teams have to battle through the various challenges but they will have to do so while being pursued by the fearsome vampire The Blood Baron. The organisers of the Crystal Maze say: “roaming across four zones, the Blood Baron will be inviting you to take part in a few extra tricks and treats this Halloween! Treats to test, thrill, surprise and amaze you await”.
A skeleton at the London tombs
Treat yourself to an evening at Hogwarts
If you want to ensure that halloween in London 2019 is one you’ll always remember, then why not treat yourself to a visit to Hogwarts for this special event?
Set in the Hogwarts Great Hall at the Warner Bros Studio in Leavesden, this magical event will transport you into the magic of the movies as you sip cocktails and nibble canapés on the world famous sets of the Harry Potter movie series. Warner Bros. have promised that Hogwarts will be completely transformed for the events with over 100 floating pumpkins hovering over the long tables of the Great Hall.
Visitors will enjoy a fantastic two-course meal before “grabbing a lantern and following the spiders into the newly opened Forbidden Forest” where dessert will be served. However don’t expect to dine alone as the organisers of the event have promised that diners will be joined by several magical creatures including Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Aragog the Acromantula.
Once dinner is over, visitors will be free to roam the Harry Potter sets, taking in such amazing places as the Gryffindor Common Room and the Weasley’s kitchen.
Wand Choreographer Paul Harris will be on hand to give visitors a chance to master wand combat and if you need a spot of refreshment the Backlot Café on Diagon Alley will be serving Butterbeer throughout the evening.
Indulge in a Screamfest at the London Dungeon
The London Dungeon’s halloween offering for 2019 is called Home of Halloween. The attraction offers all the usual London Dungeon thrills – hair raising rides, creepy tales and a chance to get up close and personal with the likes of Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd amongst others. However this special event also promises several new experiences including a new Jack the Ripper show which promises to “plunges visitors into complete darkness”.
The London Dungeon advises visitors to book in advance if they are visiting the attraction during October and November. Tickets can be booked online here.
