Haunted houses, abandoned prisons and creepy castles… From California to Czechia, there are spooky attractions all around the world that are perfect for a Halloween scare. Whether you’re a history nerd keen to get your pulse racing in ancient catacombs or a partygoer who’s raring to don a ghastly get-up and dance the night away with fellow zombies, we’ve uncovered the best hair-raising celebrations and attractions from around the world.
Salem is synonymous with the witch trials of the 1690s – and this infamous corner of Massachusetts’ wildly beautiful coastline now holds the world’s largest Halloween celebration. Salem Haunted Happenings runs every October (from 1-31) and is jam-packed with everything from ghost tours and haunted houses to costume balls, parades and street fairs. See authentic documents from the witch trials at the Peabody Essex Museum and step inside 318 Essex Street, where scenes from the film Hocus Pocus were shot. There are also family-friendly magic shows to keep kids entertained.
This former prison in Philadelphia was known for its use of solitary confinement, with inmates kept in isolation until the system eventually collapsed due to overcrowding in 1913. Operational from 1829 until 1971, the jail housed everyone from mass murderers to the notorious bank robber Willie Sutton. Tours of its cells are eerie enough, but for extra spook factor, you can book their Halloween Nights package. Available until November 11, it includes a tour of the abandoned prison plus live performances, haunted houses, themed bars and immersive experiences.
Could there be a spookier place to spend Halloween than at the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s horror classic, Dracula? The seventh-century monastery-turned-abbey will be eerily lit up by a rainbow of colour from 21-31 October. The story of Dracula will be projected on the ancient walls, while spooky characters stalk the grounds searching for the best-dressed Goth, mini Goth and even Goth dog. The Tomorrow's Ghosts Festival will celebrate all things Gothic from 27-29 October at the Whitby Pavilion.
Newport Beach in California might be known for its sandy shores and sunshine, but one of its garden stores is making a name for itself as being the prime place to pick up the spookiest home decor. Roger’s Gardens Halloween Boutique has been designed to include a number of haunting rooms, including a Bewitched Boudoir complete with a lavishly adorned witch’s bed. Shoppers can stock up on everything from high-end skeleton busts to bronze skulls and hanging bat candle lights.
From the outside, there’s nothing too spooky about this small chapel in the charming medieval town of Kutna Hora, an hour from Prague in Czechia (also known as the Czech Republic). But step inside and you’ll soon discover why it’s called Sedlec Ossuary – or the ‘Church of Bones’. Over 40,000 human bones are laid out like works of art, adorning the walls, ceilings and windows. The macabre masterpiece is the work of Frantisek Rint, a 19th-century woodcarver who was asked to arrange the remains from the church ossuary. You won’t miss the centrepiece – an ornate chandelier containing at least one of every human bone.
Scare yourself silly when you trace the murderous trail of Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. The guided tour, which runs on selected dates throughout the year, takes you by foot and coach through the lanes and alleys of London’s East End, revealing the real-life locations of the gruesome murders. Listen to theories about the suspects in this unsolved case and visit the 10 Bells Pub, where it’s said that some of the Ripper's victims drank. Reflect on it all over a well-earned portion of fish and chips, included in the price of the tour.
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This tiny island, tucked away in a network of canals south of Mexico City, will send chills down your spine. Its trees have creepy dolls hanging from the branches, watching as you step ashore from your gondola-like boat. The island’s former owner, a hermit called Don Julian Santana Barrera, was purportedly haunted by the spirit of a drowned girl and began collecting and hanging the dolls to ward off evil spirits. He later drowned in the same canal. Some visitors to the island have reported seeing dolls opening their eyes and hearing them whispering.
Looming over the Transylvanian landscape on a rocky outcrop, Bran Castle, often nicknamed Dracula's Castle, has embraced the Halloween spirit. Legend has it that Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, was imprisoned here. Climb the stone staircases, creep across creaky floors and peer through the windows over deep, dark forests. You can also stay at the Castel Dracula hotel in the Borgo Pass and dine in a Dracula-themed restaurant. On 28 October, an adults-only Halloween party includes a midnight tour of Dracula’s lair.
Halloween is big business in Hong Kong and coincides with Yue Lan, better known as the Hungry Ghost Festival. This Taoist and Buddhist celebration honours ancestors, with offerings made to the spirits. It’s also said that during this time the gates of heaven and hell open to each other, and spirits are free to roam our world. The Ocean Park Halloween Fest is one of Asia’s biggest Halloween parties. Running until October 31, this year’s theme is School of Unending Horror, with haunted houses, a terrifying theatre and spooky gardens.
In summer, Copenhagen’s Reffen district is a buzzy market on the edge of the harbour, selling street food and laying on events. But as autumn approaches, it closes down and the abandoned street food market transforms into a drive-thru horror Halloween experience (from 4-29 October). Up to five people per car can scare themselves silly on the 0.6-mile (1km) interactive track, meeting 25 raving creatures. Daredevils can roll down the windows and unlock their doors to meet the terrifying creatures up close.
As if the meeting point of the Haunted Boston Ghost Tour isn’t spooky enough (in the Central Burying Ground Cemetery), this night-time walk uncovers the city’s most ghastly tales of lust, revenge and murder. The 90-minute trips, which run daily until 30 December, take you on foot through the historic – and haunted – streets in search of spirits believed to torment the city. The guides are master storytellers, holding your attention with informative and entertaining tales that blend history with the macabre.
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If you get creeped out by the thought of secret doors, then you’ll have a real fright at O Museum in The Mansion. This DC museum has 80 of them and 100 rooms featuring relics from bygone eras – think Prince’s Purple Rain jacket and a suite dedicated to John Lennon. There’s also a special Halloween Room and a treasure hunt to find the various hidden doors and passages. The route – which takes you in the footsteps of presidents, freedom fighters, historians and authors – is unmapped, so visitors must keep their eyes peeled for the secret doorways.
If you venture beneath the brightly lit streets of the French capital, you’ll discover a dark and grisly maze of human remains. The bones of more than six million people lie in this underground cemetery, originally intended as a temporary solution to improper burials and to consolidate Paris’s ancient stone quarries. You can visit the ossuary on tours from Tuesday to Sunday – as long as you’re happy walking down 131 steps and up 112 of them at the end of the 0.9-mile-long (1.5km) circuit.
Fancy exploring an abandoned asylum? Or how about getting lost in dark, underground tunnels? From its rickety bridge above a bed of live snakes to its crematory oven, this haunted house in Baton Rouge will scare you out of your wits. During the Halloween season, more than 160 actors, 40 crew members and a team of special effects makeup artists work together to bring terrifying shows to life each night. Expect grisly characters, from fiendish zombies to witches.
Europe’s largest scream park is back with a bang until 31 October for spooky evenings filled with dazzling effects, live music – and one hell of an atmosphere. Highlights include a ‘Doom Town’ of walking corpses and a shocking electrical wire-wielding clown. Previous Shocktober Fest famous visitors include members of the girl group Little Mix and singer Rag'n'Bone Man. Guests – who it's recommended are aged 16 or over – can also tiptoe through a ‘Creepy Cottage’ or simply calm their nerves at the two music stages.
Live DJ sets, eye-opening outfits and a wild party atmosphere… That’s what’s on offer at West Hollywood’s Halloween Carnival. The event, which is free to enter, will hit Santa Monica Boulevard – the epicentre of the city’s LGBTQ+ community – on 31 October, from 6-11pm. It’s the first Halloween Carnival to take place since 2019, following a break during the pandemic, and although there’s no age restriction, children are ‘strongly discouraged’ due to the large crowds and risque costumes. So wear your most outlandish outfit and get ready for a street party like no other.
You need a strong stomach to enter the Capuchin Catacombs. Thousands of mummified bodies line the walls, wearing centuries-old clothes labelled with their names and dates of death. Perhaps the spookiest is the amazingly preserved body of two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, who died from pneumonia in 1920. The underground chambers have the ideal climate for preserving bodies – some of the oldest skeletons even have skin and hair. Walking tours are available all year round, but you’ll find them particularly chilling on 31 October.
There’s certainly something spooky about Parikkala Sculpture Park. Some 450 human-like figures are scattered through the grounds, featuring haunting facial expressions and real human teeth. Eerie sound effects top off the creepy experience of walking amidst the community of statues. The sculptures are the work of Veijo Ronkkonen, a Finnish artist who loved yoga so much that he shaped 200 of the statues in various yoga poses. The park is free to enter and especially spine-tingling to visit at Halloween.
Just north of Paris, Parc Asterix will host a Halloween show for all ages until 5 November. Decked out in autumn colours, the theme park will feature 14 tonnes of pumpkins and 3,000 stalks of corn and bales of straw. There are also frights for the whole family – a traffic light system indicates the scare factor, from ‘little shivers’ for the youngest to 'big frights' for the most daring.
Literary lovers can get their fix of thrills this Halloween inside the 300-year-old home of Mary Shelley, the author of the horror classic Frankenstein. From October 20-31, the house will host after-dark Nights to Die For, where visitors venture through darkened rooms and take part in childhood games with a twisted edge. There is also a basement walk-through experience and an attic escape room to brave. The event, which will run from 6pm to 11:30pm, includes access to Bloody Mary’s Bar, where adult guests can calm their nerves over a drink.
This Halloween, spook yourself by discovering the gruesome and bloody past of Frederick, Maryland. Meeting outside the Brewer’s Alley restaurant, Historic District Ghost Tours take you through almost 300 years of war and executions that played out in this city. Stop-offs on the 90-minute tour include a ‘spiritual playground’ of dead children and an execution site of British sympathisers. Another option is to delve into one of Maryland’s largest cemeteries, visiting key graves and uncovering mysteries behind crypts and tombs.
How about following in the footsteps of the notorious Pendle Witches this Halloween? The Pendle Witches Walking Trail is a figure-of-eight route that offers walkers an insight into the horrifying story of the Pendle witches trials. Starting and ending in the picturesque village of Barley, it takes you up Pendle Hill, which has long been rumoured to have supernatural connections. You could also explore Lancaster Castle, where the 12 women and girls stood trial and were sent to the gallows as part of the harrowing 17th-century witch hunt.
Ranked as one of America’s scariest Halloween attractions, ScareHouse packs a punch. It’s chock-full of animatronics and disturbing props, with hanging bodies at every turn. Terrifying characters – played by a team of performers – wreak havoc on guests. They range from a girl with bandaged eyes to a madman on the verge of turning into something no longer human. Thrill-seekers can also enter an escape room – with one hour to prevent an alien apocalypse.
Thousands of zombies will gather at HI: CAMBRIDGE for Zombie Fest, East Anglia’s biggest outdoor Halloween festival, on 28 October. One for music fans, the festival features four big top arenas playing an eclectic mix of music styles, from drum and bass to house, hard dance to Nineties classics. The 12 hours of entertainment includes face painters, trick or treaters and fire breathers, or you can crane your neck to see the stilt walkers stomp by.
Combine history with horror at Bodmin Jail, which dates to the 18th century. These family-friendly guided tours explore the prison’s past. From examining crimes to exploring the gallows and graveyards, you’ll get a glimpse into the lives of Georgians and Victorians. Grim highlights include a visit to the Victorian execution pit. Halloween events include trick-or-treat trails and Go Darker Heritage Tours, available until 31 October. For extra spook factor, you can stay in former cells that have been converted into plush hotel rooms.
Serious thrill-seekers can get their fix at Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights, which has returned to Universal Studios Florida for a record-breaking 48 nights (from 1 September to 4 November). The attraction will feature 10 new, film-quality haunted houses, including one themed around scary movie The Exorcist. Visitors will also need to watch their backs in the five ‘scare zones’ filled with creatures leaping in from the shadows. Need a breather? Live shows packed with fire twirling and aerial acrobatics should do the trick.
The real roots of Halloween are much further from today’s trick-or-treating than you might imagine. It began as a Celtic festival known as Samhain (or 'Samhuinn' in old Scottish Gaelic) – the marking of the changing season, from summer into winter, and the epic battle between the respective kings. It is still celebrated every year in Edinburgh with the Samhuinn Fire Festival, which will be held at Holyrood Park on 31 October this year. Expect a parade of otherworldly creatures marching in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat, with dramatic storytelling, fire-play and acrobatics galore.
Europe’s biggest Halloween festival takes place in the Walled City of Derry-Londonderry from 28-31 October. Eerie decorations and the warm glow of jack-o'-lanterns transform the streets into a spooky wonderland where revellers can join ghost tours and storytelling sessions. A highlight of the annual festival – which has origins rooted in the Celtic traditions of Samhain – is the Awakening of the Walls parade. Expect ancient folklore, giant illuminated sculptures, dance troupes and music, all topped off with spectacular fireworks displays.