LITTLE monsters will soon be set free from school for their October break – and the season of ghouls, ghosts and goblins.
Halloween thrills await in palaces, castles, gardens, theme parks and seaside resorts around the country.
Trisha Harbord grabs her cauldron and conjures up a dozen spellbinding experiences sure to boost your spirits this half-term . . .
HADDON HALL, DERBYS
EAT your heart out, Harry Potter – you could soon have competition.
Haddon Hall is opening the Little School Of Sorcery, where children can learn to be witches and wizards.
The magic begins in the historic grounds of the country house near Bakewell, Derbys, where kids can take part in making broomsticks and carving pumpkins.
Inside the “school”, they will get to try their hand at spell-writing, creating potions and making crafts to take home.
Haddon owls will make appearances in the banqueting hall, there’s an exhibition on the rituals and superstitions in Elizabethan England, and you can tuck into themed food at the restaurant.
- From October 22-31. Adult tickets are £28, children 5-15 £10.50, under fours go free. See haddonhall.co.uk.
TWYCROSS ZOO, LEICESTERSHIRE
VISIT Twycross Zoo’s cutest new resident and get up to all kinds of Halloween monkey business while you’re there.
An endangered bonobo ape has just been born as part of the Leicestershire park’s conservation work.
And now staff are expecting more families than ever during half-term, when they are also running a programme of events.
There’s a trick-or-treat trail with spooky characters and interactive experiences along the way, a live ghost show and an adventure to unlock Halloween secrets across the zoo.
- From October 17 to November 2, tickets from £19.75. Universal Credit ticket for those on benefits costs £7. See twycrosszoo.org.
BLENHEIM PALACE, OXFORDSHIRE
THE ghosts and ghouls have floated their way to Blenheim Palace.
Chill-seekers will love the new trail there – a thrilling series of installations and encounters which gets even scarier at dusk.
The ghosts and ghouls have floated their way to Blenheim Palace[/caption]
Weave your way through towering mausoleums, step into a medieval dungeon and its whispered secrets and watch spooks flash across the sky.
Be on the lookout for the Demon Barber and alien visitors who hang around every corner of the Unesco World Heritage site in Woodstock, Oxon – the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
- From October 23 to November 2, adult tickets from £18, child 3-16 years from £12.50. See blenheimpalace.com.
SPOOKTOBER, BUTLIN’S
POP on your best costume and join in the Spooktober fun and games at Butlin’s.
Join the Halloween welcome party featuring a fancy dress ball and glow disco in the Skyline Pavilion.
Join the Halloween welcome party featuring a fancy dress ball and glow disco in the Skyline Pavilion[/caption]
Get stuck into pumpkin carving and pottery painting before braving Scareground.
Rides at the classic fairgrounds are shrouded in fog and neon lights with the odd menace lurking in the shadows.
Apart from the spooks, day visitors at all three parks can enjoy Splash Waterworld and also SKYPARK, an epic playground with climbing towers, at Minehead and Skegness.
- Bognor Regis has new soft- play and indoor activity centres.
- From October 17 to 31, adults from £24, children £16. See butlins.com.
HIPPODROME, GREAT YARMOUTH
FREE fireworks, scare nights and a circus spectacular – Great Yarmouth in Norfolk is a Halloween hotspot.
The Hippodrome Circus has a special show, with amazing acrobats, aerialists, dance, comedy and daring stunts, from October 23 to November 2.
The Hippodrome Circus has a special show, with amazing acrobats, aerialists, dance, comedy and daring stunts[/caption]
There are two free simultaneous firework displays and entertainment from street performers on the shoreline on October 29.
The Pleasure Beach with 20 rides has nights of Fairground Frights, including eerie characters and scare mazes from October 25 to 31.
Even Sealife has got in on the act, turning it into an Ascarium. Pick a pumpkin at Hirsty’s Family Fun Park.
- Circus adult tickets from £18, children £10. See visitgreatyarmouth.co.uk.
BEAMISH, CO DURHAM
FIENDISH inhabitants have moved into the Beamish Museum.
They’ve turned the County Durham attraction into the spine- tingling Un-living Museum of the North for special Halloween nights.
There will be witches, potions and devilish tricksters along the Edwardian cobbled street, plus plenty of treats in the sweet shops, bakery and Sun Inn.
Take a spin on the thrilling rides and, if you want to start the evening early, watch a Halloween film in the 1950s cinema before exploring the museum.
- Tickets for the special nights on October 27, 29 and 31 are separate from day entry, so must be booked at beamish.org.uk. Adults from £24, children £15. Cinema £5.
ARACHNOBOT, BIRMINGHAM
A GIANT spider is roaming the lawn at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
The towering, interactive beastie is among the highlights of Arachnobot and the Giant Web.
Get close if you dare and help to weave a growing web across the gardens where you come across the spider’s tangle trail, guiding families through poetry, story- telling and discovery boards around the site.
Other events include the Goth’s Playground, showcasing gothic fashion, artwork and curiosities, a chilling screening of The Shining and a silent disco with glowing headphones, three DJs and themed cocktails.
- From October 25 to Nov- ember 2, tickets from £9. For timings, see birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk.
GREENWOOD PARK, GWYNEDD
A SPLATTERING of orange will turn GreenWood Family Park into a Halloween wonderland.
Its paths are adorned with spectacular giant pumpkins, with the odd spook hovering around.
The park, in Snowdonia, has carving stations, costume competitions for kids and dogs, family-friendly shows and an eerie ride through the forest on the Green Dragon coaster.
There are 20 rides and attractions, including Solar Splash with two 200ft chutes.
And from Snowdon View Point, you will be treated to a fantastic sighting of Wales’ largest mountain range.
- SpookWood runs from October 25 to November 2. Tickets from £16.50, under a metre £5.62. See greenwoodfamilypark.co.uk.
CHESSINGTON, SURREY
IT’S hard to beat Chessington World of Adventures for spooky family fun.
Its Howl’o’ween season features spellbinding new shows and interactive experiences, including seeing wizards and witches and mummified monsters.
Families can dress up in their scariest costumes for a contest and join Wilf the werewolf and Violet the vampire bat on the Surrey Park’s stage.
And there’s a scare zone where gargoyle statues come to life.
Thrill-seekers can ride rollercoasters, such as Mandrill Mayhem, Dragon’s Fury and Vampire at dusk and there are plenty of tricks and treats.
- First two weekends in October and daily from the November 2 to 18. Park tickets from £32, see chessington.com.
BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH
WALK through caves infested by demons and take a spine-tingling ride to Hell.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Halloween extravaganza has a new, fifth live-action scare zone, called Abyss.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Halloween extravaganza has a new, fifth live-action scare zone, called Abyss[/caption]
You’ll be met by a gatekeeper to the caves, built in 1905, before being led onward to face the horrors beneath.
Other zones include the nightmarish world of Alice in Wonderland, the lair of a macabre collector of curiosities, a ghost train and twisted tunnels full of gruesome characters.
There’s also music, a witch parade and a 7ft werewolf roaming around with ghoul pals.
And you can brave the rides after dark.
- October 23 to November 1, tickets from £39.50. See blackpoolpleasurebeach.com.
SCREAM TIME
AT three sites across the UK, new Halloween trail Scream Time is, as the name suggests, marvellously terrifying.
Eerie light installations with scare actors playing nightmare roles are staged at Margam Country Park in Port Talbot, Wales, Derbyshire’s Elvaston Castle and Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham, South Yorks.
It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted, and suitable for over-15s.
But younger visitors can enjoy Spooky Time, a family trail with gentler frights, carnival rides and face painting.
Also make sure to stop off at Scare Village for devilish food, drinks and marshmallow toasting.
- Check out screamtime.co.uk for dates and prices.
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
IF the RHS can’t grow great pumpkins, then no one can.
The society’s five gardens across the UK, which are displaying a kaleidoscope of autumnal colours, have events galore.
If the RHS can’t grow great pumpkins, then no one can[/caption]
The Secret Life of Pumpkins features trails, carving sessions, insect encounters and spooky story times the children will love.
Bridgewater in Greater Manchester has a zombie disco and at Wisley in Surrey garden author Jean Vernon is holding workshops on the “surprising power of pumpkins”.
Together with more fun at Hyde Hall in Chelmsford, Harlow Carr in North Yorks and Rosemoor in North Devon, children can get close up to snakes, spiders and snails.
- Entry prices from £12.50, children £5. See rhs.org.uk.
