![[LondonTown.com Header Image (Thames Scene)]](/LTtemplates/template_images/londontown.upper.logoheader.thamesscene-cc.jpg) |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
  |
|
 Halloween is a super spooky occasion. With tradition and customs a plenty, it's a gruesome excuse to dress up, eat pumpkin soup, read Harry Potter and participate in a spot of merrymaking. This year London has, once again, rustled up a deliciously wicked line-up of Halloween events to spice up autumn...  The capital’s sightseeing industry duly serves up a gory array of treats this time of year. Happy to escort unwitting revellers to the most sinister corners of the city, their tours promise a particularly hair-raising Halloween. Many of London’s biggest attractions also join in the bloodcurdling fun. Thorpe Park and the London Dungeons have a wonderfully entertaining set of spooky events lined up. While if you want to celebrate Halloween with a touch of bona fide Wicca, the International Halloween Festival may be more down your street. Read on for our easy guide designed to help you seek out the best Halloween horrors in London this autumn.  Halloween Fest – London Dungeons8 - 31 October 2005 London’s grisliest attraction is set to become one of the capital’s top destinations for Halloween revellers. A heady mix of blood-stained vagrants, haggard witches, hooded monks and ghostly ghouls will be roaming the murky caverns of the London Dungeons. London’s nastiest house of horrors has gone to gruesome lengths to craft a rotten raft of Halloween treats. Decked out in a plethora of pumpkins, spider-webs and other Halloween regalia, the dungeons themselves have been transformed into a colourful den. The exclusive ‘Witches and Warlocks’ exhibition is a wicked delight. Macabre characters will be casting spells on unassuming volunteers while concocting foul potions and brews. Visitors will meet a barrage of hocus-pocus, deadly hexes and Halloween horrors. Look out for the capital’s most gruesome granny. All skin and bones, the London Dungeons' very own ‘Rocking Granny’ will make a guest appearance in a series of specially commissioned shows. Her ear-splitting cackle has terrified many a tourist in the past. Or why not brave a dungeon lock-in and take part in the ‘Scared Senseless’ sleepover challenge? Drift off into the land of nod deep down below the city within the shadowy hollows of the dungeons. Listen out for bloodcurdling screams, menacing footsteps stalking the corridors, and vaporous white figures hovering in the doorway. Part of a nationwide initiative to raise money for The Royal National Institute for The Blind, it’s a fantastically spine chilling way to celebrate Halloween. Brave participants have to raise a minimum of £150 to take part. Venue: The London Dungeons Address: Tooley Street, SE1 Phone: 020 7403 7221 Date: 8 - 31 October 2005 Time: 10:30 – 17:30 Price: £15.50 (Adults) £10.95 (Children) Nearest Station: Tower Hill Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information   Sinister London Coach TourPlunging you deep into the sinister depths of London’s blood-spattered history, this gruesomely garish coach tour is a real treat for Halloween. This terrifying tour will trail its victims around London’s East End and a number of murky riverside neighbourhoods. Dripping with death, despair, torture and execution the tour transports you to places where tourists usually fear to tread. Ghostly graveyards clouded by mist, blood-stained murder sites and the unforgiving ‘gangland’ of London are just a few of the spooky scheduled stops. On a dark, ominous Halloween eve stand on the ‘steps of death’ at the famed riverside execution dock. For part of the tour passengers are safely secured inside a luxury 16-seat mini-coach. On arrival at grisly sites of despair, however, you will get the chance to explore by foot. Experts in the more unusual charms of London, Back-Roads Touring Company, bring a welcome element of individualism, eccentricity and gore to the sightseeing industry. This particular excursion has been ingeniously put together. Incidentally, the tour stops in a haunted pub for a pint on route. We imagine you’ll need it, to steady your nerves! To find out more or to book this sightseeing tour please click here. Phone: 020 7437 4370 Time: 18:30 (tour lasts approximately 4hrs 30 mins) Price: £25 (Adults) Travel: Coach from your hotel  Blood and Tears Halloween Walk31 October 2005 Creep round the murky streets of London this Halloween. Gruesome, grisly and gory, London’s brutal history is beset by violence, bloodshed and savage primitiveness. This ghoulish Halloween walking tour is a wonderfully macabre and entertaining way to celebrate this festival. Spine-chilling tales of London’s bloodthirsty serial killers and accounts of gruelling grave-robbings will terrify eager revellers. Walkers will steal down sinister, gloomy alleyways and step upon blood-stained execution sites. Run by a sole entrepreneur, City Secrets Walks is a fun, spooky and fascinating way to explore London on Halloween. Bursting with bounce and enthusiasm, Declan Mchugh, both tour guide and proprietor, is a hugely dynamic character. A prolific researcher and former actor, he has painstakingly developed some award-winning walks and this is no exception. Passionate about London, his tours are a great introduction to our vivacious city. This tour promises to be a suitably scary but entertaining performance. His colourful and abundant knowledge is totally spellbinding. From gruelling horror to a host of fascinating facts – it’s set to be a scream. To find out more or to book this tour please click here. Phone: 020 7437 4370 Date: 31 October 2005 only Time: 14:00, 21:45 Price: £6 (Adults) Nearest Station: Barbican Tube  The International Halloween Festival22 - 23 October 2005 Two days of hedonistic Halloween merrymaking make this one of the most interesting events on the autumn calendar. Now in its 10th year, the largest pagan festival in Europe with its weird and wild attractions, draws in pagans and fascinating experts from around the globe. It’s utterly unique and a fantastic way to celebrate Halloween the authentic way. A giddying line-up of events includes folk and rock music, witchcraft, an elaborate Halloween ritual, free lectures, workshops, information about paganism and a super craft market. The best entertainment comes in the form of Morris Dancing. Not the archetypal hopping, prancing and jangling to be seen in summertime on picturesque village greens – this is a much darker affair. The Wild Hunt Morris Dance renders the festival silent. A slow beat of drums pre-empts the dancers' entrance. Staves clash and tattered cloaks fly up in a whirl of dizzy motion. It’s impressively dark stuff. There’s a bar selling real ale and the Cobweb Café for light refreshment. This year, in celebration of their anniversary, there’s also a fancy dress competition. The best dressed reveller wins a worthy prize. It’s pretty hardcore Halloween stuff but there’s nothing like celebrating pagan style over the horror season. Venue: Queen Mary College Address: 327 Mile End Road, E1 Phone: 020 8539 3569 Date: 22 - 23 October 2005 Time: 12:00 – 20:00 Price: £13 (One Day) £20 (Two Days) Nearest Station: Stepney Green Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Thames Murder River CruiseThe Thames suffers from a dark past. Witnessing years of brutality, the murky waters conceal tales of murder and mayhem. This Halloween, dive beneath the surface and expose the sordid secrets of our river. Thames Luxury Charters are celebrated for their rather swanky collection of boats. They have put together a wonderfully entertaining murders lunch cruise. Gruesome and gory it’s a wicked recipe for Halloween madness. Feast on a mouth-watering buffet or afternoon tea while listening to horrific anecdotes. For many years Chinese Opium Dens operated on the river banks shrouded by Victorian London’s swirling fog, while in the 60s ferocious gangland wars erupted. As the vessel glides downstream, passengers catch a ghostly glimpse of the striking Old Naval Hospital in Greenwich and the site of the Docklands’ Murders - a particularly foul string of riverside slayings. Thames Luxury Charters have done their research well and this fiendish tour is an acceptably grisly addition to London’s Halloween line-up. Delightfully civilised, it’s a way for more refined individuals to join in with the Halloween mania set to sweep the capital this autumn. With a slap-up meal, posh cruiser and a commentary on the major London sights it’s hard to refuse. To find out more or to book this cruise please click here. Phone: 020 7437 4370 Date: Every Saturday Time: 12:00 (the tour lasts 3 hours) Price: £22 (Adults) Travel: Boat from Butlers Wharf Pier, SE1  Fright Nights 2005 – Thorpe Park21 - 31 October 2005 Thorpe Park has recently cranked up the thrill element to appeal to young adults and families with teenagers. Adrenalin junkies can now rocket down over 30 spine-tingling rides. Every year the park celebrates Halloween in wicked style and this year is no different - undergoing a terrifying transformation to welcome in the scare-fest. With a grisly concoction of freakishly bizarre entertainment, it promises to be a whole heap of Halloween fun. The Carnival of the Bizarre is the real highlight. Presented by the world acclaimed Circus of Horrors, it’s awash with gore galore. Feast your eyes on a grotesque line-up of peculiar performances. Gary Stretch is the world’s stretchiest man, Dan the Demon Dwarf can catch bullets with his teeth and, new for 2005, a fantastical aerial act with a terrifying twist in its tail (kids, don’t try this at home). Fifteen-minute shows will run every half hour nightly from 18:00. Check out The Asylum too. It’s a frustratingly scary maze that will have you unwittingly wandering in the dark for hours. The New Horror Show also boasts some frighteningly freaky side-shows that will leave your stomach churning. Thrill-seekers can scream their way to ecstasy aboard the park's high octane rides. Braving Colossus, Rush and Nemesis Inferno in the dark, will offer a whole new riding experience. Regular trains run direct from Waterloo to Staines – journey times range from 30-40 mins. A shuttle bus operates from Staines to the park, leaving every half hour. Please be warned, pre-booking is essential to avoid disappointment. Address: Staines Road, Chertsey, KT16 Phone: 0870 999 1717 Date: 21 – 31 October 2005 Time: 10:00 – 22:00 Price: £27 (Adults 12+), £20 (Children 4-11) Nearest Station: Staines Rail  Jack the Ripper Coach and Walking ToursThe legend of Jack the Ripper has tormented Londoners for centuries. This enigmatic murderer terrorised the streets of Whitechapel in the late 19th century. The case has never been solved and, today, the capital hosts a number of delightfully gruesome Jack the Ripper tours, particularly suited to the Halloween season. Theatrical and wonderfully vivid, these tours are well put together and explore at length, every nasty, gory detail. Ripper hunters can set out on foot or within the safety of a coach. Walking tours are a fun way to get suitably spooked. In the dense darkness of a London night, you’ll find yourself venturing back to 1888, stalking murder sites where the Ripper sought out his victims. The guides are fantastic fun. Animated and dramatic, these affordable tours are a wonderful experience. Coach tours are a little more civilised but still wickedly capture the horror and mystery of those sordid nights. It’s a much longer affair, labouring over all the bloodthirsty facts and figures. These tours also call at a wonderfully atmospheric 19th century pub, the Albert, on route. If, by this point, you still have an appetite, you’re encouraged to tuck into a classic serving of English fish ‘n’ chips. We can’t think of anything better! To find out more or to book these tours please click here. Phone: 020 7437 4370 Price: £6 - £20  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Premiere – Leicester Square6 November 2005 Yes, it’s that time of year again; another monster of a Potter movie is about to apparate into Leicester Square and once again, is expected to take the Muggle world by storm. This is the fourth instalment of Hogwarts' hi-jinks and, personally, it’s my favourite. Come the launch, Leicester Square will be decked out in all things Potter and no doubt it will be an absolute spectacle. The all-star cast just gets better as they churn the movies out; Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson and Brendan Gleeson are set to join Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Robbie Coltrane. Not forgetting, of course, the three not-so-little returning starlets who managed to clinch the roles of Harry, Herminone and Ron. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe will, no doubt, be waving and looking as pleased as punch as they step on to the red carpet. Don’t be alarmed, but the Goblet of Fire does take a darker stance than its predecessors and is definitely the beginning of fearsome things to come. Lord Voldemort is unveiled as a threat to democracy in the wizarding world, conniving reporter Rita Skeeter is on the scene, and Harry's life is is more in peril than ever. For Harry, “difficult times lie ahead”, but for these three youngsters things can only get better. The film is released on the 18th November. Venue: Leicester Square Date: 6th November 2005 Price: FREE (just standing in crowd) Nearest Station: Leicester Square Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Halloween on the Canal30 - 31 October 2005 It’s worth checking out Halloween at the London Canal Museum this autumn. In conjunction with Camden Canals, they have organised a wickedly spooky boat trip through the Islington tunnel. The old boats will be decked out from bow to stern with Halloween decorations. Staff dress up as creepy characters and animatedly entertain all the passengers with gruesome tales. Disappearing into the depths of the long dark tunnel is enough to give the bravest of voyagers the jitters. Expect bloodcurdling sound effects and a number of unwelcome surprises throughout the journey through the 886m pitch black channel. Dazed passengers will emerge the other side on a pretty part of the canal near Upper Street, Islington. Be warned, you’ll have to brave the perils of the tunnel, once again, on your return. Trick-or-treat packs will be handed out, and are included in the price. Trips last approximately 50 minutes. The museum itself is also joining in the fun. Ghosts, special lighting effects and heaps of family-orientated Halloween activities are all set to scare visitors senseless. Admittedly, not what you’d expect at a Canal Museum but still lots of fun. Booking is essential. Venue: London Canal Museum Address: New Wharf Road, King's Cross, N1 Phone: 020 7713 0836 Date: 30 - 31 October 2005 Price: £9.50 (Adults) £7.50 (Children) Nearest Station: King's Cross Tube / Rail Click Here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Did you know?- Halloween is a combination of three festivals. The ancient inhabitants of Britain, the Celts, celebrated New Year on November 1st and the preceding night Samhain - Lord of the Dead - was supposed to call up the spirits of the dead, in animal form. When the Romans invaded they brought with them the festival of Pomona, goddess of fruits and gardens which happens at the same time of year. The Catholic Church then created All Hallows Day to honour the saints. It is from the latter which Halloween derives its name but it takes elements of all three. - Although strongly identified with the US these days, trick or treating began in Britain, when the poor would beg for alms on All Halllows Day. - Until people reached the New World, Halloween lanterns were made from turnips rather than pumpkins! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|