The WPJ blog

This Friday, ghosts and ghouls will roam the streets of London as the sun sets to give way to All Hallows’ Eve.

Don’t hide behind your closed front door; leave the chocolate eyeballs on the porch for the trick or treaters and venture out to some of the city’s scariest Halloween events.

Chills in the Chapel: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho

Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, London, N1 2UN

Friday 31^st October – Saturday 1^st November

Film £22.50, Ball £5

Spend the spookiest night of the year in a Gothic-revival chapel with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The screening will be set off by creepy cocktails and fancy dress, and if the shower scene doesn’t finish you off, you can stay on for The Bates Motel Ball.

Wicked

Apollo Victoria Theatre, 17 Wilton Road, Westminster, London, SW1V 1LG

All year round

Tickets start from £45

Discover how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be such a malevolent evil, thanks to this powerful musical stage adaptation, which has been captivating audiences for over ten years. You’ll never watch The Wizard of Oz in the same way again.

Horse-drawn Halloween Rides through Richmond Park

Richmond Park, Kings Road, London, TW10 5HS

Thursday 30^th October – Saturday 1^st November

£48 per person

Meet your horse-drawn carriage at Sheen Gate before exploring Richmond Park in the dark, huddled up under a warm blanket with a cup of sloe-gin. The guide has all the eeriest tales to tell; you’ll hear about the ghosts that haunt the park, where congregations of witches gathered to cast spells and a gory Victorian murder, which was only solved in 2010.

Necropolis

Waterloo Station, London, SE1 8SW

Thursday 30^th October – Saturday 1^st November

£15, or £8-£12 in advance

In the 1850s, London’s heaving population combined with dire medical conditions led to more dead bodies than the city had graves for. Corpses were stored under the streets and stations before being carted off to Surrey on the Necropolis Railway, and the Necropolis station still remains in the caverns beneath Waterloo station today. This immersive tour will give even the most toughened horror fan shivers.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead Festival

Bargehouse, OXO Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, London, SE1 9PH

Thursday 30^th October – Saturday 2^nd November

Free

For over 3,000 years, Mexicans have been devoting the Dia de los Muertos to remember and pray for their loved ones who have passed. This year, the Embassy of Mexico has brought this celebration to London, and there will be art exhibitions, a tribute to those lost in World War 1, daily screenings of the 1984 cult classic Under the Volcano and Jose Cuervo tequila masterclasses. Children can paint sugar skulls, make a skeleton, create masks and learn about papel picado in a series of fun workshops.