Whether you’re a fan of a gentle scare or all-out terror, there are plenty of suitably spooky things to do around the country for the Halloween season.
Here are our six picks – but let us know if we’ve missed anything truly horrifying!
This Halloween night, seasoned horror film aficionados are being called on to come and get their fright fix at The Kraken Screamfest – a horrifying immersive movie experience coming to Dublin. The Kraken Black Spiced Rum event will run on Wednesday October 31 at The Sugar Club and cinema-goers will enjoy a one-of-a-kind ‘Horrors From The Deep’ movie experience like no other. Guests will sample a spine-chilling selection of Kraken Black Spiced Rum cocktails and get freaky sea-themed makeovers – tickets are €20 here.
Celebrate the spookiest time of the year with the Terrifyingly Tasty Afternoon Tea (priced €24.95 per person) at The Address at Dublin 1. Created with the Halloween season in mind, the innovative pastry team have put a spooky twist on your afternoon tea favourites.
Dainty finger sandwiches, wraps and homemade buttermilk scones will be served alongside Halloween-themed treats including ghoulish cookies, brownies and cupcakes. Guests will also enjoy a glass of Prosecco, promising the ultimate Halloween ‘treat’ for adults.
By day, parents and children can immerse themselves in Scary Tales, meeting a number of fairy tale characters along the way, escaping the witch, saving the prince and seeking out the mystery behind an ancient broken curse. For the grownups, Tayto Park Terrors has two new scare zones: the zombie-themed Project Zero and the creepy Tomb of Shadows.
The country’s largest Halloween Festival plays host to a number of activities, promising to be a superb weekend for all ages. Events include the Macnas Halloween Parade, the Salthill Zombie Run and Galway Pumpkin Patch.
Afraid of spiders? How about body snatchers? Or are flesh eating plants your worst nightmare? As part of the Bram Stoker Festival, Dublin’s bravest movie fans will head to the Botanic Gardens for Creature Features, three nights of adults-only horror-comedy screenings (including Arachnophobia, Little Shop of Horrors and Invasion of the Bodysnatchers) within the garden walls. Gather your friends for after-hours shenanigans and natural-horror thrills, with the stunning Victorian glasshouses of the Botanic Gardens as a suitably spooky backdrop.
Irelands most horrifying Halloween event, now in its tenth year, has had over 160,000 visitors to date. Journey through a frightful evening of screams and laughter – eerie corners, blood-curdling frights, ghoulish entertainers, heart-pounding, adrenalin pumping, life threatening fear… Your worst nightmare come true!