Halloween event guide

Halloween is just a week away but if you don’t have any plans, fret not, because whether you’re looking for a scare, a party or just all-round Halloween fun, there is something for everyone in Dublin this year!

If you’re looking for a family day out, Dublin Zoo is hosting a Spooktacular Boo! At the Zoo which takes place on Sunday 28th and Wednesday 30th of October. Over the two days, from 12pm to 3pm, Dublin Zoo will transform its grounds into an exotic spookfest with festive face painting, a ‘monster disco’ outside Haughton House beside the Great Lawn as well as arts and crafts and Halloween keeper talks. Ticket prices are as standard.

Or if spending the day in a spooky Dublin Zoo isn’t for you, the Retro Drive-in in Leopardstown Racecourse is showing an array of Halloween movies. Here you can pull-up, park and get comfortable in your car as you watch the movie and listen through your car’s radio. On Sunday 28th and Monday 29th at 6.45pm, they’ll be showing everyone’s favourite Halloween flick Hocus Pocus. If that’s not scary enough for you, you can catch The Exorcist on the 27th at 9.15pm or Scream at 9.30pm on the 28th. Prices range from €29.90 to €32.00 plus booking fee depending on your car size (five or seven-seater respectively).

And if neither of those float your boat, here are a few other events around the city to get you in haunting humour:

The Bram Stoker Festival, which runs from October 26th to 29th, boasts various nights of ghoulish behaviour including; The Haunted Library at Marsh’s Library St. Patrick’s Close on Saturday 27th from 10am-5pm with free entry on a first come, first serve basis and Stokerland taking place on the 27th and 28th of October at 11am-4pm and promises a ‘pop-up Victorian fun park for families and the eternally young’, the free event will take place in St. Patrick’s Park Dublin 8.

For a historical look at Halloween, Halloween at Dublinia puts on the perfect show. The Delig Inis theatre group will put on their annual performance in Dublinia, where you’ll hear about medieval Dublin’s ‘supernatural and ghostly happenings’. The show will run every day from Saturday 27th to Monday 29th of October between 11 am and 1 pm and again from 2 pm and 3 pm. Ticket prices are as standard.

The old reliable Ghost Bus Tour is back again for another year of fun and fright! This one’s only good for those 14 and older, so leave the little ones at home and get ready to discover Dublin’s dark side. The tour covers Dublin Castle, an urban graveyard and much more, with tales of old Dublin and plenty of ghosts. Tickets are €28 and the bus departs from the Dublin Bus Head Office, O’Connell Street.

Finally, if you really want to test your wits when it comes to scare, take a trip over to the RDS where you’ll be met with a walk-through horror scene at The Nightmare Realm. In its third year of scaring the public senseless, The Nightmare Realm is ideal for anyone who thinks they’re hard enough. The event is running now until November 3rd and tickets are priced from €18.00 to €26.00.