Spine-tingling fun in Exeter this Halloween
With research last year estimating that Brits are likely to spend around £320 million on Halloween, its popularity in the UK is growing at a frightful rate. Exeter is no exception – the city and its surroundings offer a monstrous array of spine-tingling experiences for all ages.
Halloween has always been a kids’ favourite and Exeter has plenty of fearsome family fun to raise their spirits. Crealy Adventure Park features the Scarecrow Scare Maze, the Treehouse Trolls and some ghastly goings-on at the Creaky Hotel. With bewitching tales of wars and sieges, Exeter’s Underground Passages have always fascinated locals and tourists alike. They take on a magical feel this Halloween with the Witches and Wizards tour: hair-raising ingredients are hidden throughout for children to find and collect to concoct their own spell.
There’s plenty of beastly fun to be had at The Donkey Sanctuary with trick or treat trails, pumpkin carving and the ‘brave the bat beacon’ challenge. You can also test your mettle against the invasion of the undead at The Bear Trail, where the Zombie Trail is fraught with reanimated corpses lurking with evil intent. Haldon Forest Park is organising a Spooky Spider Hunt – if you’re sneaky enough to find an arachnid egg, you'll be able to whip up a petrifying potion to banish the Haldon Forest Spider forever.
Halloween is guaranteed to be a scream for the little devils, but there’s plenty to stir the senses for adults too.
If you like a historical edge to your horror, you can join Exeter's Red Coat Guides on 31 October for their annual Spooks and Broomsticks tour, taking in the city’s most haunted sites and their chilling tales which have endured through the ages. Tours start at the Richard Hooker statue on Cathedral Green from 6.15pm and the last tour leaves at 7pm. Local legends and scary stories are also a feature of the spooky Ghost Walk (31st October 4-8pm) which starts from the Quayside and finishes with a treat – or a possibly a trick… costumes are optional but encouraged.
When it comes to nightlife, Halloween is an undeniable excuse to run wild with the fancy dress. If you’re planning to head out in gruesome gear, why not create something unique at the Halloween Headdress Workshop hosted by the creative experts at Pluma Headresses? You could take your handmade ‘crowning gory’ to the Halloween Party at the Old Firehouse, where spooky pizza will be served while DJ El Barco spins a spellbinding set. Exeter Phoenix is the venue for the Dead Dolls Cabaret of Horror, a terrifyingly saucy mix of dancing, show tunes and clowning in a Halloween-themed cabaret presented by Wyrd Ways Art Collaborative.
Alternatively, Exeter Northcott Theatre is hosting a special Halloween Murder Mystery Evening which includes a terribly tasty three-course meal and a haunting tale involving a mysterious doll.
If you’d rather not venture out into the darkness, you could make your home a house of horrors and host a party. Hire a mobile casino and ask them to create a Halloween theme with creepy croupiers. When your guests need a rest from the roulette table, they could play on the horror-themed slots of a free online casino.
All things considered, you’re certainly not short of options for Halloween in Exeter. One piece of advice? Don’t be afraid to try something new this year…
