Halloween, a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world, is not just about dressing up in spooky costumes and indulging in sweet treats. It's also a time when some destinations embrace the eerie and the supernatural, offering travellers unique and unforgettable experiences. If you're a Halloween enthusiast looking for a spine-tingling adventure, consider visiting these ten best places worldwide to celebrate the spookiest night of the year.
New York City is known as the city that never sleeps, and that is especially true on Halloween night. The city hosts one of the biggest and most creative parades in the world, the New York Village Halloween Parade, which attracts over two million participants and spectators every year. The parade features giant puppets, floats, bands, dancers, and thousands of people in costumes of all kinds. If you want to join the parade, you need to wear a costume and show up at the designated spot before it starts. If you prefer to watch, you can line up along Sixth Avenue and enjoy the show.
New York City also offers plenty of other Halloween attractions, such as haunted houses, ghost tours, pumpkin festivals, and themed parties. You can visit the Bane Haunted House, which claims to be the scariest and most interactive haunted house in the city, or the Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure, which features haunted mazes, scare zones, and spooky shows. You can also explore the city’s dark history on a ghost tour of places like Greenwich Village, Brooklyn Bridge, or Central Park. For some family-friendly fun, you can check out the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, where you can see over 7,000 hand-carved pumpkins illuminated in elaborate displays.
Halloween in Mexico is not called Halloween, but Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a three-day celebration that honours the lives of the deceased. The holiday dates back to pre-Hispanic times, when the indigenous people believed that the souls of their ancestors returned to visit them once a year. Today, Día de los Muertos is a fusion of indigenous and Catholic traditions, and it is celebrated with altars, offerings, music, dance, and food.
One of the best places to experience Día de los Muertos is Oaxaca, a city in southern Mexico that is known for its rich culture and cuisine. Here, you can see elaborate altars decorated with flowers, candles, skulls, skeletons, photos, and food in homes, markets, churches, and cemeteries. You can also join the comparsas (parades) that fill the streets with music and costumes. Some of the most popular dishes to try during this holiday are pan de muerto (bread of the dead), mole negro (black sauce), and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate).
London is a city with a long and bloody history, making it a perfect destination for Halloween lovers. The city is full of haunted places, such as the Tower of London, where many famous figures were executed or imprisoned, such as Anne Boleyn, Guy Fawkes, and Sir Walter Raleigh. You can take a tour of the tower and learn about its gruesome past or join a ghost walk that will take you to other spooky sites like Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, and Highgate Cemetery.
London also has plenty of Halloween events and attractions for all ages, such as horror film festivals, pumpkin carving workshops, and themed parties. You can visit the London Dungeon, which recreates some of the city’s most notorious scenes with live actors, special effects, and rides. You can also experience one of the scariest attractions in Europe, the London Bridge Experience and Tombs, which takes you through 2,000 years of history and a terrifying maze of horrors.
Salem is famous for its witch trials in 1692, when 20 people were executed for allegedly practising witchcraft. Today, Salem embraces its dark history and celebrates Halloween with a month-long festival called Haunted Happenings. The festival features hundreds of events, such as witch trials reenactments, ghost tours, museum exhibits, carnivals, concerts, and costume parties. You can also visit some of the historic sites related to the witch trials, such as the Witch House, the Salem Witch Museum, and the Old Burying Point Cemetery.
Transylvania is a region in Romania that is associated with vampires, thanks to Bram Stoker’s novel "Dracula." The novel was inspired by the legend of Vlad III Dracula, a 15th-century ruler who was known for his cruelty and his impalement of his enemies. You can visit some of the places that are linked to his life and legend, such as Bran Castle, which is also known as Dracula’s Castle, or Poenari Castle, which was his actual fortress. You can also explore the medieval towns and villages that dot the region, such as Sighisoara, where Vlad was born, or Brasov, where you can see the Black Church and the narrowest street in Europe.
New Orleans is an ideal destination for Halloween enthusiasts, known for its voodoo culture and haunted houses. The city is famous for its lively Mardi Gras celebrations and October is no different. With plenty of parades and parties, New Orleans decks itself out in Halloween decorations and the locals show off their most impressive costumes. To add a spooky touch to your trip, don't forget to take a ghost tour in the French Quarter before joining in on the fun.
Hong Kong is infamous for its love of spooky celebrations, and Halloween is no exception. While it's not common to see trick-or-treaters on the street, you can still indulge in a range of eerie events, particularly in popular haunts like Hong Kong Disneyland. During the Halloween season, the park competes with other global counterparts to offer visitors a spine-chilling experience. Ocean Park, another theme park in the city, also hosts an annual bash that is sure to send shivers down your spine. Furthermore, Lan Kwai Fong, the city's bewitched party district, typically hosts a plethora of happenings that are all worth a visit. Though things have been unusually quiet in this paranormal neighbourhood due to the pandemic, it appears that the spirits are stirring, and things may soon take a turn for the terrifying.
The birthplace of Halloween, Dublin offers visitors a chance to explore the origins of the holiday and enjoy traditional festivities. Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. People used to wear costumes during this festival to ward off ghosts, which is quite similar to how we celebrate it now. Ireland celebrates Halloween throughout October with various festivals, such as the Púca Halloween Festival, which pays homage to the Celtic New Year with music, art, and an abundance of delicious treats.
Scotland, much like Ireland, has deep-rooted connections to the eerie origins of Halloween. As Visit Scotland explains, the name Halloween comes from the Scottish contraction of "All Hallows' Eve." While you can certainly attend any number of events to pay tribute to the day, if you're feeling brave enough, embark on a spine-tingling journey and explore the nation's Ghost Trail, a map of 15 locations around the country that are rumoured to be some of the spookiest spots on the planet. End your tour at the Samhuinn Fire Festival in Edinburgh for a hair-raising and chilling conclusion.
One of the most popular events in Tokyo is the Shibuya Halloween Street Party, where thousands of people gather in costume to celebrate on the streets of Shibuya. Another popular event is the Kawasaki Halloween Parade, where participants dress up in elaborate costumes and parade through the streets of Kawasaki. In addition, many bars, restaurants, and nightclubs in Tokyo host Halloween-themed parties and events throughout the month of October.