Five Of The Spookiest Events To Do This Halloween
It’s spooky season, friends. That eerie time of year when it’s socially acceptable to eat lollies until your stomach hurts, dress as sexy ghosts and say the cobwebs you’ve been too lazy to brush down are “decorations”.
[related_articles]78615[/related_articles]Halloween events aren’t as big here as it is in the United States, but that doesn’t stop us from getting into the ooky spooky spirit. There are plenty of parties, haunted houses and ghastly theatre performances going down this weekend and over the weekend to celebrate the haunted holiday.
Here are the best Halloween events in Australia:
#1 Escape outlaws, Japanese ghosts and a murderous nurse in supernatural mazes
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This Halloween, the gates to the underworld will open and Luna Park in Sydney will be taken over by the undead. Anyone brave enough to enter the amusement park during Halloscream will navigate three immersive horror mazes filled with all kinds of supernatural spooks.
Each maze tells a horror story, which you’ll unravel as you explore. In Yōkai, you’ll be plunged into the world of Japanese horror folklore. You’ll face off against a gang of Aussie bandits from the 1800s in Outlaw, and (try to) escape a derelict hospital when the crazed Nurse Brenda goes on a possessed, blood-spattering rampage in Ward 13.
Halloscream is open on October 25, 26, 31 and November 1, 2. You can get tickets here, which also get you unlimited rides on the night.
#2 Try to survive a choose-your-own adventure tale
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A Midnight Visit has been thrilling Melbourne since July this year, and Halloween is one of your last chances to experience it for yourself. Part interactive theatre performance, part surreal playground, this dark and gripping adventure is inspired by the work of the granddaddy of gothic, Edgar Allan Poe.
You’ll meet strange characters and uncover thrilling scenes of macabre splendour as you explore 36 rooms inside a massive warehouse. There’s even a pink ball pit to even out the doom and gloom. A Midnight Visit is open in Melbourne until November 17, and you can get tickets here.
#3 Do the monster mash
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Netherworld arcade bar in Queensland throws a couple of Halloween events every year, but this year it’s sending off the spooky season with A Netherworld Halloween on October 31. There’ll be a DJ playing monster-inspired bangers, a raging dance floor and themed cocktails — and when you get tired of dancing, the bar’s got you covered with Nintendo and old-school PlayStation games, pinball machines and a massive selection of arcade games.
If you dress up in your best spooky costume, you’ll get free tokens for the arcade games on arrival, and you might even win the costume prize. Doors open at 6pm, and entry is free.
#4 Embrace your dark side at The Grounds of Alexandria
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The Grounds during Halloween is in a league of its own — no party, event or takeover in Sydney does evil in this much style. This year, it’s turning into a dark playground inspired by the seductively spooky Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
The famous cafe, usually known for its bright and cheery energy, is embracing its dark side with a laneway of thorns, black roses, and a life-size pair of Maleficent’s wings.
The team has also conjured up a devilishly dark dessert that Angelina Jolie’s impossibly sharp cheekbones would be proud of. Give in to the glazed milk chocolate mousse filled with passionfruit jelly on a bed of chocolate charcoal sable, topped with vanilla buttercream and finished with edible glitter, rocks and horns.
[related_articles]78582[/related_articles]On Friday, November 1, the Grounds is hosting its first ever Fright Night, an adults-only party complete with cocktails, live music and entertainment. You can get tickets here.
#5 Frighten your senses inside a haunted mansion
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Ghoulish Halloween events and sexy parties are great, but Melbourne’s getting inventive with the spooks this year. MANSION is a fully immersive experience that spins its own horror story through dance, burlesque, ballet, theatre and circus.
Inspired by the real-life haunted backstory of Labassa Mansion (there have been ghost sightings reported in the house since the ’20s), the interactive experience gets you tangled up in the story of newly-widowed Mel Walker and her two children after they move into the mansion and face nightmares, temptation, heart break and pure horror.
MANSION is running until November 3, and sessions have very limited availability, but you can get tickets here.
(Lead image: Luna Park / supplied)
