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Halloween in Manchester and the North

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

Let’s face it, Halloween is the best holiday. It’s got everything: scary movies, fancy dress and plenty of sweets…but how to celebrate All Hallows Eve once you’re tired of trick or treating?

Fear not, we’ve got you covered. Whether you prefer to spend this October exploring the North’s creepiest corners on a Halloween tour, drinking blood red cocktails in your meticulously put together costume, spotting witches at the theatre with the family, or just holed up with some horror films — there’s plenty of spooky goings-on for the culturally curious to investigate.

Our top picks

CULTPLEX presents: STAB 2025

CULTPLEX presents: STAB 2025 at Cultplex, Manchester, Until 1 November 2025, From £8.00 - Book now

A month-long horror extravaganza this October. Nobody does Halloween quite like CULTPLEX.

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Chucky
n.a

FilmFear 2025 at HOME

FilmFear at HOME Manchester, Manchester, 29 October–2 November 2025, From £11.15 - Book now

HOME’s annual season of scary movies goes all 1970s this year. Featuring British folk horror, Italian giallo, sapphic vampires and one big Texan with a chain saw.

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Image supplied by Home MCR

Even More…Ghost Stories by Candlelight at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Even More... Ghost Stories at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot, 30 October–1 November 2025, From £15.00 - Book now

Storytelling by candlelight returns to Shakespeare North Playhouse this Halloween. A hauntingly evening of ghostly tales, beautifully told.

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Even More...Ghost Stories by Candlelight at Shakespeare North Playhouse: A dark, eerie forest scene at night with tall, leafless trees silhouetted against a greenish-blue sky. In the foreground, there is a glowing, translucent white figure that resembles a ghost or apparition, with a faint human-like shape and an ethereal aura, standing on the forest floor.
Image courtesy of High Tide Theatre.

Les Savy Fav at Brudenell Social Club

Les Savy Fav at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 31 October 2025, From £25.00 - Book now

Blurring the line between performance art and punk show, New York’s Les Savy Fav return to the Brudenell on All Hallows’ Eve.

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the artist in a mask
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

PVTV Fringe Flicks: Surreal Short Films feat. Hotel Kalura at DoES Liverpool

PVTV Fringe Flicks: Surreal Short Films feat. Hotel Kalura at DoES Liverpool, 10 October 2025, From £1.00 - Book now

People Versus TV present programme of surreal and experimental short film in a welcoming, social space that brings together Liverpool’s burgeoning indie film scene.

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Hotel Kalura still
Sophie Koko Gate

Helen Anna Flanagan & Gavin Gayagoy at FACT

Helen Anna Flanagan & Gavin Gayagoy at FACT, Liverpool, Until 23 November 2025, Free entry - Visit now

FACT’s new two artist-show explores isolation through digital, immersive environments.

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Helen Anna Flanagan, Burnt Toast
Helen Anna Flanagan

Halloween: The Ghosts of Manchester

Halloween: The Ghosts of Manchester at St Ann’s Church, Manchester, 31 October 2025, From £25.00 - Book now

Explore Manchester’s creepiest corners this Halloween, when Jonathan Schofield Tours will reveal the city’s ghosts with the most.

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St Ann's Church
Mike Peel

Flecky Bennett’s Ghost Walks

Flecky Bennett’s Ghost Walks, online, Until 17 December 2026, From £15 - Book now

Meet, Flecky Bennet, your guide through the dark and demonic side of the city as he takes you on one of Manchester’s award winning ghost walks.

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Flecky Bennett’s HALLOWEEN 2018 Ghost Walk

Shiverpool: Ghost and History Tours

Shiverpool: Ghost and History Tours, Until 27 February 2027, From £13.50 - Book now

Expect chilling street theatre and immersive thrills as the award winning Shiverpool return to Liverpool’s streets.

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Leeds Halloween

Leeds Halloween, 25 October–2 November 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

Join the ghosts and ghouls of Leeds and prepare your coats, hats, scarves and gloves for some chilling events across the city.

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Temple Newsam
Joanne Crawford, LCC

Ghosts of Temple Newsam

Ghosts of Temple Newsam at Temple Newsam, Leeds, Until 19 October 2025, From £15.00 - Book now

Explore one of Yorkshire’s most haunted houses in a chilling journey through centuries of strange, unexplained sightings and noises.

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A portrait of the Blue Lady
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Rediscover/ Hitchcock at FACT

Rediscover/ Hitchcock at FACT, Liverpool, Until 1 November 2025, From £9.35 - Book now

Psychos, murder and men on the run. Rediscover the work of Alfred Hitchcock with FACT’s 10-film retrospective.

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Grimmfest 2025 at Odeon Great Northern

Grimmfest at Odeon Great Northern, Manchester, 9–12 October 2025, From £21.99 - Book now

Dev Patel, Jeremy Piven and Pixie Lott star in Grimmfest’s freshly announced 2025 programme. We explore Manchester’s biggest horror film festival.

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Doomsday Disco at Testbed, Leeds

Doomsday Disco at TESTBED, Leeds, 25 October 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

Part clubnight, part post-apocalypse, Doomsday Disco is set to infuse the dance floor with the nihilism of watching the world burn. 

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A group dances in a dimly lit room, bathed in red and orange light. A DJ, centered in the background with headphones on, plays records. The image is intentionally blurred to obscure faces.
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Pumpkin Festival by Night at Swithens Farm

Pumpkin Festival by Night at Swithens Farm at Swithens Farm, Leeds, 24–26 October 2025, From £3.00 - Book now

Feel truly in the Halloween mood at Swithens Farm’s Pumpkin Festival by Night – where you’ll be suitably spooked with glowing pumpkins, eerie lights and witchy mischief.

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Girl holding a pumpkin in a field in the evening
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Leeds Industrial Museum Scarecrow Trail

Leeds Industrial Museum Scarecrow Trail at Leeds Industrial Museum, Leeds, 25 October–2 November 2025, From £0.00 - Book now

Get ready for a Halloween-if-ied museum trail where you’ll find scarecrows galore, both inside the museum and in the museum’s newly opened picnic grounds beside the canal, where even more scarecrow relatives are lurking.

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Photo of a scarecrow
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

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