Enjoy the spookiest time of the year as there will be plenty of tricks, treats and spooky encounters for all in York and the surrounding areas this October Half Term and Halloween.
Visit York, a part of Make it York has created a list of the best Halloween experiences to celebrate this spooky season!
We highlighted if they are perfect for families and children and indicated those that might be better suited to adults only!
There is so much to enjoy at this time of year in York from ghost hunting to chocolate making and pumpkin picking to paranormal stories – there’s something for all ages!
Join York Dungeon’s sinister Victorian medium, Georgiana Eagle, otherwise known as Madame Card, in a brand-new Halloween show. Get ready to contact the Spirit world as you find yourself in the year 1872, participating in one of Madame Card’s sought-after Séance shows where she will open your eyes to the world of the unloving.
📅 26th September to 6th November 2022
👻 The recommended age to visit the York Dungeon is 8+. Guests aged 15 and under must be accompanied by an adult, aged 18+. Under 5s are not permitted.
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Pre-booking is recommended, from £17.95 per adult
📍12 Clifford Street, York, YO1 9RD
The eerie sculptures, which were first installed in Museum Gardens last year, are back bigger and better than ever. This year, the BID have added ghosts to more of York’s beautiful city centre gardens including Treasurer’s House, The Merchant Adventurers Hall, Middletons Hotel, The Artists Garden and St Anthony’s Garden.
📅 23rd September to 7th November 2022
👻 Suitable for all of the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Free
📍Various locations around York city centre
Hallowscream 2019 at York Maze. Photo by Keith Meatherinfham
Dare you face Hallowscream’s killer clowns or flesh-eating zombies? This immersive scare experience features five live-action haunted house attractions, roving characters and more.
📅 13th October to 5th November 2022
👻 You must be 14+ to attend Hallowscream, children under 14 will not be admitted. Children aged 14 & 15 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Proof of age will be requested for anyone who appears under 21, please bring suitable ID.
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £26 per person
📍Elvington Lane, York, YO19 5LT
Celebrate Halloween with local Spookologist and ghost botherer Dorian Deathly with an evening of ghost stories, paranormal sciences, original music and perhaps the odd unexpected guest. Explore spine-chilling tales of hauntings, both local and further afield, dissemble horrors captured on film and follow the ghost story through from the origins, the Victorian classics and modern-day frights. Book tickets here.
📅 26th October to 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for 13+
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £12 per person (+ booking fee)
📍41 Monkgate, York, YO31 7PB
Beware of the cackles of old souls wandering the ancient woodland or feel a shiver down your spine stepping into the Haunted Halloween Village. There’s frightful fun to be had with photo opportunities and fancy dress competitions.
📅 22nd October to 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for all of the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £28 for up to 5 people/1 car
📍 Harrogate Rd, High Bridge, Knaresborough HG5 8DD
As twilight gives way to night, The York Ghost Merchants invite you to join the search for Little York Ghosts along the atmospheric ancient streets that surround York Minster each evening between 6pm and 8pm (Monday – Thursday only). There are 125 Little York Ghosts to find each evening, including some which are rare & unusual.
📅 24th October to 27th October 2022
👻 Suitable for all of the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Free – maps available from The York Ghost Merchants, The Visitor Information Centre and selected independent retailers from mid-October.
📍 Areas surrounding York Minster
Design and craft your own spooky Chocolate Bar in the shape of a Ghost or a Bat this Halloween at York Cocoa Works!
📅 16th October to 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for all of the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 £22.50 pp (under 5s go free with a paying adult)
📍 10 Castlegate, York, YO1 9RG
William’s Pumpkins is a picture-perfect scene for families to visit and celebrate the arrival of autumn together. Experience the sights and smells of the new season and of course, pick your own pumpkins to take home, carve, paint, decorate and cook. Lace-up your boots, slip on your gloves and head out to pick the perfect pumpkin. Knobbly ones, wrinkly ones, different shapes and sizes, there is a bountiful supply of shiny pumpkins, quirky gourds and lumpy squashes. There is an ideal pumpkin for everyone.
📅 7th October to 30th October 2022
👻 Suitable for all of the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, £3 per person (under 1s free) + 50p booking fee
📍Castle Farm, Wold Hill, HU15 2LS
Paranormal Research investigates some of York’s most historic and haunted venues. This October, they are hosting ghost hunts at The Guildhall, The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Bedern Hall, The Black Swan and Sandwitches Café.
📅 Various dates
👻 Suitable for adults/18+
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance
📍Various locations around York city centre
Looking for a fun and exciting way to choose the perfect pumpkin for the Halloween season? Why not visit The Balloon Tree’s Pick Your Own Pumpkin field! Whilst you’re there, see what local and seasonal produce they have available in the Farm Shop, or pop into the Cafe for a coffee and a slice of homemade cake.
📅 1st – 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for all the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 £1.50 entry fee per picker + pumpkin cost
📍Stamford Bridge Road, Gate Helmsley, York, YO41 1NB
In days gone by, those departing the mortal coil of this parish were buried in St Helen’s Square. With progress came the removal of their resting place. Each year, these restless souls venture to the Mansion House to attend the Dance of the Dead. However, to pass through the veil and attend this supernatural ball, they must be remembered in the land of the living. Visit the Mansion House to complete the ‘’Graveyard Grimoire’ an adventure through ghostly residents of St Helens Square. A surprising, creepy, and entertaining event suitable for all ages.
📅 24th to 30th October 2022
👻 Suitable for all the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Included in the standard admission price (Adults £6.50, Children 5+ £3.50, Under 5s free, Family £17). No additional tickets or pre-booking is required.
📍St. Helen’s Square, York, YO1 9QL
The last person to die before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve is doomed to ride Death’s carriage, collecting souls for the year ahead. This eerie and innovative Swedish film classic (which inspired a twelve-year-old Ingmar Bergman to make films) is a Dickensian ghost story and a deeply moving drama – as well as a showcase for groundbreaking special effects. Frame Ensemble, a quartet of Northern musicians specialising in improvised silent film accompaniments, will complement the haunting visuals with a unique, spontaneous musical performance.
📅 26th October 2022
👻 More suited for adults
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £15 per person
📍St Margarets Church, Walmgate, York, YO1 9TL
Picture Credit Charlotte Graham
Marvel at heritage carriages, decorated with thousands of lights, before departing from Pickering Station for an awe-inspiring journey alongside a DJ-Mix of music that will get you in the mood for a party the whole family will enjoy. Each passenger will be given their own interactive LED wristband which is synchronised to the music and passengers become part of the show. This hour-long round trip, with onboard narration and music, departs from Pickering Station for Levisham Station every evening from 22 to 30 October.
📅 22nd to 30th October 2022
👻 Suitable for all the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, £30 per person
📍Pickering. YO18 7AJ
Dungeon LATES evenings (strictly 18+ adults only) will be running on selected dates throughout October and offer guests a darker, scarier and naughtier alternative to the daytime tours. These evenings also feature a new exclusive 11th show, Body Snatchers!
📅 Saturdays from 1st to 29th October & Fridays 21st & 28th October 2022
👻 Strictly 18+ adults only
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £26 per person
📍12 Clifford Street, York YO1 9RD
For the Little Peasants who are too young (or scared!) for The York Dungeon, this one-hour tour of the City of York will give families the chance to walk, laugh and learn as they explore the famous sights including Clifford’s Tower, York Minster and The Shambles. The York Dungeon’s Dungeon Jester and lovable sidekick Smedley will talk about York’s most infamous rogues and heavenly saints including Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes and the Pearl of York herself, Margaret Clitherow.
📅 22nd to 30th October 2022
👻 Suitable for all the family
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £9.95 per adult and £7.95 per child
📍12 Clifford Street, York YO1 9RD
Beware! City Cruises are Halloween-ifying their Boats! During the day, the York City Cruise will be decked out, but at night on the Early Evening Cruise, there will be spiders and skeletons cruising the Ouse.
📅 22nd to 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for all the family
ℹ️ More information here and here
🎟 Tickets can be booked in advance, from £12.50 per adult, £7.50 per child, and under 5s free. Family 4 ticket £35.
📍King’s Staith Landing, York, YO1 9SN
Learn more about the haunting history of York on one of the city’s famous ghost walks.
📅 Various dates
👻 Suitability varies – check each Ghost Walk
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, varying prices
📍Various locations around York city centre
Explore the uncanny on this behind-the-scenes tour of Castle Howard where not all is as it seems. If you were to venture beyond the visitor route, below stairs, you’d encounter a labyrinth of dark cellars and never-ending corridors. Long since servants walked the halls and a fire ripped through the now empty wings, these parts of Castle Howard have remained largely unchanged. Those interested in the history of the House may revel at the chance to explore these quarters, but a stay longer than necessary provokes a sense of unnerving discomfort causing the imagination to try and make sense of the darkness.
📅 21st to 23rd & 28th to 31st October 2022
👻 Suitable for adults only
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £26 per person
📍Castle Howard, York, YO60 7DA
This Halloween, experience the York’s Chocolate Story tour with some added spooky extras! You’ll have the opportunity to decorate four ghostly chocolates with rat blood and goblin snot fillings. Plus, the Halloween Masterclass experience includes blind trick-or-treat tasting and a signature hot chocolate with a fully costumed chocolatier and assistant. From eyeball truffles to Trick or Treat chocolate wheels, Halloween at York’s Chocolate Story will be one to remember!
📅 24th – 29th October 2022 (Halloween Masterclass) and 17th – 30th October (Halloween Tour & Truffle Rolling)
👻 Ideal for children 6+ and their grown-ups!
ℹ️ More information here
🎟 Tickets must be booked in advance, from £25 per person (Masterclass) Adult £21.95 Child £19.50 (Tour & truffle rolling)
📍King’s Square, York YO1 7LD
Partnering with York Dungeon and York Park & Ride, Visit York has developed a very special spooky video to celebrate the city this Halloween. You can find all the spooky details of what’s on Visit York’s website and watch the video below!
This is a sponsored blog post from Visit York
