The best: Things to do in Manchester this Halloween

Taking place from morning until late across Sat 28 and Sun 29 Oct, Manchester’s Halloween in the City returns with another stacked annual programme of frightful family fun, including the customary rooftop monster invasion, the all-day Monsters Rock music festival, a beastly carnival on St. Ann’s Square, the mind-bending Hell-ter Skelter slide and the opening of the Cathedral Gardens ice rink with Scare Skate, beginning on Friday 27 Oct, as well as a host of other ghastly games and creepy challenges.

Check out the link below for the full Halloween in the City schedule.

Staged in collaboration with Film4, HOME presents four nights of compelling creepy film featuring innovative horror, dark fantasy and dread-inducing mystery to celebrate the perverse joy of flawlessly crafted cinematic terror, with a slate of nine films ranging from Edgar Wright masterworks to harrowing Gothic social dramas.

Promising a lavish night of unapologetic female empowerment with a sexy, spooky spin, Selina Helliwell’s irresistibly louche new show transforms the bohemian Salford pub into a darkly glamorous haunt for an evening of spoken word, mystifying music, riotous cabaret routines and an array of scary surprises, as well as a fancy dress competition for the audience.

Packed with pulse-shattering sets from Annie Mac, Denis Sulta, Skream and more,, the Warehouse Project’s annual ‘spooktacular’ rave returns to a haunted Depot Mayfield for nine pounding hours of murderous music.

With daily eighty-minute Scream Train rides and a fun-filled all-ages Carn-Evil running daily throughout Thu 26, Fri 27 and Sat 28 Oct, East Lancs Railway and Bury Transport Museum invites fearless families to board the looming locomotive for a Halloween to remember at Lancashire’s scariest station.

Departing at 5.30pm, 7pm and 8.30pm each evening, the ELR Scream Train welcomes passengers aboard to help the Monster Squad contain the unspeakable evil due to burst forth from the Summerseat Tunnel portal, with spooky entertainment and mysterious music along the route and a goody bag upon safe return.

Between 4pm and 9pm, families can head to Bury Transport Museum, across the road from Bury Bolton Street Station, and enjoy a host of rides and attractions before or after their train journey, from The Haunted House and Swingboats to magic shows and a fancy dress competition.

Promising ‘a night of killer DJs, merriment and spine-tingling thrills’, Victoria Baths hosts a first-of-its-kind silent disco amongst the endless corridors and cavernous chambers of the Grade-II* listed heritage site, complete with extensive decorations, a well-stocked bar, selfie stations and a fancy dress competition.

While the disco takes over the Sports Hall, the pool halls and Turkish Baths will still be open to explore throughout the evening.

From 10am-3pm on Sat 28 Oct, Altrincham’s Stamford Quarter transforms into South Manchester’s Halloween hub with a day of free family craft workshops, including walk-in badge-making sessions, terrifying tealight holder classes and eco-friendly bat, ghost and pumpkin shadow paper-making activities.

Guest can also enjoy bookable craft sessions during which they can create their own skeleton mask bunting, ghost and eyeball fairylights and clay monster trees. Secure your spot here.

Every workshop is suitable for children with an accompanying adult, with spaces available on a first come, first served basis – just head to the unit next to Jake Shoes on George Street during the allotted hours.

Running from Halloween night until Sat 4 Nov, the pulsating paranormal thriller follows Jenny, a new homeowner who – to the naked disdain of her husband – believes their house is haunted. Over a lengthy, increasingly intense dinner, they and their guests debate faith, scepticism and the supernatural, as an unsettling atmosphere fills the room. Eventually, with the dread at fever pitch, they agree to stay up until 2:22am in order to discover the conclusive truth.

Hailed as ‘a modern classic’ by The Sunday Times and ‘sheer nerve-shredding escapism’ by The Mail on Sunday, the WhatsOnStage Award-winning 2.22 A Ghost Story arrives in Salford fresh from record-breaking seasons at four West End theatres and a series of star performances from Lily Allen, James Buckley, Tom Felton and others.

From scary snacks and creepy cocktails to supernatural skating and QR code scavenger hunts, Great Northern Warehouse celebrates Halloween with a pile of events and offers throughout the week.

Priced at just £6 per bar, Dormouse Chocolates’ indulgent seasonal pumpkin spice bar is available to order online or pick up instore, while Pan-Asian street food bar Suki Suki launches a special edition Boo! Bun and a variety of themed cocktails on Fri 27 Oct. For the more penny-wise foodies, Suki Suki have left a number of red balloons scattered around the city, each containing a QR code redeemable for a free Boo! Bun.

Elsewhere on Friday, Paradise Skate World host the Cosmic Creep skating special, where guests can lace up their wheels and join the ultimate spooky sci-fi party with face-painting, special cocktails and more. Across Halloween weekend, Paradise Skate World also offers a 50% discount on walk-in tickets when guests turn up in their best fancy dress.

At Impossible Bar, an exclusive cocktail menu boasts a selection of sumptuous cocktails, including the the Witches Brew – a concoction of Decorrum, apple and maraschino deep red cherry, the Poison Apple – an exciting blend of Cazcabel Blanco, green apple, Midori and fresh lime, the Dracula Sour – a menacing mix of Disaronno, Gomme syrup, lemon and grenadine, or the Drink My Blood – a delicious alchemy of Don Papa, Chambord, bubble-gum and cranberry. The Halloween cocktail specials are £10 each, or two for £15.

Ahead of Halloween, the famous faces behind Science and Industry Museum’s gleefully gross world-premiere exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo & You, have unveiled their personal highlights of hilarious horror as visitors of all ages are shrunk and squeezed through the human digestive system in a queasy quest of discovery about our most disgusting inner workings. From Larry the Vomiting Robot to a scale model of our ‘poo-duction line’, Operation Ouch! offers incredible family entertainment for kids and adults like during spooky season.

Check out our review of Operation Ouch! Food, Poo & You here.

On Sat 28 Oct, Manchester’s favourite indie retail emporium transforms into a House of Horror with another instalment of their Halloween Weekender. For just £10, visitors can embark on a food and drink tour of the entire labyrinthine building, with a guided ghost tour and an exclusive treat from every Afflecks food and drink vendor along the way, including seasonal pumpkin soup from Third Floor Rising, Beetlejuice ice cream from Gingers Emporium and devilish dumplings from Desert Island Dumplings, who are also hosting their own entertainment with a wheel of fortune and Halloween-themed Gamecube games.

Those with a ticket can even try out a spirit stones and spellcasting session led by the witches and warlocks of Occult, located on the ground floor, with a complimentary stone and spell candle to take home.

There will be three ghost tours throughout the day running from 11-11:35AM, 12-12:35PM, and 4-4.35PM.
Elsewhere, an assortment of Afflecks traders are on hand to provide some of the most imaginative Halloween costumes in the city, with clothing and accessories available from American Graffiti, party makeup from MUOBU, a dedicated seasonal jewellery collection from Sour Cherry and a limited edition ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’ hoody from punk culture shop, Modern Streets.

Head to the Afflecks Instagram to keep up to date.

For a hauntingly opulent Halloween fit for the Addams Family, five-star boutique hotel King Street Townhouse hosts a series of spooky seasonal screenings in its intimate hidden cinema every evening from Thu 27 Oct – Tue 31 Oct, featuring classics like Hocus Pocus, The Shining, Nightmare on Elm Street and It.