Welcome back to our monthly blog. Autumn might be here but London is a city that does not stop. October is all about Halloween. So here are my recommendations to celebrate it in London:

Halloween in the UK this year is on Tuesday October 31 2023. There are plenty of celebrations on the day. Not for the faint hearted!

The most haunted places in London

Hyde Park

Cemeteries are creepy territory and London is home to plenty. This burial ground for pets in Hyde Park (just behind Victoria Gate Lodge) is an especially surreal one. It’s rarely open to the public but look out for special tours (around £12 and they sell out in a flash). The graveyard dates back to the 1880s and contains the remains of more than 1,000 pets, many in graves marked by tiny headstones. The garden graveyard isn’t far from Tyburn, the site where thousands of people have been executed over the centuries. And you thought Hyde Park was just a nice spot for a picnic.

The Parkland Walk Spriggan

Abandoned railway lines do get creeperier than this – the Parkland Walk, which runs between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, is lush with vivid greenery – but there is still something unsettling about wandering along the overgrown cutting. The part that passes Crouch End is the spookiest stretch of the route, where a looming ‘spriggan’ spirit watches from a disused railway arch, ready to startle unsuspecting passers-by.

Bruce Castle Museum

That’s right, Tottenham has its own castle. There’s a downside, though, it’s a little on the haunted side. On bleak winter nights in November, you might catch the ghostly silhouette of Lady Constantia Lucy staring out the window. Lady Lucy killed herself by leaping off the balcony of the castle in the seventeenth century, taking her child with her. They say ‘great mystery’ surrounds the Lady’s death, but the fact that her husband kept her under lock and key in a tiny room might have something to do with it. As well as an unhappy spectre, the castle is home to a mini museum (open Wed-Sun 1pm-5pm), where you can see archive photos and documents on Haringey history.

Spaniards Inn

A joint steeped in criminal activity, this Hampstead drinking hole has tight connections with the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin, with one of the pub’s bars named after him and some of his weapons on show to punters. The locals will tell you that The Spaniards Inn was Dick’s birthplace, then later the location where his many crimes were plotted, and his ghost can supposedly be seen wandering the premises. Other dead dwellers include a former Spanish landlord, Juan Porero, who haunts the pub having been murdered by his brother, Francesco, over a shared love interest. The ghost of an unidentified lady wearing white has also been spotted.

The Langham

Europe’s first Grand Hotel wowed European royalty with electric lights, hydraulic lifts and air conditioning when it opened in 1865, and it still pulls fans in from around the world – some of those are ghosthunters. The rumours go that room 333 is the hub of all the activity. Apparently, a man in Victorian clothing is often spotted there, while other ghosts have been reportedly seen roaming the corridors.

Lots of information to keep you interested. Happy Halloween!

See you all in November.

Bruno – Hotel Manager