Blame it on social media, blame it on our obsession with American culture, but Halloween seems to get bigger every year.
Here are some of our favourite events to celebrate the traditional Scottish festival – whether you are a proper guiser or a trick or treat wannabe.
1. Paisley Halloween Festival
Various locations
On today, parade begins at 6.30pm
Entry is free but the silent disco, carnival and pumpkin workshops require payment
Paisley’s Halloween festival is one of the biggest in the UK. It has been awarded nearly £17,000 of funding from Event Scotland, which has helped to pay for a huge carnival parade – complete with dancers, fire breathers and floats – as well as a performance from fearless aerial acrobats. There is also a silent disco, pumpkin carving and street theatre: it is not one to be missed.
www.paisley.is
2. Immersive Cinema Nights, Glasgow
Govan Shed, 23 Clydebrae Street, Glasgow
On today, various screenings
£12 per person
Lots of us watch horror films around Halloween. But at this special viewing in an abandoned warehouse, you can expect to come face to face with some of cinema’s scariest villains at the same time as you watch them on screen. There is also a horror maze to navigate when you first enter – but if all that sounds a bit stressful then you can head straight to the fully stocked bar.
www.horrornights.co.uk
3. M&D's Gateway to Hell, Strathclyde Park
M&D's Theme Park, Strathclyde Country Park
Prices from £10.50pp
A live-action immersive Halloween experience has returned to M&D’s, and promises to be spookier than ever before.
MORE INFO: Live action horror experience returns to M&Ds for Halloween
Exploring the terrifying tale of the Haunting of Hamilton Manor, brave souls will unearth the fate of its ghoulish inhabitants in a heart-racing journey through Halloween’s most daring adventure.
You will traipse through ivy-covered passages and escape bloody hands – and even crawl to safety through an eerily lit tunnel, which may have a few surprises inside.
https://scotlandsthemepark.com/event/outbreak-gateway-to-hell/
4. Quarantine at Kelburn Castle
Kelburn Country Centre, Fairlie, Ayrshire
On until November 3, performances from 6.15pm until 10.30pm
£13.85 per person (recommended for over 16s)
01475 568685
Plenty of us enjoy watching apocalypse programmes like the Walking Dead. But how would you feel about actually living through it? Well, now you can find out, as the grounds of Kelburn Castle are transformed into a haunted forest full of angry zombies.
Visitors who take part in the 30-minute Quarantine experience will have to navigate their way through the blood and body parts that line the forest – and the screaming undead – to make it to the other side and find the ‘cure for humanity’. No pressure, then.
www.kelburnestate.com/quarantine
5. Holm of Halloween at Holmwood House, Glasgow
Holmwood House, 61-63 Netherlee Road, Muirend.
On today and tomorrow, 12pm-4pm
£5 per person (discount for National Trust members)
01415 710184
Visitors to Holmwood can enjoy a proper ‘haunted house’ experience, making their way from room to room and enjoying decorations and scary surprises along the way. For younger children, or those who don’t like a scare, there is apple dooking in the garden and a Halloween-themed craft corner with lots of activities on offer.
6. Halloween Pumpkin Trail, Dumfries and Galloway
Castle Kennedy Gardens, Stair Estates, Sheuchan, Castle Kennedy, Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway
On until November 3, open from 10am-4pm
£2.50 on top of normal entry price (Adult £5.50, concession £4.50, child £2)
01776 702024
With crunchy leaves underfoot and a crisp chill in the air, autumn is one of the best times of the year to go out for a walk. The scenic Castle Kennedy Gardens are always good for a wander, but especially so when there are hidden pumpkins to be found along your way. If you spot them all, you’ll be given a treat at the end.
www.castlekennedygardens.com
7. Galoshans Parade, Greenock
Parade starts at the Ginger the Horse sculpture in Greenock at 6pm, ends at 8pm, Sunday 27 October
Free
Forget American notions of ‘trick or treating’. In Greenock, Halloween has always been referred to as ‘Galoshans’, and it is a tradition they are determined to keep going. The town is hosting its own Galoshans parade, featuring a street band made up of local school pupils and an ‘audio visual spectacle’ in Cathcart Square to celebrate Greenock’s most famous son, engineer James Watt.
www.galoshansfestival.com
8. GlasGLOW, Botanic Gardens
Peak time prices for adult tickets is £18 and £11.50 for children, with off-peak tickets priced at £14 and £9 respectively.
Runs from October 25 to November 10
GlasGLOW returned to the Botanic Gardens on Friday kicking off the city's Halloween celebrations.
Visitors to the sparkling event can explore nine immersive worlds each with their own theme ganging from 'Marshamallowland' to 'The Zombie Tearoom'.
MORE INFO: GlasGlow launches Glasgow's Halloween celebrations
The route is longer than in previous years and it takes approximately ninety minutes to walk through the interactive and immersive elements.
For the first year since the event has been running a bar has been installed within the route.
More than 66,000 tickets have been sold for the event but a few are still available.
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