It’s frightfully good fun

HOW do you fancy being trapped inside Ireland’s most haunted house with a team of paranormal ghosthunters for the night, checking in to a five-skull Dead and Breakfast, brave dark woods where axe-wielding psycho hillbillies lurk or

being chased by a pack of zombies?

This Halloween, the choice is yours. There’s no shortage of horror attractions and ghoulish goings-on happening all around the country from this weekend. Whether you’re a scaredy cat or an adrenaline junkie, there seems to be something for everyone. Here’s our top petrifying picks to get you in the spirit of things...

DUBLIN

KIDS, think Michael Jackson’s Thriller video was scary? Here’s the chance to make your own zombie dance track down at The Ark, in Eustace Street, Temple Bar in Dublin 2 — and the spookier the better. Afterwards, get the whole family together and join in the Supernatural Pop-Up Choir Family Workshop where wellknown tunes will be given eerie revamps with gothic harmonies and weird beats.

Afterwards, the choir will gather for a freaky flash mob performance. It sounds like an absolute scream.

Tickets €11/€8 per child aged seven upwards. Accompanying grown ups go free. Sun Oct 29 at 2pm. DISCOS don’t get more ‘fang’tastic than this. Dracula’s Disco, part of the Bram Stoker Festival, promises to be a totally sick night where zombies, ghosts and music-mad little monsters can throw some scary dance moves. DJ Will Softly, accompanied by a confetti canon, will play a scarily good set down in Meeting House Square, Dublin 2, for all the family. Don’t forget your costumes. It’s free in, but on a first come basis. Mon Oct 30 at 2pm. MEET Medieval Dubliners as they go about the gruesome job of hauling the victims of the Black Death to a mass grave outside the walls of the city. Hear their stories of how they escaped diseases as they cough and splutter and rifle through the pockets of the dead for loose change, en route to St Michael’s graveyard. Halloween Tales at Dublinia runs every 15 minutes between 12pm to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm, until November 4. Suitable for all ages. Visit dublinia.ie ALL things gory and gruesome will be celebrated in a heart-stopping Horror Expo at Dublin’s Freemason’s Hall — also as part of The Bram

Stoker Festival. There will be chats with horror experts, horror flicks and SFX make-up artists. Down on Moore Street, the festival reaches a climax on Sunday at 6pm when the incredible Macnas parade sets off through our ancient streets for an imaginative spectacle. bramstokerfestival.com THERE is plenty going on in other parts of Dublin too. Around Ringsend way, there’s the Dockers and Demons Festival, while in Ballymun there is the Otherworld Festival, Finglas is staging its own Fright Night Festival, The Cauldron of Smithfield will be bubbling and The Big Scream over in Summerhill promises exactly that. For lots more fireworks and bonfire listings, and family-friendly events such as the Zombie Run in Ballyfermot, visit the Dublin City Council website. dublincity.ie

MEATH

THE terrifying Terror Advisor’s 5skull rated reviews aren’t keeping brave hearts away from the Dead And Breakfast at Farmaphobia in Meath, where dead residents roam the bloodied halls. Elsewhere you’ll need to dodge screaming, demented dolls, chainsaw-wielding hillbilly cannibals in the Field of Screams, a vamporium of blood-hungry vampires and a morgue teeming with gruesome mutants. Children under-13 must be accompanied by an adult. Farmaphobia, Causey Farm, Co Meath, farmaphobia.ie

GALWAY

VOODOO masters and freaky black witches caused chaos when they unleashed carnage among carnival performers and staff while visiting Galway’s Latin Quarter for a Caribbean festival. They wreaked terror and drove staff insane before locking themselves down in an abandoned building — until now. This Halloween, brave souls can join the beasts in this grotesque pit of unimaginable horror. CARNEvil runs at McGettigan’s, Eyre Square, from 6pm, until October 31.

McGettigan’s, Eyre Square, from 6pm, until October 31. carnevil.ie DON’T freak out if you see a pack of zombies chasing terrified crowds down towards Salthill Promenade on Saturday, October 28. The ghostly gathering is just the Salthill Zombie Chase, part of the Galway ABoo Halloween Festival — the biggest in the country. Join wonky witches, Winnie and Wanda in the Spooky Fest at Loughwell Farm Park in Moycullen for the ultimate family Halloween day out. There’ll be creepy events around the city over the Bank Holiday, but don’t miss the incomparable festival highlight, the Macnas Parade, winding its way through the medieval streets of Galway’s Latin Quarter on Sunday, where up to 60,000 are expected — many in ghoulish dress — to watch this spooky festival.

DONEGAL

A SCARY number of spine-chilling experiences await the brave who visit the Northwest this Halloween. Donegal Derry Ghost Tours are inviting souls to jump aboard a bus tour around the spine-chilling locations with a professional storyteller. The Devils Realm in Letterkenny sounds as petrifying as the Asylum Escape Room in Lifford’s Old Courthouse. Those in Glenties can wander the Scary Cells at St Connells Museum, while in Rathmullen, the Fright of the Earls promises ghoulish tales, a chamber of horrors and a tunnel of doom. There’s oodles of creepy, crawly delights happening during

Letterkenny Halloween Fest and at Tropical World, visitors in fancy dress are invited to Spooky Week when ghosts and ghouls will ramble freely among the exotic birds, monkeys and meerkats.

donegalgathering.com

CORK

UNSUSPECTING souls were so petrified last year, Zombie Insurance is being issued to those entering the

Nightmare Realm in Cork for this recurring nightmare. Those wearing a repellent wristband can shout to make the zombies back off. The realm is dubbed Ireland’s scariest Halloween attraction and this year the Nightmare Realm has upped the ante. Strictly for ages 13 and up. Less squeamish adults and children might like to watch an 11-metre long dragon wiggle and dance its way down Shandon Street, followed by hundreds of scary beasts, witches, ghosts and ghouls, for the Dragon of Shandon

Parade on Halloween night. More than 40 bands, dancers, football teams, drama and dance troupes will take part. thenightmarerealm.ie, dragonofshandon.com