Follow the calavera trail through Covent Garden
Start at Fair Shot Cafe in The Yards, Covent Garden (WC2E 9AB), where you pick up a passport for the Día de los Muertos–themed interactive trail. From Saturday 24 October to Tuesday 3 November, six calavera characters are scattered through the Yards, and the passport is your excuse to walk every courtyard between the piazza and the shops. Mark Friday 30 October in your diary: at 6pm, twenty professional dancers in costume and face paint stage a 'Thriller' flash mob. Arrive early enough to claim a spot on the paving, and stay for the market bustle once the crowd disperses.
Carve, paint and fling a pumpkin
London treats the pumpkin as a contact sport in the final week of October.
- Big Penny Social, Walthamstow (1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL): Thursday 29 October, 4–10pm. Free entry, pumpkins supplied, and a free pint of house beer for everyone who carves. A £100 bar tab goes to the best pumpkin. Adults only after 10pm.
- Royal Parks: pumpkin painting at Regent's Bar & Kitchen in The Regent's Park and Pavilion Café in Greenwich Park, 29–31 October. Sessions run at 10am and 2pm on 29–30 October, then at 10am, 11am, 1pm and 2pm on 31 October. Free, fancy dress encouraged, and a treat is included.
- Vauxhall City Farm (165 Tyers Street, SE11 5HS): the farm's Halloween Festival runs 27 October–1 November with free entry, though some activities are ticketed. Expect farm animals, a spooky trail, a giant spider web, pumpkin flinging, crafts, a free film screening and a talk on herbs.
Shop an emo market, then dance until 3am
On Sunday 25 October, 1–6pm, Signature Brew in Walthamstow (E17 5QJ) hosts the Not A Phase Emo Market: free entry, more than thirty traders selling alternative clothing, gothic jewellery, macabre art and home decor, a pop-punk and emo soundtrack, food, and a tooth gem stand. If your costume needs a finishing touch, this is where to find it. On Halloween night itself, The Lord Napier Star in Hackney (25 White Post Ln, E9 5ER) throws a free party from 9pm to 3am, with tarot reading, apple bobbing, a costume competition, DJs Sassy Wylie and Normski, themed rum cocktails and free merch.
Watch a mystery film aboard a ship, or walk Tooting's ghost trail
Theatreship at South Quay, Canary Wharf (E14 9SH) is a non-profit cinema aboard a ship, and on Saturday 31 October, 5–7.30pm, it runs a free Halloween special: a spooky-themed mystery film, with tickets booked in advance. Pre-order a drink and you can guess the title; get it right and the round is on the house.
For a different kind of chill, join the Spooking Tooting ghostly guided walk on Saturday 31 October, 6–8pm, meeting at Tooting Broadway Underground station (SW17 0SU). Book ahead. Local guide Geoff Simmons leads the way through tales of the Acid Bath Murderer, the haunting of Granada Bingo Hall, the Knifeman of St George's Hospital and other local legends.
Take the family to Kensington, or to the Sidings
High Street Kensington (W8) runs Halloween Happenings from 24–31 October, all free: a trail with workshops and treats, and trick-or-treating past neighbourhood house displays. On 31 October, Holland Park takes over after dark with spooky characters, immersive installations, games and live entertainment. At Waterloo, The Sidings (SE1 7BH) holds a free Halloween Takeover on 31 October with crafts, face painting, roaming creepy characters and performances by the One School of Performing Arts Academy; fancy dress is encouraged, and there's a special FX makeup artist for adults.
Most of these events are free but a few — the Theatreship screening, the Tooting walk, some farm activities — need booking, so check ahead and reserve your place. Build your late-October days around the markets and trails, keep the evenings for the parties and the park, and start planning now: the last week of October fills up fast.