Things to do for Halloween if you didn’t get Salvos Tickets

Themed bar crawl  

I know you may think it probably won’t be as good as a night out, but plenty of other places will still be open on Halloween. Dress up with your friends and go out still. Don’t let the lack of Salvos club tickets spoil your fun. You could even do a theme to make costumes more interesting.

Some of my favourite bars in York include Dusk for cheap cocktails, Stone Roses for the music, Yates, and Charles XII (near the uni campus) and also the fittingly spooky cocktail bar called Evil-Eye.

Film nights

It’s a bit cliché,  but it’s true: Halloween is the perfect time for a good old-fashioned horror movie.  Get some friends over, make some snacks, and let the scares begin. If you are in the mood to drink, you could make a drinking game. For example, take a shot wherever there’s a film cliché: a jump scare or a badly aged visual effect.  

In terms of what to watch, horror is a very diverse genre. Movies like Scream or The Conjuring always go down a treat. If you want something funnier, I’d recommend Shaun of the Dead or Jennifer’s Body.  If you want something generally scary, I’d recommend Silence of the Lambs or any of the 28 films. Can’t handle scares? Practical Magic has the perfect cosy, witchy energy ideal for the season, and the sequel came out recently which makes the ideal double feature. And conveniently, both Scooby-Doo movies are currently on Disney Plus if you are in the mood for some childhood nostalgia. 

Host your own houseparty 

This doesn’t need to be huge. Just gather some friends, decorate, and make sure there’s plenty to drink and eat.  It could be fun to make a spooky playlist, so here are some suggestions to get you started: Lullaby (The Cure), Everybody screams (Florence and the machine), Sisters of the Moon (Fleetwood Mac), Psycho Killer (Talking Heads).

Pub nights with a side of frightening gossip

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We are lucky to be in a city which claims to be the most haunted in Europe. Why not make the most of this and visit some of York’s famous haunted pubs? The pub which claims to be the most haunted is the Golden Fleece near Stonebow. Other pubs which claim to be haunted are the Ye Olde Starr Inn and the Punch Bowl, both in city centre. Who knows? You might even be joined by a few unexpected guests. 

If you wanted to indulge in haunting history, there is a pub on High Petergate called the Guy Fawkes Inn. As the name suggests, this historic four-star pub used to be the birthplace and early childhood home of Guy Fawkes, a spooky setting to have your pint in that’s for sure. 

Spooky crafts 

Alternatively, if you would like to have a more chill, laid-back Halloween night.  You could do some classic crafts like carve a pumpkin (most supermarkets are selling them for very affordable prices), or decorations to hang across the ceiling for an extra haunted effect, or even bake in the shapes of ghosts, witches or pumpkins if you’re in the mood for a sweet treat and still want to be on theme.  This is a cute, cosy, and relatively low-cost way to spend Halloween.  

Ghost walks 

As I said earlier, York has an infamous reputation of being spooky, and a great way to embrace this on Halloween could be going on a ghost walk round the city. For Ghost Tours, either walking around the city with a guide or hopping on a bus where comedy and horror is intertwined, prices can range from approx £10 to £20.

As the nights are getting darker, there’s no better place to explore than hidden alleyways and cobbled streets, lit up by eerie moonlight. It could be fun to learn more about York’s incredible history on such a spooky night of the year. Famous York ghosts include Mad Alice, The Grey Lady at the Theatre Royal, and even Dick Turpin. Did you know he’s buried near the Wetherspoons on Fishergate?