The best Halloween parties in London

London nightlife big hitter The Cause is no stranger to throwing killer parties and this mega day-to-night Halloween extravaganza will more than prove that. This year’s line-up and attractions are yet to be unveiled, but previous editions have seen funfair rides, food stalls, games and circus performers, as well as a frighteningly good cast of DJs on the decks.

Nomadic party starters Cirque du Soul are back in town for the ‘Halloweekend’, and they’re throwing a massive Friday night shindig at Canning Town megaclub The Cause. Expect haunted circus decor, food stalls, confetti canons, costume prizes and a genuinely terrifying house of horrors featuring ‘killer clowns, rabid bats and marauding zombies’. DJs will be spinning jackin’ house, breaks, techno and club bangers across four rooms until 5am, with tunes guaranteed to keep you going all night. Get on eBay and start putting together the perfect evil clown look stat. You might want to run away with the circus after this one...

Drumsheds has summoned a whole host of deadly talent for its Halloween gathering. Notorious mischief-makers Kurupt FM are making their debut appearance at the north London club and will be heading up the night. They’ll be joined by the likes of Aitch, DJ AG, Diffrent, Eliza Rose and many more bringing killer garage, grime, house and DnB sets to Drumsheds’ X, Y and Z rooms. 

Having sold out every year since 2018, this massive Halloween shindig returns to Electric Brixton for an evening of all-out fright-filled fun that they’re boldly claiming will be the ‘biggest, deadliest and of course all round devilish Halloween Party in town’. Expect stage shows from dancers and circus performers, scare actors, a trick or treat station, murder mystery photobooth and themed cocktails, plus DJs spinning your favourite spooky hits until 4am. Last year there was a live FreakShow on a bed of nails, a cyr wheel show and an aerial performance. It’s the kind of party where people go all out on fancy dress, so we’d advise you to start planning your costume (and rehearsing the moves to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’) ASAP!

FOLD is once again being taken over by regulars Art of Dark for Halloweekend. The DJ lineup for this year’s spine-chilling, goosebumps-inducing party hasn’t been released yet, but previous years have featured house and electronic heavyweights like Praslesh (Raresh B2B Praslea), Matthias and Carl H. It’ll commence at 11pm and continue deep into the early hours of the morning. 

Housed inside a (possibly haunted) Victorian theatre, south London’s modern variety palace The Clapham Grand is known for its camp-as-Christmas programming, so expect it to pull out all the stops for its epic Halloween party. This year’s line-up is still under wraps but the venue is promising that it’ll be ‘massive, and scary, but in a really fun, silly way’. Fancy dress is a must! 

Is there a more appropriate way to spend Halloween than amongst hundreds of freakish dead specimens? We think not. This October, the Natural History Museum will be keeping its doors open after hours for an adults-only fright night. There’ll be a live band, a silent disco and a vampire ball as well as scientists dotted about the place to chat you through the beasts on display, and a chance to get up close to the museum’s ghoulish collection of jarred pickled creatures.

This Halloween, East London’s E1 is transforming into a city roamed by mobs and some of the most unsettling bad guys in the comic world. The club will become Gotham City, hijacked  by ominous house beats and malevolent disco sets. And it invites you to pick a side: hero or villian. The full line-up is underwraps for now but E1 has promised ‘three of the biggest names in house’. 

F*ck Me It’s Halloween is a party created especially for students, so expect seven hours of terrifying Hallow’s Eve-themed chaos. We’re talking a haunted bucking pumpkin, huge confetti canons, an adult-sized ball pit, a troupe of professional performers and ‘litres upon litres’ of neon paint – a spectacularly hellish assault on the senses. Enter at your peril (you’ll have to be able to show you’re a student or under 24 to do so).