The best scary film screenings in London for Halloween 2025

As usual, beloved central London repertory cinema The Prince Charles will be showing more frightening films than Dracula has had bloody dinners during the month-long season of spooky cinema this October. The wildly eclectic programme features almost 100 titles this year, encompassing everything from horror classics to niche B movies, all-night marathons and, of course, its famous Sing-A-Long-A Rocky Horror Picture Show (Oct 31 and Nov 1). 

Highlights of the programme include the original 1977 Suspiria (various dates Oct 4-Nov 1), The Night of the Living Dead (Oct 26), the original 1922 Nosferatu performed with a live score (various dates Oct 6-Oct 31) and several all night marathons, including all six Final Destination films (Oct 25), a mystery space-themed bonanza (Oct 4) and another mystery line-up on All Hallow’s Eve itself (Oct 31). 

As usual, there’ll also be several screenings on 35mm, including The Exorcist (various dates Oct 11-31), The Shining (various dates Oct 10-Nov 6) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (various dates Oct 13-31). And that’s just a few options; there really is something for absolutely everyone across the month. Excluding wusses. Check out the full programme here.

Nocturnal creatures, this one’s for you. This Halloween, art’otel Hoxton is transforming its Film House into a gothic hideaway suitable for those who only come out at night, for a 14-hour marathon of cult vampire movies starting at sunset on October 31 and culminating at sunrise on All Saints’ Day. Guests will be able to catch five iconic films including 90s hit Interview with a Vampire and 80s teen vampire movie The Lost Boys and horror heist film, culminating with George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino heist horror From Dusk Till Dawn as the sun rises. Tickets also get you a garlic-themed dinner designed to help keep evil spirits at bay, a gory Kraken rum ‘blood bag’ cocktail and a bespoke coffin-boxed memento to take home in the morning...provided you survive the night. 

Following its annual summertime horror bonanza in August, London’s primo horror film festival – dubbed ‘the Woodstock of Gore’ by no less an authority than Guillermo del Toro – is once again resurfacing, Kraken-like, for a spooktacular weekend of Halloween screenings at the Odeon Luxe West End. The line-up for this year’s event will be announced in late September, but horror afficionados can expect a handful of terrifying indie movies, typically including one or two UK premieres. Bedwetters need not apply, and, needless to say, the festival has an 18 rating. 

The beautiful Rivoli Ballroom – one of the last remaining ballrooms in town – is open again for its usual series of Halloween pop-up film screenings. In the days running up to fright night, it’ll be showing movies of the spooky and scary (and camp) variety; this year’s line-up features Psycho, The Lost Boys, The Crow, Carrie, Hocus Pocus and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As always, fancy dress is very much encouraged, and the bar will be serving up themed cinema snacks and bevs. Full details of the spooktacular film programme can be found here.

Party like its 1929 this Halloween, as musician Hugo Max provides viola accompaniment to a series of German expressionist classics at Prince Charles Cinema, Hampstead’s Well Walk Theatre and Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley. On the slate are The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Häxan and Der Golem. Expect the unexpected in a unique and transportingly old-world cinemagoing experience.

For a rather luxe version of a scary movie night, head to Art’otel Battersea’s rooftop restaurant Joia, which is screening some spook-tastic classics alongside dinner and skyline views either side of All Hallow’s Eve. Guests will enjoy a selection of the restaurant’s dishes for dinner from 5.30pm, before cosying up on sofas to enjoy one of four seasonal classics – Lost Boys, Ghostbusters, Scream or Hocus Pocus – with popcorn and a hot toddy. Blankets and hot water bottles will be on every seat to stave off the cold, and you’ll be able to purchase extra drinks and more popcorn if you still have room after dinner. Cosy and spooky in equal measure!

This is a free spooky Halloween film screening from Deptford Library Film Club, but with a catch... Visitors won’t know what horrors are in store for them, with the film of the evening remaining under wraps until the night itself. All the organisers have revealed is that they’ll be projecting a cult classic comedy-horror onto the big screen at Deptford Lounge, and it’s a 90’s gentrification satire from a legendary horror director not currently available on streaming. Can’t work it out? Look for clues on Lewisham libraries’ social media. Oh, and there’s free popcorn provided too. 

Standing proudly on St John’s Hill since 1900, the Clapham Grand is certainly old enough to be home to a ghost or two, so it’s a fitting place to enjoy some spooky antics in the form of a scary movie or two. As part of the venue’s epic Halloween programme, it’s hosting two OTT film screenings for spooky season, featuring costume competitions, dance offs, themed cocktails, creepy decor and one or two surprises. On Tuesday October 28 you can catch camp classic Hocus Pocus on the venue’s huge 25ft screen, while Halloween night itself sees the return of the Grand’s longstanding Rocky Horror Picture Show night, hosted by local drag star Miss Leigh Ding (doing her best Frank-N-Furter impression), with tickets including entry to the Grand’s massive post-show Halloween Party, where you can do the time warp ’til 3am. 

The night before Halloween proper, get down to Peckham Levels for three terrifying, spine-chilling, shocking hours of short films, brought to you by production company Three Shades Creative. Calm your nerves with a couple of drinks before the lights go down at 7pm. 

There are Vue cinemas in all four corners of London and together, they’re forming a pentangle of terrors this month. The blockbuster chain offers some of the best value for money tickets in the capital, so its retro-classic Halloween line-up is worth checking out. Some of the movies featured will be suitable for kids (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania, Ghostbusters) and some absolutely won’t (Terrifier 3, The Evil Dead 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Carrie).

Spectacular scares are the name of the game at Rooftop Film Club’s Halloween offering, which will be turning Peckham’s majestically appointed Bussey Building into a house of horrors (okay, roof of horrors). On the programme are everything from grown-up frighteners like Sinners, Get Out and Final Destination: Bloodlines; to more family-friendly fare like Monsters, Inc. and Hocus Pocus. Final Girl Fridays will deliver classic scream queens on a weekly basis, while Fireside screenings come with a personal wood-burning heater and hot chocolates. Tickets are £14 for adults and £8 for kids. Oh, and Rooftop Film Club is also hosting a witchy Halloween Party on November 1. Dress to distress!

With its crimson-shaded walls and art deco fittings, Covent Garden’s beguiling Garden Cinema feels like the kind of place you might reasonably expect to be home to a ghost or two, and an atmospheric place to see some horror classics this spooky season. This year’s Halloween programme features some real niche picks chosen by the community-minded venue’s members, including 1992 Edgar Allen Poe adaptation The Masque of the Red Death, Irish mythology-inspired 1982 thriller The Outcasts and 1971 folk horror The Blood on Satan’s Claw. There’ll also be a screening of Office Killer (1997) with Zodiac Film Club, two screenings of German New Wave hit Der Fan (1982) with Video Bazaar, and pay-what-you-can screenings of the gently spooky Mexican animation The Book of Life for families. We’d suggest arriving early and enjoying some liquid courage in the form of a cocktail from the lovely cinema bar.