Last Updated on 28 October 2025 by Colette
I often think anything old and historic has got the upper hand when it comes to Halloween. Long, drafty corridors, eerie forgotten chambers and dark corners resonating with whispers from conversations held hundreds of years ago. Hampton Court palace, the favoured home of Henry VIII, certainly has its fair share of stories to tell and this Halloween you can learn all about them at its special Halloween event.
As well as being able to see the the parts of the palace from the Tudor and Georgian periods (I can’t not chant “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” as I wander round the Tudor section) the palace has been bedecked with spooky offerings, all with a historical theme.
The installations are spread across the palace and gardens and are a mixture of clever video projections, animatronics and light installations. Before each installation it gives you sensory warnings (such as strobe light usage) and a scare rating. You can avoid sections if you wish – there’s plenty of routes round the palace. I’d say these are very much spooky rather than scary, so suitable for all ages – even if the spider room with the spiders crawling down the walls is the stuff of my personal nightmares!
My favourite things were the deathly characters roaming around. We saw 5 of the ten: Millicent Aylesbury, Ernest Shackleton, John Dee, Charles I and the Suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh. I was annoyed to not find Queen Victoria but I was getting hangry so we went to the coffee shop for a snack.
I also enjoyed the gardens, which were still in full bloom after the glorious summer we had in London. All in all, a lovely few hours was had! (I go there very regularly, so don’t tend to spend as long there. If you’ve never been before you would probably need 4-5 hours at least, including a stop for coffee and cake!)
Visiting the Palaces is not a cheap day out: the ticket prices are on the steep side (£28 adult, £14 children 5-15), but for that price you do get the warm, fuzzy glow of knowing you’re investing in maintaining these beautiful structures for the future as well as having a fun day out. If you think you’d be able to visit another palace over the course of a year, I’d recommend a membership. After the first visit, the membership roughly pays for itself. You can find out more here: Historic Royal Palaces Membership.
Check out our ultimate guide to Halloween here for more details on Halloween days out!
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