Treat yourself to Halloween in Sydney
By Jay Chabon
Tossing on a bed sheet with holes for eyes and ambling down your street for the neighbours’ expired Fantales is one way to spend Halloween but there are plenty of other ways to get in the spirit too.
Whether you’re into Halloween for the laughs, the screams or the parties, Sydney’s Halloween scene is thriving with everything from ghost tours to cruise parties to fun park frivolity.
It all amounts to a great night out when you stay at Song Hotels — and here are four freaky events to mark on your Halloween calendar.
Fearaphobia
Australia’s only dedicated “scream park”, Fearaphobia, has 100 actors caked in gory makeup and horror costumes stalking the park grounds to creep out its hapless visitors with perfectly timed jumpscares.
In its third-year, the epic-scale Halloween event takes place at Hawkesbury Showground between October 18-27 (on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights) and it’s a good idea to bring your wits.
As you explore the grounds, you’ll encounter a number of destinations that will test your nerve. The Crypt is a lights-out sensory experience that puts you in the dark with nightmarish malevolence; the Killing Field is a maze with hay and creeps harking back to 80s horror Children of the Corn; the Doll Factory houses an unhinged doll maker and a cast of dolls that you definitely don’t want in your bedroom.
Showtime Amusements, the brains behind Fearaphobia, has 30 years’ experience in the scare racket, meaning they know how to farm the right ghouls to elicit the right reaction in you.
Link: https://www.fearaphobia.com.au
Q Station
It’s a good time to be in the ghost tourism business when Halloween rolls around.
Accordingly, Q Station, one of the best-known ghost tour destinations in Sydney, is hosting specially-formatted Halloween ghost tours this year from 6:30pm Friday October 26-Wednesday October 31st.
Q Station, with its dark history of death and disease (it’s the burial site for hundreds who perished from the likes of bubonic plague, scarlet fever and measles), is widely considered by paranormal believers to be one of the most haunted destinations in Australia today.
For Halloween, you can choose between the more family-friendly ‘Scream Night Out’, the adrenal ‘Extreme Scream’ or ‘Ghostly Encounters’, which taps into the psyche of the quarantine station today, following its tragic history.
Whether you preference is spend Halloween dressed as a werewolf, witch or ghost, costume is encouraged for extra ambience as you follow your guide around Q Station’s darkest corners.
Link: www.qstation.com.au/halloween
Halloween Cruise XII
The thing with a haunted house on water is that there’s no escape. That sounds like it could sound an alarm for some but it’s doing nothing to diminish demand for Sydney Harbour Bookings’ Halloween Cruises.
This year, which marks the 12th consecutive cruise, the three-level vessel will feature a DJ, dance floor and deck that gazes out to the landmarks that form the backdrop of Sydney Harbour.
With best-dressed prizes up for grabs, finger food and an indefatigable cash-bar that’s set to hum with Halloween-minded specialty cocktails and magic potions, delectably monstrous behaviour is sure to abound.
There’s a free pit stop at Retro nightclub to add to the merriment too.
Link: http://www.sydneyharbourbookings.com.au
Halloscream
As if some of the rides here aren’t already stomach-turning enough, Luna Park is dialling it up a notch for its sixth instalment of ‘Halloscream’.
For five nights over the Halloween period, the popular amusement park switches into a nocturnal wonderland of eerie carnie weirdness.
Your ticket will give you unlimited access to the regular rides plus a spot with a number of Halloween-themed attractions including ‘Private Screaming 3′, ‘Alien Crash Landing’, ‘Ward 13′ and ‘Maniac in the Box’.
Many other spectacles and performances will be happening onsite too to keep Halloween front and centre.