The biggest Greek Halloween party in London this year lands on Saturday 31 October at the Elysée rooftop in Fitzrovia, and the rest of the city is dressing up around it: a fire trail at Kew, a horror village in a Victorian mansion in Greenwich, free spooky days for kids in Hyde Park and the fullest Greek music week of the autumn.
Halloween may look like an American import, but Greeks got there first. At the Athenian Anthesteria the dead were believed to walk the city for a day: people chewed buckthorn, smeared their doors with pitch and ended the festival by shouting the spirits out. Add the Psychosavvata with their kollyva and a Greek Halloween party in London makes complete sense.
We went through the Halloween guide on Londonist and the new openings on Secret London, kept what is worth the Tube fare and added a Greek stop next to each, all Greek List members.
Saturday 31 October, 22:30 to 03:30, on the rooftop of the Elysée at 13 Percy Street. On the decks are DJ Avgoustinos and Akamood, so expect Greek hits, the odd spooky remix and the Greek List parea in costume. The Elysée has been on Percy Street since 1936, so the building has had ninety years to collect its own ghosts. Last year the room was full.
If you only do one Greek Halloween party in London, make it this one: grab your ticket for the Greek List Halloween Party before it sells out.
Getting there: Tottenham Court Road or Goodge Street, both about five minutes on foot.
Greek stop nearby: Elysée on Percy Street, Fitzrovia, is also where you eat before the party: Greek and Cypriot classics downstairs, then up to the rooftop.
From 16 October to 1 November Kew stays open after sunset for a trail through a fire garden and a stretch of illuminated woodland dressed as a haunted forest. Less jump scare, more atmosphere, so it works for a date or for children who do not want to be chased by a clown. Book a time slot, the weekend sessions go first.
Getting there: Kew Gardens station (District line and Overground), then a short walk to Victoria Gate.
The big new arrival of the season. The Nightmare Realm spent seventeen years scaring Ireland and has moved into the Grade II listed Avery Hill mansion for eighteen nights, 9 October to 1 November: more than seventy live performers, two cinematic horror routes and a Halloween Town where stories play out around you while you queue. Twice named the best scream park in Europe, so this one is for people who want to be frightened.
Getting there: Falconwood or New Eltham (Southeastern from London Bridge), then ten to fifteen minutes on foot.
The Royal Parks run a free discovery day in Hyde Park from 27 to 29 October: a nature trail, feely boxes, spooky stories and fancy dress encouraged. It falls in half term, costs nothing and the park is at its best in late October. With little ones, it is the easiest Halloween outing in town.
Getting there: Lancaster Gate (Central line) for the north side of the park.
Greek stop nearby: Halepi on Leinster Terrace, two minutes from Lancaster Gate, run by the Kazolides family since 1966 and an easy place to sit down with children after the park.
The last week of October is stacked. Sunday 25 October, Alexandros Tsouvelas brings his new stand-up show to the Troxy in Limehouse. Friday 30 October, Hovig plays his first London show at Faces in Ilford with Elena Papapanagiotou, while Ypogeia Revmata take over Bush Hall for a poetry and music night at the GRis Festival. Saturday 31 October, the Greek Halloween party in London closes the week on the Elysée rooftop. Ticket links on Greek List events.
Not everyone wants a club. If you are hosting at home or booking a hall for the kids, the Greek answer to party food is souvlaki, pittes and a table of mezze, which beats sausage rolls every time. Add a few pumpkins and a playlist and you have a Greek Halloween party in London your English neighbours will talk about until Christmas.
Greek stop nearby: The Greek Way is a Greek catering and souvlaki pop-up team from Orpington that comes to you fully equipped, with souvlaki wraps, mezze and vegan and gluten free options for private parties and office dos.
And because 31 October is followed by a week of sweets: Dental Love is a Greek dental practice at 1 King William Street, a minute from Bank, from a clean to implants and Invisalign, in Greek. Book the November check up now and the trick or treat haul is guilt free.
Greek stop nearby: Dental Love on King William Street, City of London, Greek dentists at Bank for the post-Halloween check up.
The Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street runs a 45 minute ghost story session on 29 October for ages seven and up. The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden hosts an adults only silent disco among the old buses on 31 October. And the Warner Bros Studio Tour keeps its Dark Arts makeover until 8 November.
Greek stop nearby: Nostimo at 9 Brunswick Centre, three minutes from the Dickens Museum, for a proper Greek dinner before the ghost stories.
The next ten days are busy too. From the Greek List events page, the most complete list of Greek events in the UK:
Running a Greek night or a talk? Listing an event on Greek List is free.
The Elysée, Halepi, Nostimo, The Greek Way and Dental Love are all Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google. Want your business in the next guide?
Know a Halloween event we missed? Tell everyone in the Facebook group Ellines sto Londino.
