It’s not just children who love being scared senseless and get overly excited about splattering on fake blood and pulling their best zombie faces you know. Here are some spooky ideas for big kids who can’t resist the lurid lure of 31 October.

A warm welcome from Deadly David and Madame Noir

Get bumps in the night in Brixham

From 30 October to 1 November you can join Deadly David, Matilda Balm, Madame Noir and Treacherous Tracy (they sound like a nice bunch) for a journey into Brixham’s darker side in what is reputed to be one of Britain’s most haunted places on the Original Brixham Ghost Walk.

So what do you do, mate?

Head to Derby, the dead centre of England

This man is a rat catcher. Throughout the year you can come and meet him in a very old tunnel under a haunted old coach house in Derby – known as the most haunted city in Britain. While you’re in town visiting the rat catcher (as part of a fascinating and terrifying ghost walk) you can also spend the night pretending to be brave doing a vigil in Derby Gaol.

Some men wear toupees, other’s ethereal entities from another realm

Discover the peculiar Preston Manor in Brighton

Many people claim that Preston Manor in Brighton could be one of the most haunted houses in the UK. I’m not going to argue. You can do a ghost tour and even take part in an overnight investigation if you want to argue about it, but like I say, I’m not going to.

“Just doing some nice little doodles.”

Explore a Victorian ghost town in Shropshire

Ghostly Gaslight will be emanating throughout the Victorian Village of Blists Hill on 29 October. As the Victorian street lamps cast strange eerie shadows across the old cobbled streets, you can wander around the quaint shops, work places and cottages with your heart pounding away in your throat.

…Why’s he stopped?

Creep around an old prison in Oxford

A place of incarceration since 1071 until HM Prison closed in 1996, this place has seen its fair share of history – and not all of it entirely pleasant. Oxford Castle Unlocked offers tours back in time to discover some of the gruesome and enthralling tales that have taken place within the walls – walls which may seem to start to seem like they’re closing in on you.

Take a seat at Combermere Abbey

Doff your hat to gentlemanly ghouls in Cheshire

Combermere Abbey has been about for almost 900 years and guess what? It’s haunted. This photo reputedly shows Viscount Combermere, or rather the ghost of Viscount Combermere. You can come and find out all about him and the many other souls that have (and maybe do) called this enchanting place home on Halloween.