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Spooktastic events are sweeping this city this weekend, with Halloween parties, screenings and walks aplenty to sink your teeth into. There's also a cute dog show, a gigantic food fair and Sunday Papers Live to enjoy! Perfect.
Things to do
Archives at Night: Victorian Crime, National Archives, TONIGHT, £14.40–£18. Delve into high profile Victorian criminal cases and find our more about the likes of Jack the Ripper, the Spanish swindle and the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Museum of the Order of St John, Fri-Sat, £14.99. Learn about the Order of St John, have a few drinks in the galleries, follow a Holy Grail Trail and visit the Norman Crypt before watching Monty Python's comedy classic in a beautiful and historical setting.
Halloween Flash Tattoos, Parlour Tattoo Studio, Sat, £31. Treat yourself to some spooky ink during Parlour Tattoo Studio's one-day flash sale. A select few designs will be available for just £31 (the normal hourly rate starts at £60) and walk-ins are welcomed.
Haunted House of Vans, House of Vans, Sat, free. Expect scary performances, grimy bass sounds of horror remixes courtesy of Metalheadz & Exit Records presenting Headz & Brains and a cinema streaming all night horror classics.
From The Grave Halloween Party, Pop Brixton, Sat, from £3. A Halloween celebration and tribute to the best musical acts no longer with us, with live acts and DJs providing the beats.
Hiverween, Stanworth Street, Sat, £7. Carve pumpkins and make beeswax candles at this day time party with Hiver Beers. There will also be the Bermondsey Conker Championships to watch and delicious beer to be drunk.
The Night Museum, Museum of London, Sat-Sun, free. The Museum of London comes over all nocturnal with a week of evening events that are a tribute to London's club culture.
Murder Mile Walks, various, Sun, £15. You get a generous dose of death on lots of London walking tours thanks to our rich history of plague, fire, beheadings and general brutality, but for number of deaths per metre you won't beat Murder Mile Walks.
All Dogs Matter Halloween Dog Walk and Show, Spaniards Inn, Sun, £5 per dog. You might need to trick and/or treat your dog to get them into a Halloween costume, but those whose pups don't mind fancy dress may be well rewarded following this charity walk in aid of All Dogs Matter.
Sunday Papers Live, Cecil Sharp House, Sun, £35. A personification of our weekend reading material with talks, walks, workshops and armchairs. Sunday roasts will be available, but BYO slippers.
…or check out more events happening in London this weekend.
The Epicurean
Eating and drinking
The Georgian Gin Palace, Fulham Palace, TONIGHT, £8. Spirited gin favourites Sipsmith will be hosting the gin tastings and the Royal College of Music will provide the soundtrack at these journeys through beautiful Fulham Palace's Georgian history.
The Epicurean, Old Truman Brewery, Fri-Sat, from £12.50. Feast your eyes and bellies on over 1000 food and drink products at this two-day celebration of artisan fare.
The Glam Clam, Clapton Country Club, Fri-Sat, £45. Ever-fabulous pop-up restaurant The Glam Clam present this party themed around the Rocky Horror Show for two nights this Halloween.
Urban Food Fest, Halloween Special, Euro Car Parks, Sat, free. Saturday promises a ghoulish fiesta will global street food with a twist Think ‘blood thirsty’ German bratwurst sausages, ‘ghost’s venom’ Greek souvlaki with gyros crispy pork and ‘vampire struck’ Canadian vegan poutine with tofu and crispy fries.
Raising the Funking Bar Presents: Halloween Resurrection, The Wild Card Brewery, Sat, free. Head to Wild Card Brewery for a Halloween showdown featuring international DJs and plenty of delicious amber suds pouring forth throughout the night.
Come Die With Me Party, Randy's Wing Bar, Sat. If you're after treats instead of tricks this Halloween, then head to Hackney Wick where Randy's Wing Bar have teamed up with World of Zing.
…or check out the latest restaurant reviews.
© Edward Bishop
Live music
Ben Watt, Union Chapel, TONIGHT, £20. Formerly one half of Everything But The Girl, Watt returns tonight as a solo artist to perform perfectly-crafted, downbeat pop songs from 'Hendra' – his first solo album in 31 years.
Mirrors, various locations, Sat, adv £30. A cast of cool indie acts hit several venues in Hackney for the second year of this autumn festival.
PJ Harvey, O2 Academy Brixton, Sun, £40. Polly Jean Harvey returns to the stage following her stonking album ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’, leading her seasoned nine-piece band through songs new and old.
Wooden Shjips, Scala, Sun, adv £14.50. If you're into reverb-drenched, droning guitars and heavy motorik drive, you can't do much better than this.
…or take a look at all the live music events in London this weekend.
Nightlife
'Stranger Things'-Themed Halloween Party, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, Sat, £5. Join Nightcall for a Halloween party with a bang up to date theme. In a secret den decked with Christmas lights, grab a Stranger Sour cocktail and get down to synthpop.
Twisted Circus, Rumpus Room, Sat, from £50. Get set for sky-high spooking at this Halloween night above the capital. A big top will be erected in Mondrian London's Rumpus Room and scandalous performances will be taking place throughout the night.
Do Dat Den! Halloween Special, The Castle, Sat. Where better to spend Halloween than underground in an end of London that Jack The Ripper once stalked?
Night Slugs, Village Underground, Sat, £10-£15. L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok's bassy, future-funkist Night Slugs label has become one of the most recognised and respected names on the underground, so a showcase from them is always welcome.
…or see all the parties planned this weekend.
Film
Out at Clapham Halloween Special: ‘The Witches’, Clapham Picturehouse, TONIGHT, £10.50, £9.50 concs. Here’s a welcome screening of Nicolas Roeg’s subversive take on Roald Dahl’s novel.
Classic Horror All-Nighter, Prince Charles Cinema, Sat, £20. There’s unlikely to be a film here you haven’t seen, but there’s not a bad apple in the bunch – and besides, they’re a whole new level of scary on the big screen.
£1 Cinema Club Halloween Special and Movie Ball, Clapham Grand, Sat, £1, £10 for Ball after 10pm. Watch 'Scary Movie' for a quid, don the best fancy dress you have and hop into a photo booth to get snap happy this Halloween.
Film Africa: ‘The Revolution Won’t Be Televised’, Ritzy Picturehouse, Sun, £13.50, £12.50 concs. As its name suggests, the annual Film Africa festival showcases films from, well, Africa – the best new features, shorts and docs, plus talks and workshops too.
London East Asia Film Festival: ‘I’m a Cyborg’, Hackney Picturehouse, Sun, £12.50, £11.50 concs. Like Film Africa, the London East Asia Film Festival does as its name promises: brings great films from across East Asia to London.
Or at the cinema...
Doctor Strange ★★★☆☆ Benedict Cumberbatch is an arrogant super-surgeon in Marvel’s weirdest and wackiest movie ever.
Boyz N the Hood ★★★☆☆ One of the great films about black American life returns to cinemas.
…or see all of the latest releases.
© Richard Lakos
Theatre
Harrogate, Royal Court Theatre, Fri-Sat, £15-£20. Nigel Lindsay stars in playwright Al Smith's disturbing debut play.
A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, National Theatre, Fri-Sat, £15-£45. A new musical about cancer from performance artist Bryony Kimmings.
A Man of Good Hope, Young Vic, Fri-Sat, £10-£35. A heartbreaking opera set in a South African township.
…or see our theatre critics’ choices.
This week's best new art
Laura Owens, Sadie Coles Kingly St, Fri-Sat, free. You might describe American painter Laura Owens as the artistic equivalent of a DJ. Across her canvases she samples, mixes, chops and drops a near-infinite number of images, processes and styles with thrilling improvisation.
Bruce Nauman: Natural Light, Blue Light Room, Blainsouthern, Fri-Sat, free. For this piece (first made in 1971), all he needed was an empty room and some light. It follows a conceptual path that Yves Klein laid when he filled a gallery with naff-all back in 1958, and in its own quiet, simple way, it’s a pretty great work of art.
Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery, all weekend, £14. This show puts a handful of Caravaggio works in relation to a whole bunch of paintings by his friends, followers and imitators.
…or see all London art reviews.
And finally
Win... a holiday to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida or a weekend break for two to Belfast
Grab... 30% off tickets to a unique, adult-only sleepover at the Science Museum
Book… these gigs while you still can
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