Storefront City

In addition to the many haunted attractions we attended this Halloween season, we also let our hair down for a few nights and attended some of London’s most unique Halloween parties. Obviously there were dozens upon dozens of events this year, but here are our thoughts on a few to get some ideas on what to visit next season, as we’re sure they’ll return with a vengeance in 2020!

WHAT: Halloween Ball at the Mansion
WHEN: 26 October, 2019 (9:00pm – 4:00am)
WHERE: Loft Studios
PRICE: £24-150

OUR RATING: Chance It!

Perhaps the most chic event we attended, the Halloween Ball was definitely a very artsy and multi-layered event. Guests did not take the fancy dress requirement lightly – we saw the best costumes this year here and literally every single patron put at least a bit of work into them, which made it a great participative event.

The most memorable aspect of this event was the macabre art exhibition by Y. Wildi, with amazing handcrafted skeletons around the rooms in a creepy and beautiful setup. We also enjoyed the free tarot reader, a photobooth and some yummy food, including the all-essential candy floss. We were also super thankful that there were three different dance floors so that we could select which ones fit our fancy: pop/mainstream, electro and Latino. The electro was even visited by sax player Tolik and djembe player Paolo Forcellati – some really great music!

There were, however, quite a few letdowns at this event. The marketing promised fire shows, cage dancers, a Beelzebuth walking performance and a real backyard graveyard, none of which we saw no matter how many trips we took walking around the entire event space to find them. Admittedly, we didn’t stay the entire night, but after staying for four hours one would think we’d see at least some of the elements we were promised. Overall, however, it was something we’d go to again if some of these elements were better incorporated into next year’s event.

WHAT: Carnivale: The Dark and the Damned
WHEN: 31 October – 2 November, 2019
WHERE: Bunker 51 (3 Herringham Road, Greenwich Peninsula, London, SE7 8NJ)
PRICE: £5-30

OUR RATING: Chance It!

There were so many options for events to attend on Halloween itself, but, in the end, we chose an event that was a bit more local to us, had the perfect carnival theme and, most importantly, promised two scare mazes as part of the entertainment! We couldn’t resist.

The large underground nuclear bunker where this event was hosted was really an amazing space – we’d love to produce something there ourselves! The space was very fun, allowing guests to wander through a series of small carnival games, such as basket toss, hook a duck and Zolda – these came at a small extra fee, but if you won you got a drink ticket, so very worth it for the prizes and fun of it all. The best part of the event, hands down, were the mazes, which completely went above and beyond our expectations. The first maze, Freakshow, took us up and down and all around through the lost souls of the carnival, requiring us to crawl, climb, and squeeze our way out through the natural architecture of the bunker’s smaller spaces. Send in the Clowns was an amazing amount of fun and used a ton of gimmicks we hadn’t even seen in any of the professional mazes we attended prior to this. Unforgettable moments included a crazy clown on a zip wire, a balloon room, and even a slide!

However, there were a few aspects we weren’t too happy about this night – the event opened almost an hour late and the music was not very good whatsoever (and with only one dance floor we couldn’t explore any other options). This may not have been the best choice to celebrate Halloween night itself, but if Apocalypse Events put their heads into a more professional maze attraction we would definitely be first in the queue!

WHAT: Twisted Circus Halloween Festival
WHEN: 1 November, 2019 (10:30pm – 3:00am)
WHERE: The Clapham Grand (21-25, The Clapham Grand, St John’s Hill, London, SW11 1TT)

OUR RATING: Skip It!

Twisted Circus returned for its sixth year with death-defying acts, crazy characters and a raveyard dance floor. We attended this party after another event at The Clapham Grand so were able to stick around to witness this sold-out happening. Loyal readers to SFC might know that we aren’t the most keen guests for ‘twisted’ acts such as sword swallowing, wax pouring, and body stapling – all which were front and centre at this event. The performers were really into their acts and involved with the guests, which we definitely appreciated. We also enjoyed some (but not most) of the music, especially the remixes of popular scary songs, fun circus snacks, and a really sweet clown stilt walker.

Ultimately, however, we felt really let down by the event, having thought that the acts would be a bit more immersed in the event itself. Worst of all, the MC was absolutely atrocious, constantly making terrible rapping attempts and, worst yet, horribly sexist and inappropriate comments about all of the female circus performers. We finally got sick of all the disgusting and unnecessary harassing commentary and dreadful MC-ing and left the party early. We’d go back to The Grand, but not for this event!

Final Thoughts: There were so many options for Halloween parties this year, and to be honest, we’ll probably try a completely different batch next year. However, we’ll definitely keep a look out at all events hosted by The Mansion, Apocalypse Events, and The Clapham Grand, because while none of the events were perfect, we did enjoy ourselves a bit at each, and we’d like to see what they have in store next!

P.S.: We actually attended The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Clapham Grand the same night as the Twisted Circus party, so stay tuned for that review coming soon!