When is Halloween 2025? Mark your calendars: Halloween happens on October 31. This year, the holiday continues its centuries-old evolution, blending traditional rituals with groundbreaking modern trends.
We explore the hottest costumes, essential London events, and the terrifying new films that guarantee you a spooky October.
The Future of Fright: Eco-Conscious and Tech-Enhanced Celebrations
Halloween 2025 emphasises both sustainability and immersion, reflecting society’s focus on environmental consciousness and technological advancements.
Sustainability holds major focus this year
Households and businesses widely adopt eco-conscious decorations, selecting items like reusable banners, compostable confetti, and biodegradable pumpkins. The trend toward a “green Halloween” encourages people to reduce waste and celebrate responsibly.
DIY costumes made from recycled fabrics and thrift store finds, minimising environmental impact while still expressing unique style.
Dr Sam Hubble, Behaviour Change Specialist, WRAP “Don’t let your pumpkin’s potential go to waste—scoop it, cook it, and eat it! Whether it’s a spooky soup or a ghoulishly good cake, there’s magic in every bite. Let’s make Halloween a treat for the planet, and our tastebuds.”
WRAP’s tips for a sustainable Halloween:
- According to WRAP’s “How to have a Spooky and Sustainable Halloween” guidance, avoid cheap plastic masks and single-use decorations; instead choose face-paint alternatives and reusable or natural decorations.
- WRAP recommends using real pumpkins (which can be eaten or composted) rather than plastic pumpkin props that end up in landfill.
- Costume reuse or hire is encouraged: WRAP suggests making costumes from recyclable or old items and renting rather than buying brand-new.
- For sweets packaging, WRAP’s #RecycleNow campaign notes that while many sweet wrappers cannot be collected at household recycling, supermarkets often provide drop-off points for flexible plastics — so filling a bag and dropping it off helps.
In short, by aligning with WRAP’s guidance you can celebrate in fun, spooky style and stay mindful of resource use and waste.
Technology actively reshapes how we experience fear. Augmented Reality (AR) haunted houses, Virtual Reality (VR) escape rooms, and interactive apps deliver immersive experiences for all ages.
Homes transform into cinematic haunted spaces using projection mapping, smart lighting, and motion-activated sound effects, creating shareable and memorable setups.
Defining the Decades: Top Costume Trends of 2025
@cbrizzyyy Getting into character My Elphaba costume from Wicked! Super easy and simple!!! ✨ #Elphaba #WickedMusical #HalloweenCostume #Wicked #WickedInspired #easyhalloweencostume #halloween2025 ♬ оригинальный звук – tenly
Pop culture, nostalgia, and streaming hits drive the costume scene in 2025.
Costumes inspired by blockbuster films and trending series will dominate Halloween this year. You will certainly see Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked everywhere; the iconic duo makes a perfect costume pairing for best friends or sisters.
Buzz around the characters intensifies as Wicked: For Good, Part Two of the film, premieres in late November.
The highly anticipated second season of Wednesday inspires large numbers of costumes. Episodes released in August and September guarantee that characters from The Addams Family will appear across couples, families, and solo trick-or-treaters.
@darcyelliss Easy Halloween costume idea| Pt.3 ~ Wednesday Addams♀️ #halloween #autumn #wednesdayaddams #halloweencostume #fashion #halloweencostumeideas #fyp #lastminutecostume #outfitinspo ♬ The Dead Dance – Lady Gaga
For example, recreating Wednesday’s look requires a black dress with a white collar or a striped blazer, black skirt, and two braids.
K-Pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey from K-Pop Demon Hunters (HUNTR/X) prove immensely popular, particularly among tweens and younger adults.
This widespread TV show guarantees many trick-or-treaters dressed as the K-pop demon hunting characters.
Resurrected favourites enjoy high visibility thanks to recent remakes. The live-action version of Lilo & Stitch, released in May, fuels excitement among children and high nostalgia among older Millennials and Gen-Zers, making it a major duo or solo costume trend.
Film villains always impress, and the biggest horror film of the year provides a standout character.
Aunt Gladys from Weapons, the film’s villain, makes for an iconic costume. Recreate her look using a ginger hair wig, thick tinted glasses, plenty of red lipstick, and bright outfits like hot pink clothes with large jewelry and a flower pin.
Finally, nostalgia plays a substantial role. People actively revive retro pop culture icons, classic monsters, and 1980s–1990s outfits.
We also see a growing trend involving classic children’s book characters, expected to replace group costumes of Disney princesses.
Potential looks include Camilla Cream from A Bad Case of the Stripes or the mouse from If You Gave a Mouse a Cookie.
What are the best Halloween events in London?
London offers a thrilling lineup of seasonal activities and pop-up events spanning from October 24 to October 31, 2025.
Iconic London Takeovers & Trails
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter transforms for the season with its Dark Arts takeover.
The film studios become a Halloween playground featuring dramatic smoke effects, floating pumpkins, and chilling characters, giving you the chance to take on Voldemort’s Death Eaters.
For an outdoor experience, explore the spine-chilling illuminated trail at Halloween at Kew. This 1.5km adventure through the Unesco-protected site allows visitors to encounter live fire artists, eye-popping illuminations, and a forgotten fairground. (This event runs October 17 to November 2).
West End Frights and Festive Fun
Book tickets to London’s celebrated West End shows for a captivating theatrical Halloween. Wicked the Musical offers an unforgettable experience, showcasing stunning set design, showstopping costumes, and the story of Glinda and Elphaba.
For unique social experiences, the Iconic Silent Disco at London Transport Museum invites guests to dance between vintage buses and historic trains in Covent Garden on October 31.
If you prefer a cinematic scare, the Rooftop Film Club secures fireside seats for a screening of the 1978 hit film Halloween at Peckham’s rooftop on October 31.
Spooky Tours and Ghostly Sightseeing
You can celebrate Halloween in style onboard a spooky afternoon tea bus tour. These tours feature Halloween-themed songs and sweet treats while taking you past top London sights such as Big Ben and Tower Bridge. These scenic tours often pass landmarks including the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral.
London offers terrifying options for seeking out spirits.
- The London Ghost Bus Tour takes you through the city on a ghoulishly made-over Routemaster, spotting legendary landmarks and hearing spooky tales.
- The Cloak and Dagger Tour provides an immersive, gruesome play-meets-walking tour through south London, where professional actors recreate grisly historical events.
- Book your spot on a Jack the Ripper Walking Tour to retrace the infamous murderer’s footsteps through east London’s sinister alleys, sifting through evidence and theories.
What to Watch: New Horror Films & Streaming Picks
October is the essential month for catching up on the most terrifying, grotesque, and scary films of 2025.
The Best New Horror Films of 2025
Sinners
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan build a hushed, creeping vampire tale set against the Jim Crow South, where nightfall feels like a curfew and community bonds are the last defence.
The film favours mood over jump scares, letting quiet conversations and choral set pieces carry the dread until the violence finally breaks through.
It is stylish, unsettling, and confident enough to take its time. (Streaming on HBO Max.)
Weapons
Zach Cregger returns with a jigsaw of a horror thriller that keeps shifting under your feet. After seventeen children vanish, the town’s panic curdles into suspicion, and the film keeps circling back with new angles until the picture turns sharp.
Julia Garner and Josh Brolin anchor the chaos with clipped, nervy performances, and the final reveal lands with a thud you feel in your stomach. (Streaming on Prime Video.)
Together
Michael Shanks’ debut is a couples drama that mutates into body horror, asking what gets swallowed when two people refuse to let go.
Dave Franco and Alison Brie play it straight and bruised as a married pair whose devotion becomes a physical problem after an encounter in a woodland ritual site. It is queasy, oddly tender, and full of images you will wish you could unsee. (Streaming on Prime Video.)
Clown in a Cornfield
Eli Craig tips his cap to slashers and then races off in his own direction. New girl Quinn lands in a small town that treats tradition like scripture, right up until the mascot starts carving through the faithful.
The film balances grim laughs with mean streak kills, using Frendo’s grin as a promise that things will only get messier. (Streaming on AMC+ and Shudder.)
The Monkey
Osgood Perkins adapts Stephen King with a deadpan sense of humour and a nasty little metronome of fate. Theo James plays a son who inherits a clockwork toy that seems to toll for the living, each drumbeat followed by fresh disaster.
The gag is simple, the atmosphere thick, and the payoff gleefully cruel. (Streaming on Hulu.)
Grab the Candy and Hit Play: Streaming Scary Movies
Netflix
Lean into psychological pressure cookers this month. Try Don’t Move (2024), a claustrophobic survival thriller about a paralysed woman outwitting an intruder.
Until Dawn (2025) blends survival thrills with tongue-in-cheek scares. Add Apostle (2018) for folk-horror dread and Run Rabbit Run (2024) for a slow build on motherhood and identity.
Hulu
A mix of supernatural chills and retro TV chaos. Queue Late Night with the Devil (2023), which splices demonic possession with 1970s talk show mayhem. Follow with the unpredictable Barbarian (2022), then reset with the tight period action of Prey (2022).
Prime Video
For modern nightmares and polished throwbacks. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) remains an unforgettable found-footage descent. Pair it with Suspiria (2018), a stylish reimagining, and The Black Phone (2022), where Ethan Hawke’s masked kidnapper turns every ring into a spike of dread.
Max
Prestige terror with cinematic bite. Companion (2025) is one of the year’s most talked-about indies. Add the gleefully nasty Evil Dead Rise (2023) and the brand-new Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) for elaborate set pieces and pure anxiety.
Disney+
Family-friendly frights for cosy nights in. Revisit Halloweentown (1998), enjoy the musical comedy Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021), and bring back cult favourite Mr. Boogedy (1986).
Need inspiration for your streaming session? Check out Neon Music’s guide to the 22 Scariest Movies on Disney Plus Right Now.)
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