6 Spookiest Halloween Events Around The Globe

An homage to the opening scene of the 1998 cult horror film Blade, the famous annual Blood Rave event pours gallons of fake (read: from an unknown source) blood over the heads of hundreds of Amsterdam party-goers. The location is always kept a secret until right before the event, so follow the facebook event to be one of the lucky few in-the-know!

For nearly three decades en counting, fans of the cult classic Vampire Lestat, penned by Anne Rice, gather the Friday before Halloween for New Orlean’s annual Garden of Love and Evil Ball, a grand celebration apart of the four-day UnDead Con event. Guest last year included The Vampire Chronicles author, and patrons can purchase a variety of spooky goods at the aptly named Bizarre Bazaar.

Whether you’d like to stalk your favorite East Coast Instagram dog or simply gawk at the variety of canine costumes, anyone can attend the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York’s bar-centric East Village. Watch as hundreds of pups of all shapes and sizes compete for thousands of dollars in prizes, and snap some of the best Instagrams in town! Plus, the event takes place the weekend before Halloween, giving New York City dwellers the chance to head to one of the biggest Halloween parades in the U.S. (featured on the next slide…)

Established in 1974, the historic West Village Halloween Parade plays an important role in the cultural history of lower Manhattan. While the public parade is welcome to all, costumes are most definitely required. From rave-tastic party floats to spooky performances and oversized paper-mache puppetry, the mile-long parade includes all the same pizazz you can expect from a New York City parade plus a healthy dose of the bizarre.

Have you ever wanted to dress up in your favorite costume and hang out with elephants and giraffes? Thanks to the Night of the Living Zoo event at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo, now you can! Expect adult-only costume contests, live music, and sideshow performances that involved a heavy dose of magic tricks, stilts, fire breathing, contortion, and more.

Every Halloween, approximately half a million people flock to Santa Monica Boulevard for the West Hollywood Carnaval. The street party is filled with 50+ music acts, contests, spooky performances, and boozy drink specials that can please anyone in town. Plus, every year, A-listers like Queen Latifah and Rihanna are crowned Halloween royalty for all to see!