Turn Up the Scare Factor in Eastbourne this Halloween!

There is plenty of spine-tingling fun to be had in and around Eastbourne this Halloween. There's big scares and little scares for both big and little people, so read on to discover just some of the eerie events to head to the South East Coast for this October!

Drusillas Park Shriek Week

The interactive children's Halloween Trail at the Redoubt Fortress starting on 23 October through to 1 November, will have your little horrors exploring the spooky 200 year old building, opening creaky trap doors, watching out for ghosts and ghouls along the way and receiving a fang-tastic sweet treat at the end of the trail! Your little ones can also get their hands mucky, getting creative and making spiders, witches hats, friendly ghosts and lots more in the arts and crafts corner!

Twilight Tours at Redoubt Fortress

The chill factor is turned up at the Redoubt Fortress when torch lit guided Twilight Tours of the grounds and museum take place every Friday and Saturday throughout October. Friday nights are far more frightening so are for adults and teenagers only. However, slightly tamer tours on Saturday evenings make it a suitable event for families with young children. 

Be prepared to be scared when your tour guide talks of the ghostly sightings, appearances of mysterious objects and gruesome tales from the Napoleonic years when the Redoubt was used as an encampment for up to 350 men fighting in bloody battles! With many creepy corridors and terrifying tunnels the Twilight Tours are sure to have you covering your eyes!

A Nightmare of Elm Street Redoubt Fortress Film Screening

There are no Twilight Tours on Halloween itself, as the Redoubt turns into a cinema on 31 October, showing the classic 1984 horror A Nightmare on Elm Street! With the film screening taking place in Casemate 20 of the fortress, the cinema experience will be made complete with cinema confectionery in the Outpost Café; what a perfectly spooky way to spend Halloween night! 

Drusillas Park Shriek Week

Drusillas Park Shreik Week has Halloween fun sorted from 24 October until 1 November. Spooky surprises and eerie goings on are around every corner at the park's Haunted Heights! Towner Art Gallery has plenty of Halloween activity all through the half term, from arts and crafts at Spooky Windows and Drawing in the Dark to Haunting Hallowe’en Shadow Show and a late night opening for Tricks’n’treats family fun.

Bateman's, a 17th Century house, are running a Spooky Halloween Trail from 23 October to 2 November which children will love to follow, and on 30 October adults can enjoy a two course dinner, explore the mansion by night and listen to goose bump raising tales at the Halloween Spooky Supper! 

Little Shop of Horrors, Halloween Film Party Fest at Royal Hippodrome

The Royal Hippodrome Theatre has Halloween movie amusement at the ready on 31 October with it's Halloween Film Party Fest, showing family friendly films, Little Shop of Horrors at 8.30pm and Mars Attacks at 11.30pm!

Wyntercon festival at the Winter Garden offers a bewildering array of attractions and events for those with interests in science-fiction, comics, classic horror and anything a little out of this world, from 31 October-1 November.

Observatory Science Centre Halloween Workshops

Discover more Halloween creativity at the Observatory Science Centre in a weekend of spook-tacular activities between 31 October and 1 November.

Don't miss out on all of this hauntingly good Halloween fun in and around Eastbourne, with so many events and attractions offering frighteningly good value for money it would be a crime to miss out! 

If you can brave these Halloween events then head to www.visiteastbourne/halloween for more information about all the events listed, plus many more!  

Top 5 most haunted places in Eastbourne!

This week we have a fantastic guest blogger who's written a brilliant in sight into Eastboune's haunted past and the ghost's that are said to roam the land - oooooooh spooky!

With Halloween fast approaching why not take a visit to one of Eastbourne's top 5 spookiest places.

Beachy Head:

By day the stunning south down cliffs make for a beautiful scenic walk, by night the strange happenings are enough to scare anyone off. Do you dare take a moonlit walk, with some unexpected company?

It has been reported on many occasions that harmless walkers have been greeted by some spooky guests. The most commonly reported is the Grey Lady who has been seen walking along the cliffs, she has been said to approach walkers, and most people mistake her for a harmless passer by, until she suddenly vanishes into thin air. One dog walker was taking an evening stroll when the lady approached him, lent over to stroke his petrified dog that ran off howling, and then disappeared in front of his eyes.

There is also the Monk in black who is said to beckon people to their death, although no known monastery has ever been discovered on the downs. He is said to appear from no where and calmly point to the edge of the cliffs.

Would you take the risk of meeting one of these two on a misty evening on the cliffs?

Royal Hippodrome Theatre:

The Victorian theatre, built in 1883, has so much history and being the oldest theatre in town there are bound to be some creepy spirits. The building has been host to many play, musicals and variety shows, who knows who is left walking the creaky boards.

There are said to be a few ghosts who haunt the historic walls, a lady has been spotted sitting in the grand circle harmlessly watching rehearsals and she will occasionally visit the stage when it's quieter, no one knows her identity or why she still visits the building.

Some people have reported being pushed and grabbed by unexplained forces, and then feeling the atmosphere around them gets remarkably colder.

Pevensey Castle:

Having been host to many battles, at Pevensey Castle you are definitely going to feel the presence of something. Many people have said to have seen the ghost of Lady Pelham who has been seen walking the crumbling walls at dust, elegantly gliding and then suddenly disappearing. In 1976, 4 young boys were left petrified after they reported seeing her, could you handle being that close to a ghost?

The dungeons of the castle are very claustrophobic and no one knows what went on in them, dogs refuse to stand anywhere near the stairs let alone venture into the dungeons. Let your imagination take over!

Gildredge Manor (Gildredge Road):

This manor, a former art gallery, belonged to a local reverend until he died and it was taken over by the local council. Medieval marks were found on the cellar walls and local architects had no clues as to where they came from or who had done them. To this day they are still unexplained. Maybe they come from the people whose voices you can still hear around the building. Staff at the former art gallery have said they have often heard muffled conversations when the gallery was closed, and clear footsteps, after searches no one has ever been found.

There are many hidden rooms in the manor house, which got blocked off when the gallery was converted. Who knows what lurks behind those walls.

Redoubt Fortress:

The fortress was built in the 19^th century as a defence against the threat of invasion from Napoleon. It was also used in the first and second world war as a base for troops and also possibly a prison/interrogation centre. With all the history and unused casemates there must be some unexplained events. Ghost walks are now being hosted at this historical location, who knows what you might discover.

Other sightings at the fortress reportedly include a strange crouching man on the gun platform, the mysterious woman in a white gown and also an eerie figure walking through the cell walls. However one of the most common reports is of cold and uneasy feelings in the cells and in particular casemate 11!

That's it for now folks, so keep those eye's peeled and let us know if you have any stories of your own or spot anything extra ordinary!