Halloween in Edinburgh: 28 Spooky Things to Do in 2026

Want to spend Halloween in Edinburgh? Edinburgh is the most haunted place in Scotland, so it is the perfect place to spend the spooky season. A ghost story is tied to the location, no matter where you are in Edinburgh. From tales of ghosts, witches, and lost bagpipers, you can explore them all on Halloween.

So, if you are looking for spooky things to do in Edinburgh this Halloween, this list will help you spend all of October sipping on Halloween-themed cocktails in bars full of monsters and watching horror movies in haunted pubs.

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28 Ways to Spend Halloween in Edinburgh

1. Halloween Tours in Edinburgh’s Haunted Vaults

What is the best way to spend Halloween in Edinburgh? Spending Halloween night mingling with the paranormal on a ghost tour.

Follow Edinburgh ghost tours underground, taking you into the incredibly haunted vaults.

Several tour companies take you to various sections of Edinburgh’s underground city. However, I recommend checking out Mercat Tours, which are Halloween-specific tours!

Like their other ghost tours, they take you down to the depths of the vaults, but they have a scary twist that I highly recommend checking out.

Want to go on more ghost tours? Check out the best ghost tours in Edinburgh post and take them all!

If you want to visit the vaults, check out the post to find the best Edinburgh Vaults Tour.

Book here: Edinburgh: Late Night Haunted Underground Vaults Tour

2. The Edinburgh Dungeon

Visit the Edinburgh Dungeon this Halloween if you love taking part in terrifying and interactive stories from Edinburgh’s dark history.

Spooky, historical, and theatrical shows run all year, and the Edinburgh Dungeon brings out the big frights with special Halloween shows during the spooky season.

The tour lasts over an hour and takes you through several real historical dark stories, where you meet the actual people who were involved in the horrible history.

You can also enjoy the Edinburgh Dungeons without dealing with children! Book an Adults Only Dungeon visit! These tours are one of the more fun things to do in Edinburgh for adults.

No matter what time of year you visit the Edinburgh Dungeon, you will surely have a fright, but it is one of the best things to do for Halloween in Edinburgh.

This year, they are featuring an event called the Monster of Glamis, which runs from 12 October to 3 November 2026.

Book here: The Edinburgh Dungeons

3. Take a Spooky Ghost Tour

There is no better way to spend Halloween in Edinburgh than going on a ghost tour. Edinburgh is one of the most haunted cities in Scotland, and the spirits tend to be more active during the spooky season.

Whether you want to talk a ghost walk in Edinburgh, head down to the vaults and take one of Edinburgh’s ghost tours underground, or if you’re going to take one of Edinburgh’s Old Town and Underground ghost tours – there is a tour for everyone.

Take a ghost walk this Halloween in Edinburgh on one of these tours:

If you want to spend Halloween in Edinburgh going on other ghost tours, I’ve made a list of the best ones!

4. Take a Haunted Graveyard Tour

Exploring Edinburgh’s haunted graveyards is one of the best ways to spend Halloween in Edinburgh. Why not explore Greyfriars Kirkyard on the spookiest night of the year to learn about the ghosts and dark entities that haunt the graveyard?

The graveyard tours I recommend are Edinburgh: Greyfriars Kirkyard Tour or, if you’d prefer to take a tour of Canongate Graveyard, book the Edinburgh: Underground Vaults & Graveyard Evening Tour.

If you love exploring graveyards, please check out the best cemetery tours in Edinburgh.

Book here: Edinburgh: Greyfriars Kirkyard Tour

5. Visit the Very Haunted Edinburgh Castle

One of the best spooky things to do in Edinburgh is spend Halloween visiting Edinburgh Castle.

While the castle isn’t overly creepy for the average guest, the castle is known for being super haunted.

A few ghosts call the castle home, including a lost bagpiper, a headless drummer, and a man who escaped through the prison in a dung barrow. Read more about the ghosts of Edinburgh Castle here.

Book here: Edinburgh Castle Ticket

6. Ghost Bus Tour of Edinburgh

If you are looking for scary things to do in Edinburgh this Halloween, you must go on a ghost tour. One of the best ghost tours in Edinburgh is the comedy horror Ghost Bus Tour.

The tour takes you around Edinburgh’s most haunted locations in the comfort of a warm double-decker bus. The tour guides are ghoulish and scary while being dramatic and theatrical. This will fill you with scary stories in a fun way.

The Ghost Bus Tour will bring you to multiple sites around Edinburgh. These sites are missed on the walkable ghost tours, so it is worth taking a tour.

Book here: Edinburgh Ghost Bus Tour

7. The Real Mary King’s Close

The Real Mary King’s Close is one of the best things to do for Halloween in Edinburgh. The historic underground street is filled with real history from when the Black Plague made its way through Scotland.

So, if you are looking for spooky things to do in Edinburgh during Halloween or any time of year, I highly recommend visiting Mary King’s Close.

Mary King’s Close goes all out during the spooky season with scary interactive lantern-led tours with unique twists not included in the regular tours. So be sure to spend the Halloween season below Edinburgh’s streets and tour Mary King’s Close.

The Lantern Led Tours and True Crime Tours run from the 11th to the 31st of October, 2026.

Book here: The Real Mary King’s Close

8. Surgeons Hall Museums Blood and Guts Walking Tour

One of the best Halloween activities in Edinburgh is a visit to the Surgeons Hall Museums. If you haven’t guessed by this list of unusual things to do in Edinburgh for Halloween – the city has a ton of gruesome medical history.

Spend an afternoon wandering through the Surgeons Hall Museums before going on their Blood and Guts: The Twists and Turns of Edinburgh’s Medical History walking tour.

The museum has three different medical sections: a pathology museum, a history of surgery museum, and a dental collection. For more information, check out my post about visiting the Surgeons Hall Museums in Edinburgh.

Book here: Blood and Guts: The Twists and Turns of Edinburgh’s Medical History walking tour

Scary Things to Do for Halloween in Edinburgh

Deacon Brodie's Tavern with a foggy, misty Royal Mile at night. Deacon Brodie is one of the best haunted pubs in Edinburgh.

9. Spend Halloween in Edinburgh Drinking with Ghosts

Why not spend Halloween night in Edinburgh drinking with the ghosts? The city is home to loads of haunted pubs, most of which are located near the Royal Mile, which is directly above the incredibly haunted underground vaults.
With so many ghosts lingering below the streets, they would enter the bars above. Don’t we all want to spend an evening having a bit of fun drinking with friends, listening to music and watching horror films at one of Edinburgh’s most haunted pubs?

10. Sleep with Ghosts at a Haunted Hotel in Edinburgh

Are you looking for scary things to do this Halloween in Edinburgh? What is more frightening than spending a night with ghosts? If you are spending a night at one of the many haunted hotels in Scotland, look no further, as Edinburgh has a few places to stay.

The Witchery By The Castle is not only a hotel and restaurant with a history of witchcraft in Scotland but also home to a few ghosts! The ghosts tend to stay in the restaurant but have also appeared in some of the hotel rooms.

The other haunted hotel in Edinburgh is the historic Scotsman Hotel. The Scotsman has several ghosts, but the one seen most often is a former printer that used to work at the hotel when it was a printing press.

Halloween in Edinburgh got so much more scarier when it involved sharing your bed with the spirits!

Spend the night at The Witchery by the Castle

Spend the night at the Scotsman Hotel

11. Join the Haunting Halloween Hunt at Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Head down to Camera Obscura between 12 Oct – 3 Nov 2026 to experience a super spooky Halloween Hunt.

As you wander through Camera Obscura, be on the lookout for famous Halloween monsters, including Dracula and Frankenstein.

The entire attraction will be decked out with Halloween decorations, ghostly projections and an opportunity to have some spooky photo ops!

Find out more here: Halloween at Camera Obscura

12. Walk in the Footsteps of Burke and Hare

You probably heard of the infamous Burke and Hare if you love dark history. They are associated with grave robbing but didn’t rob any graves.

Instead, they provided bodies to the local medical school.

They would roam around Edinburgh by the cover of darkness, bringing their victims to Dr. Robert Knox and collecting a hefty sum of money for their freshly made cadaver.

You can take a self-guided tour through Edinburgh and walk down the same streets and routes that Burke and Hare took when terrorizing Edinburgh.

Check out the Burke and Hare Self-Guided Tour here.

You can also book a tour that talks about the Dark Side of Edinburgh and details the history of Burke and Hare: The Dark Side Walking Tour.

13. Wander through Edinburgh’s Haunted Graveyards

If you are a taphophile, you will love spending Halloween in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is full of several historic graveyards, including one of the most haunted graveyards in the world.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is one of the most beautiful graveyards in Edinburgh, but it is incredibly haunted. The graveyard is home to the Mackenzie Poltergeist, an entity known for scratching and pushing people as they pass by his mausoleum.

The other haunted section of the graveyard is the Covenanters Prison. If you want to read more about the history of Greyfriars Graveyard, you should check out my post about Books Set in Scotland.

Unfortunately, the prison is only accessible if you take a ghost tour of the graveyard, but you can still look through the locked gates at the graves.

Just be glad you have a locked gate protecting you from the spirits lingering within the Covenanters Prison.

14. Visit the Mysterious Coffin Dolls

One thing that Edinburgh has is a whole lot of spooky mysteries. The Coffin Dolls are one of the best spooky things to do in Edinburgh.

Seventeen mysterious dolls carved from wood were placed inside strange wooden coffins and buried on Arthur’s Seat in the 1800s.

Be sure to listen to the podcast all about the Coffin Dolls to learn about their spooky history before visiting them at the museum.

Visit the remaining eight coffin dolls this Halloween at the National Museum of Scotlamd.

15. Spend the Night with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – at Deacon Brodie’s Pub

If Edinburgh has one thing, it is mythical horror creatures from books. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are characters based on a real-life man from Edinburgh, Deacon Brodie.

He was a businessman by day, gambled, and broke into his clients’ houses at night.

Deacon Brodie’s Pub is a great place to spend Halloween in Edinburgh. So why not dress up in your Halloween costume and grab a pint with the ghost of Deacon Brodie?

Halloween Events in Edinburgh

misty foggy graveyard with the haunted black mausoleum in Grayfriars Kirkyard

16. Samhuinn Fire Festival in Edinburgh

One Edinburgh Halloween festival that you must attend is the Samhuinn Fire Festival.

This festival immerses you in the chaos of fire play in Old Town Edinburgh. Like the Beltane Fire Festival of Spring, the Samhuinn Fire Festival welcomes the transition between summer and winter.

It is an incredible show to witness, and it will undoubtedly stir up some spirits from the other world with all of the energy it creates.

So, indulge in the parade as it encapsulates Edinburgh with fire and celebration on Samhuinn or Halloween night, as we like to say.

The 2026 Samhuinn Fire Festival is on October 31st at Holyrood Park.

17. Walk Through Edinburgh Zoo’s Halloween Event

Every year, Edinburgh Zoo puts on one of the best Halloween events in Edinburgh.

This Halloween, Edinburgh Zoo has several spooky events for adults only, perfect for a spooky date or fun for the whole family.

If you want fun things to do in Edinburgh for adults this Halloween, check out the Skulls and Sips Workshop on October 25th. You will learn about animal skulls while sipping on tasty alcoholic beverages.

Other family-friendly events at the zoo this Halloween include a Beasties and Broomsticks Brunch and Carve a Treat, where you can carve a pumpkin for one of the zoo animals.

Find out more here: Halloween at Edinburgh Zoo

18. Edinburgh Horror Festival

If you love watching horror films duing spooky season you must attend the Edinburgh Horror Festival.

The Edinburgh Halloween festival combines theatre, music, comedy, magic, and horror shows to make your Halloween terrifying.

The festival runs through October but has smaller events all year round. Most shows run through the last few days of October, with the final day falling on Halloween night. Most in-person shows are at the Banshee Labyrinth and the Edinburgh Dungeon.

Check out the schedule by visiting the Edinburgh Horror Festival website and get ready to spend Halloween in Edinburgh chilled to the bone!

19. Watch a Horror Movie at a Haunted Pub

The Banshee Labyrinth in Edinburgh is a horror lover’s dream all year round, but it gets extra spooky during October.

Who wouldn’t want to watch a horror film in a haunted pub in the vaults of Scotland’s most haunted city? Exactly, everyone!

Want to enjoy horror movies all year round? The Banshee Labyrinth has several movie clubs, like the Edinburgh Zombie Club and B Movies Club, which show year-round films.

20. Party with the Horror Movie Monster Frankenstein

If you are looking for Halloween events in Edinburgh, you must attend the Halloween party at Frankenstein Pub in Edinburgh.

The monster-themed pub on George IV Bridge near Greyfriars Kirkyard throws an insane Halloween party. The gothic pub hosts multiple Halloween activities all month.

Be sure to come dressed up in your best fancy-dress costume for the ultimate Halloween party, featuring a live DJ who plays spooky Halloween tunes all night.

The entire pub is decked out with Halloween decorations that include vessels of bubbling liquids that will surely make your witchy self want to cast spells over the cauldron.

Finally, drink the best cocktails with other ghouls and goblins as you dance to the Monster Mash.

This year, spend Halloween in Edinburgh at Frankensteins during their week-long event, which runs from 27 October through 2 November. This year, you can join in Monster Karaoke, a Halloween Horror Quiz, followed by the best event – Beetlejuice’s Haunted House Party!

Beetlejuice’s Haunted House Party will occur on October 31st and shouldn’t be missed. The whole pub will be decked out with Beetlejuice-themed decor, performers, face painters, and more, and it will be spread across three floors!

Don’t worry, though. Friday will be Rocky Horror-themed, followed by a Day of the Dead Party on Saturday!

21. Check out the Halloween Decorations at The Witchery by the Castle

Spend Halloween in Edinburgh enjoying the autumn Halloween decorations at the Witchery by the Castle.

The restaurant and hotel go all out during the spooky season, decking out the restaurant’s exterior and interior.

It is one of Edinburgh’s most beautifully decorated locations, so you must check out all the gorgeous pumpkins. It is aesthetically pleasing and perfect for taking the best Halloween photos in Edinburgh.

Stop inside and pick up a festival drink or meal before heading out to a ghost tour.

22. Try on Vintage Halloween Costumes at Armstrong’s

Spend Halloween trying on vintage fancy dress costumes at Edinburgh’s best vintage clothes shop, W. Armstrong & Sons.

Every October, the vintage clothing shop brings in spooky costumes from decades past. So, check it out and find something that will make your Halloween a little bit stylish and creepier.

Spooky Things to Do in Edinburgh This Halloween

23. Escape the Past – The Anatomist

What is better than an escape room? An escape room at Halloween! Escape the Past has a scary and fun escape room, and it is the perfect way to spend Halloween in Edinburgh.

Step into the world of graverobbing and medical malpractice as you try to find out where Dr. Malcolm finds the bodies he dissects.

It is super spooky and one of the best ways to step back into the time that haunts Edinburgh’s terrifying history.

Book here: Escape the Past

24. Visit the location of Real Gallows in the Grassmarket

Edinburgh’s Grassmarket was full of dark history in Edinburgh, including Burke and Hare’s hunting grounds, the home of an evil wizard, and public executions.

The memorial site is located near the execution site, which housed a torture device known as a gibbet that can be spotted near the base of Victoria Street.

The gallows were where over 100 Covenanters were executed between 1661 and 1688. Be sure to visit the haunted Covenanters Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard, too!

25. Visit the Edinburgh Anatomical Museum

Want to spend Halloween in Edinburgh with the Skeleton of William Burke? Head to the Anatomical Museum at the University of Edinburgh to see his skeleton on display.

While there, you can see many other anatomical collections surrounding Edinburgh’s history.

26. Visit the Site of Real Gallows on the Royal Mile

Are you looking for more dark history in Edinburgh this Halloween?

Edinburgh has several dark historic locations scattered around the city. One such place is on the Royal Mile, directly across the street from the statue of David Hume.

Brass bricks mark the spot of the former gallows once located on the Royal Mile. These bricks, called luckenbooths, were the site of several hangings throughout Edinburgh’s history.

Looking at the wall behind the bricks, you will see a plaque mentioning that the last public hanging in Edinburgh occurred at these gallows.

27. Visit The Maiden – The Real Guillotine Used in Edinburgh

If you want to visit the dark history sites in Scotland, you must take a trip to The Maiden. The historic beheading machine was used to behead Scots between 1564 and 1710.

The Maiden would take the lives of over 150 people, and it was portable! You could watch executions on Castlehill, the Grassmarket, and the High Cross off of the Royal Mile, so it was always a change of scenery.

Why not spend Halloween in Edinburgh looking at gruesome historical artifacts? It is one of the best spooky things to do in Edinburgh!

Visit the Maiden at the National Museum of Scotland.

28. Walk the Haunted Halloween Trail & Haunted House Tour in Newhailes

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh but still want to do a spooky activity, you must visit the Newhailes Haunted Halloween Trail on October 26, 2026.

The haunted woodland takes you around the spookiest trails, where you can find bats and spiders before ending up in a scary cemetery.

They also have a Halloween Haunted House Tour on October 25th. Both Halloween events are taking place at the Newhailes House & Gardens NTS.