Tatton's Old Hall is fast gaining a reputation as one of the spookiest locations in the northwest. © Tatton Park

Museums and heritage sites across the UK are opening their doors for spooky tours, candlelit walks and spine-chilling activities for all the family in celebration of Halloween.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain but today is known as a shortening of All-hallow-even, the evening before All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day on the first day of November.

Many believe Halloween to be a magical time, where spirits are free to roam the earth for the night and it seems many of the UK’s museums and heritage sites feel the same way.

So Culture24 has come up with a taster of events and activities taking place in the UK over Halloween to whet your appetite.

The ghosts of Ickworth House will be making an appearance for Halloween. © NTPL

Eureka! The Museum for Children in Halifax, west Yorkshire, will be opening its doors for The Witchling Hour, a one-off Halloween party on Friday October 31. From 6.30pm to 9.30pm families will be treated to creepy gallery trails, practical magic, slime-making and other ghoulish games and activities.

If you take along a pumpkin you wil be invited to take part in their magical candle-lit parade. Tickets are £5 per person or £20 for a family of five (under 3s go free). Find out more at www.eureka.org.uk

The National Trust has many properties across the UK and some will be celebrating Halloween in style. Tatton Park in Cheshire will be hosting Fame Hungry Frighteners at the Old Hall, which is fast gaining a reputation as one of the spookiest locations in the northwest.

Renowned for having resident ghosts, and used as a main location for Living TV’s Most Haunted, the Old Hall will host mask-making and face-painting activities plus a pumpkin competition.

The activities run daily until November 2, Tickets £4 adults, £2 children (under 4s go free). Family tickets of two adults and up to three children are £10. Call 01625 374400 for more information.

Children will be spoilt for choice this Halloween. © NTPL Andreas von Einsiedel

In London, Hackney’s Sutton House will tickle the senses with a Halloween Ghost Safari. The 45-minute tour on October 31 will involve a night of smelling, hearing, feeling and possibly seeing some phantasmagoria from the darker side. Tickets are £6.50 adults and £3.50 children (over 8s only) Call 0844 249 1895 to book.

Over in Wales, at Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, there will be a batty children’s trail, pumpkin carving and bat-making plus the mines will be dressed for the occasion with bats, candles, spiders, mice and cobwebs. Tours will be held on October 30 – November 1.

There are also Halloween events and activities just for adults. © Tatton Park

There’s a huge selection of creepy events happening in Devon too. Wrap up warm and head to Haldon Forest Park in Exeter for a feast of scary stories around a campfire in the forest. Pet dogs are also welcome and prizes for the best-dressed will be awarded to under 15s. Admission is £5 per person, but includes a bowl of fruit punch. For further information and to book, call 01392 834233.

Alternatively, ride the haunted train in the dark at Crealy Great Adventure Park, also in Exeter. Visit the Crealy witch in her creepy grotto or take part in eerie contests and quests. The park is open from 10am to 6pm with the halloween fest running until November 4. Ticket prices and booking information is available via the website www.crealy.co.uk

Halloween activities have been going on throughout the half-term week in the build up to the big day on October 31. © Tatton Park

While the children are kept happy with trick-or-treating, mums and dads can enjoy the festive spirit and opt for an adult-only Halloween event.

Adults can enjoy a three-course dinner with a Halloween twist at Derbyshire’s Kedleston Hall on October 31 at 7.30pm.

Derby-based Big Adventures Theatre Company will dish out offerings from classic Victorian writers like Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens as well as other spine-tingling tales. Tickets cost £25, call 01332 842191 for more information.

And at Donington le Heath Manor House in Leicester, Peter Liddle will present ‘Digging the Dead’ a lecture on death and burial in Leicestershire over the last 5,000 years. The talk, on October 31 at 7.30pm, is also linked to a current exhibition of the same name. Admission is free but booking is essential. Call 01530 831259 to book.

Can't find anything near you? Try our search box at the top left of this page and enter the word 'Halloween' to browse events happening at museums, galleries and heritage sites around the country.