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Spooky season is here, and those who love all things petrifying will be going all out in the lead-up to Halloween, perhaps even booking a trip away to some of the most spine-chilling destinations in the UK and beyond.
Whether you’re looking for a mystical wizarding-themed trip away with the family, a hair-raising holiday with a group of friends, or even a couple’s getaway to an eerie bedchamber where the hundred-year-old portraits on the wall seem to follow your every move, Airbnb has something for everyone.
Halloween devotees can choose to stay in remote castles, former churches, ghoulish towers or haunted manors – maybe experience your very own Cabin in the Woods night away with an off-grid stay in the wilderness.
York in the UK, or Salem in Massachusetts, USA, serve as some of the world’s spookiest destinations to explore, whilst supernatural-themed stays offer a skele-ton of fun.
Here are our picks for the best spooky and mystifying Airbnbs to book this autumn.
Best Spooky Airbnbs for 2024
1. Ghouslish Sanctuary
Florida, USA
Only a short distance from Walt Disney World in Florida lies something quite the opposite of the ‘Happiest place on Earth’. Based on the Haunted Mansion ride at Dinsey’s Magic Kingdom, this ghoulish getaway is ideal for families or three couples looking to celebrate Halloween with a rollercoaster or two nearby. Sleeping up to six guests in total, this Airbnb is decorated floor-to-ceiling to look like a wizard or witch’s lair, with sinister glowing lighting, a queen bed in an eerie attic and two other doubles in ominous-feeling rooms. Even the two bathrooms are decked out with spooktacular furnishings. This chilling stay certainly is to die for.
Read more: Best hotels in Orlando: Smart-casual resorts and experimental experiences
2. Restored 19th-Century Gothic Church
Portlaw, Ireland
What could be better than booking a trip away for Halloween? Booking a trip away for Halloween at a Gothic church surrounded by an old graveyard. Before even entering this restored 19th-century church, guests are met with a vast wilderness surrounding the property and iron-gated double doors that guard all which lurks inside. While the structure is spooky, the interior has been elegantly renovated. Prioritising luxury and comfort, the downstairs is adorned with plush sofas and a large wood-burning stove, making for a cosy evening by the fire watching a thriller flick or two. The altar has been converted into a kitchen, while the wooden spiral staircase leads up to a large double room and en-suite. Sleeping up to six guests, this imaginatively-converted church near the Irish town of Portlaw makes for a great ghoulish getaway.
Read more: How sheep, seaweed and the shore in Ireland helped me bond with my father
3. Hen Wrych Hall Tower
Conwy, Wales
An open fire, a hand-carved mahogany four-poster bed, and original cast iron windows all locked away in a castellated gatetower – this Airbnb is the choice for couples who want to combine the spooky season with a romantic getaway. Feel like kings and queens sleeping in the ornate wooden bed and spend time pampering yourself in the Victorian bathroom, complete with a slipper bathtub (and not forgetting the original Thomas Crapper toilet cistern!). The historic tower is only a stone’s throw away from the beach and the Gothic revival-era Gwrych Castle, which offers ghost hunts to visitors who want to experience the phantom hauntings of the Lady in Red or chilling apparitions materialising in the castle windows.
Read more: The top cosiest cottages on Airbnb for an autumn getaway in the UK
4. The Mason Suite of Salem
Massachusetts, USA
For the ultimate Halloween experience, no city is better than Salem in Massachusetts. Well-known for the Witch Trials of 1692, Salem attracts tourists year-round with its supernatural attractions and historic landmarks. Built in 1844, the Mason Suite offers boutique lodgings in the spell-binding location just steps away from the Witch Museum and Salem Common. Situated on the third floor and sleeping up to four guests, the bedroom and living room feature historical touches, beady-eyed portraits and skylights that let the moonlight in while you settle down after a long day exploring the spooky city.
Read more: Why you should summer in Cape Ann, Massachusetts’ laid-back ‘Other Cape’
5. Chancellor’s Room at La Rivière Castle
Pontgouin, France
A perfect Halloween location is made up of somewhere very haunted, very isolated or very old. While hauntings are not always guaranteed, a grand château in the French countryside can offer both history and remoteness. Renting out a king bedroom for two in Chateau de La Rivière is a great hideaway choice as the autumn months roll on, surrounded by vast rural landscapes to explore. With breakfast included in the stately Aligre lounge, guests can then go off and enjoy a guided tour around the castle, taking in the hundreds of years of history the grounds have to offer.
Read more: Best vineyard stays on Airbnb for wine enthusiasts, from France to New Zealand
6. Witchcraft & Wizardry Townhouse
York, UK
While blood-curdling castle chambers or remote cabins may be a bit too much for more squeamish holidaymakers, the Witchcraft and Wizardry townhouse in York offers a magical experience for both young and old. While the outside may seem unassuming, inside you’ll find room upon room of wizarding wonder to the last detail: from four poster beds draped with dark green fabric to bookshelves stacked with wand cases, and even potion bottles and a cauldron in the corner to fully immerse yourself in the fantasy. Located in York, there is no better place to spend Halloween, as it is often nicknamed the ‘most haunted city in Europe’ for having a very sinister legacy. Visit a haunted pub, saunter down Mad Alice Lane or embark on a ghost tour while staying in this hair-raising city.
Read more: Best Halloween events to visit in the UK: From pumpkin picking to fright nights
7. The Haunted Bedroom
Great Dunmow, UK
Halloween and spookiness might not spring to mind when thinking of Essex, but at Talliston House & Gardens in Great Dunmow, prepare to get chills staying in this early-20th-century nightmarish bedchamber. Created to look like the Art Nouveau Scottish sleeping quarter of a young Edwardian child, the story goes that the bedroom is now locked and sealed after the boy’s untimely death, yet his ghost has been known to still linger around his former home. The host has worked hard to make it an immersive experience, with the low-lit wall lighting, heavy drapes and period furniture making the ghost story all that more real to guests who dare to stay. Two guests can stay in the Haunted Bedroom, with access to a dedicated bathroom and other rooms in the house to explore during their stay, such as a Victorian living and dining room, Japanese teahouse, New Orleans kitchen and Boathouse bathroom.
Read more: The Bridget Jones filming locations you can visit in London
8. Ancient Castle above the River Tweed
Scottish Borders, UK
Brimming with history and tales of the past, Neidpath Castle in Scotland allows guests to transport back centuries to when noble Scottish families roamed the corridors and royals came to visit. In fact, the bedchamber where guests stay was once slept in by Mary Queen of Scots, who was visiting the noble Hay family in 1563. The entire castle can now be rented out for a romantic couples retreat, yet the conversations its walls have witnessed and the secrets that have been long been lost to history also make it a mysterious getaway. The castle will be all yours for your stay, allowing you to explore the kitchens and the great hall, before settling down in the antique four-poster bed as the open log fire roars.
Read more: The best hotels in Edinburgh for castle views and Old Town getaways
9. Rural Cabin
Helle, Norway
Horror films are fond of using cabins as the setting of their most terrifying moments – all alone in the woods, with no one to help for miles around as a group of friends battle off some sinister creature. Luckily, there are plenty of cabins on Airbnb to rent that give you a slight tingle of uneasiness as you venture further away from civilisation, but (hopefully) without any supernatural skirmishes. Found in the small village of Helle, Norway, is a cosy cabin, surrounded by a rural landscape. The cabin is ideal for a couple looking for an off-grid retreat over Halloween, packed with hiking and fishing opportunities within the majestic snow-topped mountains. As the night draws in, snuggle down next to the wood-burning fireplace with food from the local farmer’s shop. Guests will note that there is no TV in the cabin, so telling ghost stories will have to do.
Read more: We need more to see women in adventure travel – this expedition is a good place to start
10. Rensow Manor, Reading Room Apartment
Rensow, Germany
Step back in time to the 18th century with a stay at this former manor in Germany, which has been converted into small retreats decked out in a maximalist, melancholic aesthetic. Guests have a chance to stay in the former reading room and classroom of this baroque manor, originally built in 1690, with the space decorated with dried flowers, intricately designed wooden furniture and grand hanging light fixtures. Previous guests said they felt fully immersed in another world, with the rooms full of antique furniture, candlesticks, carefully placed trinkets, and shelves full of books, making the place feel like it’s right out of a Dark Academia novel. There are two bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen with a table and chairs and a living room with a fireplace, as well as a cast-iron bathtub to use during your stay.
Read more: This German city is described as ‘Florence on the Elbe’ – but does it live up to the claim?
