For some, spooky season is an excuse to dress up — and dress sexy — as someone else and get a little weird on the weekend. But for true Halloween fanatics, it's a month-long celebration that rivals Christmas. Once October hits, fake cobwebs and plastic ghouls deck the houses and the horror movie marathon is already in full swing. Costume planning happens months in advance — yes, it's that deep — and then there's the question of where to celebrate Halloween night. Whether you're looking for a solid Halloween party, some hidden oddities around town or a full-on ghost hunting adventure, here's a rundown of the best spooky and strange haunts in Melbourne for Halloween 2026. Recommended reads: The 18 Most Whimsical, Witchy and Gothic Places in Melbourne CP On: WitchTok, Modern-Day Covens and Why Witchcraft Is Fourth-Wave Feminism's New Language The 'Stranger Things' Travel Guide: Real-World Places in Australia That Look Straight Out of Hawkins A Weekender's Guide to Visiting Hobart for Dark Mofo View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luke Featherby (@feathers1998) Aradale Lunatic Asylum Thousands of mentally ill patients have passed through the bluestone walls of this rural address. The abandoned Ararat site is now billed as one of Victoria's most haunted buildings, thanks to its unusually high mortality rate. The eeriest area might be the J Ward, which once housed the criminally insane – visitors have reported being "shoved and bitten by unseen entities" here. Historian-led ghost tours usually run through the wards, chapel, kitchen, and morgue, but recent safety concerns have temporarily restricted them to the grounds' exterior. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Altona Village Traders Association (@altonatraders) Altona Homestead Founded by early settlers Sarah and Alfred Langhorne in the 1840s, this pastoral property is one of Melbourne's first homesteads – but it wasn't a happy one. The family suffered great misfortunes, including financial losses and early deaths. Over the years, people have spotted apparitions of the lady of the house, who reportedly peers through the bay windows, longing for her hometown of Adelaide. The remote seaside suburb has drawn investigations from paranormal enthusiasts around the world – Lantern Ghost Tours leads you around the pastoral property with harrowing details of "births, deaths and untold heartaches" that befell the Langhornes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luna Park Melbourne (@lunaparkmelb) Luna Park With its enormous, toothy grin, Luna Park's entrance is spooky enough by daylight. After dark, vintage rides and carnival lights lend it the air of a sinister fever dream. This Halloween, the park ramps up the creepiness with Luna Dark. The after-hours takeover features three horror mazes – Carnival of Screams, Extreme Phobia and Harvest of Horrors – alongside roaming ghouls and unlimited rides. Less frightening sessions for kids run while the sun's up, but the park stays open till midnight from Thursday, October 22–Sunday, November 1. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Beinart Gallery (@beinartgallery) Beinart Gallery There's always a peculiar exhibition on at this Brunswick art gallery, ranging from the whimsical and otherworldly to works that lean a little more unsettling. Housed in a 19th-century dispensary on Victoria Street, Beinart Gallery has been showcasing contemporary artists exploring "surreal and imaginative themes" for a decade. This Halloween, the Dark Art 2026 exhibition celebrates all things eerie and macabre. Plus, two solo exhibitions: English artist Emma Black shows paintings of flowers deformed into sinister likenesses in Feral Bloom, while American illustrator Kristen Liu-Wong's Things Unseen centres on ghosts. Creature Bar After a stroll through Beinart, take a 20-minute walk to this horror-movie-themed dive bar on Lygon Street. Here, it's Halloween all year round. Horror movie memorabilia fills the room while bartenders shake up cocktails like an apple-pie-inspired vodka concoction called Grimhilde (as in, Snow White's evil stepmother) and a spicy margarita riff named after the chupacabra. With live gigs, board games and Mario Kart on the projector, Creature is a relatively scare-free way to still have a spooky time. View this post on Instagram A post shared by diannasnape (@diannasnape) Princess Theatre Melbourne's oldest surviving theatre (and the second-oldest in Australia) is bound to have a few skeletons. The gilded landmark is home to the ghost of opera singer Frederick Federici, who had a heart attack right as he was descending into the trapdoor into the metaphorical depths of hell during a production of Faust, is said to roam the rows. Every night, a seat in the dress circle is kept empty in tribute to his death. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chris Macheras (@oldvintagemelbourne) Mitre Tavern Often called Melbourne's oldest pub, Mitre Tavern has been the watering hole of lawyers, businessmen, and politicians since the 1860s. The cavernous space comes with underground tunnels and the ghost of Connie Waugh, Sir Rupert Clarke's mistress. She's said to have hanged herself in the Mitre – previous owner Avner Klein calls her "a good fairy". Ghost or not, Mitre Tavern is worth a visit for history buffs and anyone partial to Guinness pours and hefty chicken parmigianas layered with Virginia ham. Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets Behind an unassuming black door on Smith Street is Caz Reitops. With candles flickering across the moody room and jazz and blues tunes playing from a gramophone, the speakeasy cocktail bar definitely feels like a ghost of the 1920s. Old-timey classics sit alongside original riffs in the main bar, but regulars head to a secret bluestone basement theatre nicknamed The Vault for comedy nights and other events. Equipped with a private bar, it's also primed for any themed party that calls for an uncannily Prohibition-era ambiance. The District Docklands Have you ever caught a late-night movie at HOYTS in The District Docklands? The precinct is a ghost town by day, but after the shops close, an extra-eerie backrooms atmosphere takes over. With its shut-down escalators and closed entrances, the mall becomes a liminal-space labyrinth. Try and stay calm as you find your way back to the car park in pin-drop silence – the glowing lights from the circus-themed Archie's Arcade are particularly unsettling. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 7 Sins Paranormal (@7sinsparanormal) Point Nepean Quarantine Station From the Lady in White to a lone soldier who disappears mid-stride, this historic site on the Mornington Peninsula is rife with supernatural sightings. After the fever-ridden Ticonderoga voyage arrived in 1852, Victoria quarantined new arrivals at the coast to keep disease out of the colonies. Some of them never left. Ghost or self-guided tours will take you around 50 still-standing buildings, including hospital wards, a morgue, a cemetery and a school. Elsewhere within the park, Fort Nepean's abandoned underground tunnels have recently opened to the public. The ballsier can sleep in discovery tents throughout the warmer months. Williamstown If you love thrillers set in pretty coastal towns with an unsettling edge — think Jaws or The Dead Calm — we've got just the quaint suburb for you. Behind Williamstown's prim facade lies its rowdy history as Melbourne's first port settlement where drunken sailors, ladies of the night and opium dens ran amok. It's home to one of Victoria's oldest morgues, while a 19th-century cemetery sits beside the convict-built Timeball Tower – a seedy spot where Lantern Ghost Tour participants have reported "eerie footsteps" and "blurry figures and unexplained light orbs". Pentridge Prison This Coburg prison complex has since been transformed into an urban village lined with intimate wine bars, restaurants and even a state-of-the-art cinema, but the building's bluestone bones still nod to its chilling past. Until 1997, Pentridge housed (and hanged) some of Victoria's most notorious criminals like Ned Kelly and Chopper Read. Executions happened in D Division, which has since been turned into private wine cellars, while the maximum-security H Division had the most brutal conditions. New developments were only built over B Division, but the National Trust runs tours of the entire prison. Or stay at the Interlude, a boutique hotel with a subterranean pool and suites tricked out with stone baths. Werribee Park Mansion Take a picturesque wander through the 60-room Italianate mansion and its surrounding English gardens, albeit one shrouded in tragedy. Thomas Chirnside, a Scottish aristocrat who built the mansion with his brother Andrew, shot himself in the laundry room after a family lunch in 1887. He had never married after being jilted – his betrothed married Andrew instead – and was suffering from financial troubles and depression. The property has been the subject of ghost stories since. Curious cats can tag along on a paranormal investigation tour or stay at the adjoining Lancemore Mansion Hotel to do their own sleuthing. Young & Jackson Opposite Flinders Street Station, Young & Jackson is famous for Chloe, the life-sized nude portrait that's been hanging in the dining room since 1909. But there's another woman said to haunt the heritage-listed boozer: a figure in Victorian dress who appears near the entrance, only to reveal a throat slit from ear to ear. Local legend has it she was murdered nearby, though her identity remains a mystery. Jeff Kennett Gargoyle Many pass by or visit St Patrick's Cathedral daily, but here's a kooky detail that often goes unnoticed. On the southern wall of the Gothic landmark is a miniature gargoyle modeled on former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett. Stonemason Tom Carson told The Age in 1992 that the stone Kennett, his jaw hanging open in a cartoonish gape, was added on "a whim". View this post on Instagram A post shared by Forum Melbourne (@forummelbourne) The Forum If being scared stiff isn't your thing, catch a gig at a former grand picture palace with a surreal atmosphere that drops you off in another era. It's one of Melbourne's most novel venues, with a 2016 restoration returning the space to its original 1929 layout. The entrance — a Moorish fantasy complete with turrets and a jeweled clock tower straight out of a fairytale castle — leads into an intimate space boasting a faux palace stage and a cerulean-blue ceiling dotted with twinkling stars. Harry Styles, Laufey and Lily Allen have all graced the stage here. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Hotel Windsor (@hotel_windsor) Hotel Windsor Another pub with ghost sighting cred. The grand stone staircases and old-world ballroom in Hotel Windsor have long hosted Melbourne's well-heeled. Opera singer and regular guest Dame Nellie Melba is said to linger in the building, strains of her soprano voice reportedly haunting the halls. A ghostly teenage boy has also been spotted on the first floor, supposedly keeping watch over Melba's room. View this post on Instagram A post shared by . (@succubus.lilith.666) Wunderkammer From taxidermied bunnies and raccoon tails to rare seashells and gemstones, this eccentric Lonsdale Street shop sells it all. Named after the German phrase for cabinet of curiosities, it's a must-go for anyone after a whimsical conversation piece or simply an afternoon getting lost among shelves and shelves of strange, surreal oddities. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Old Melbourne Gaol (@oldmelbgaol) Old Melbourne Gaol No spooky-and-strange place list would be complete without Victoria's oldest prison. Its bloody history spanning harsh punishments, overcrowding issues and gallows that hanged over 130 criminals. This Reddit thread reveals hundreds of people reporting supernatural experiences ranging from feelings of unease and nausea to slamming cell doors – Cell 17 is noted as exceptionally terrifying. Visit it during a one-night-only event on Saturday, October 31, where visitors will find "haunted attractions", a spooky photo booth and a Bizarre Bar open till 10pm. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.