Live in Ireland's other-world this Halloween

Hallowe’en is BIG in Ireland. 

It's got the biggest scare-fest in Europe, fantastic family-friendly fun everywhere you go, and is in fact one of the best places in the world to spend the scariest time of year.

The best place to start is in Dublin in the lead up to Hallowe'en and Samhain. The streets turn red as the capital brings its dark side alive for four days of living stories and four nights of undead adventures at the Bram Stoker Festival (23-26 Oct).

Inspired by Dublin-born novelist Bram Stoker and his notorious novel Dracula, the city will get gloriously Gothic as a packed programme offers family-friendly adventures for legions of horror lovers celebrating the Count and his creator.

Taking in large-scale spectacles and intimate performances in unusual spaces, along with a whole range of film and literary events, the festival infiltrates the very crevice of the city. This is a hotbed for selfies with vampires.

Previous years have seen more than 40,000 fun lovers from near and far descend upon Dublin for a weekend of spooky craic, so a cape and fangs is mandatory! Its a devilish mixture to say the least.

There will be Halloween events in most Irish cities, towns and villages, offering everything from the weird to the wonderful. But the really BIG one is one in Derry - Londonderry, Northern Ireland's famous Walled City.

The legendary Banks of the Foyle Halloween Carnival (October 29-31) shines a spooky spotlight on the city, its walls, heritage, and all it has to offer in terms of culture, art and imagination.

The main event is the 40,000-strong Rise of the River Gods Carnival and street parade – the largest Hallowe'en party in Europe, complete with spine-chilling fireworks show.

Performers in costume dance along to Samba and marching bands. Crazy large-scale props and lots of carnival characters provide a major night-time spectacle for participants and onlookers alike.

The Rise of the River Gods theme continues in Awakening the Walls (Oct 29-30), when the city's upper walls and surrounding streetscapes light up with striking street performance and spooky light installations.

Night-time markets, a fun fair, a creepy craft village, storytelling, lots of Little River Gods daytime children’s activities, and Ghost Bus tours and trails all are part of all the ghoulish goings on.

And a big thrill to watch out for is Chateau Le Fear, a haunted house of horror set up at Ebrington Square. This interactive walk-through show features an Alien Invasion that will scare the living daylights out of the earthlings who dare to enter.

It seems as though the entire population of the city turns out for Halloween. With wild costumes and up to of 40,000 festival-goers milling the streets, dark alleys and the famous Derry Walls, look out for wailing witches, vicious vampires, ghastly ghosts and a River God or three.

It be other-worldly.