Halloween. The French suck at it.
Except...
...in one building in Paris' tenth arrondissement, where they're really very good. Think: scary costumes, a lot of shrieking and a bloody pastry chef, all contained within in a really old haunted building. Excellent. But where and what exactly is this hallowed Halloween haven, huh?
Le Manoir de Paris
We might be a few days from Halloween, but the haunted house - Le Manoir de Paris - is open all year round - because there's never a bad time for a chilled bones.
Learn some of Paris' darker and macabre secrets on an hour-long visit around this genuine (and beautiful) Parisian manor, located just a minute from the Gare de l'Est metro station. I have to warn you that a visit to this haunted house is definitely not for the faint-hearted, young children or epileptics, but if you're a horror fan, and love nothing more than being genuinely freaked out, you need to put this on your Paris bucket list. The scaring starts from when you join the queue outside... and the actors take their job very seriously.
Halloween special: you have until November 9 to experience "La Peste Z", their zombie Halloween special. They give you a mask to wear (beware, glasses-wearers), which makes me start to panic just thinking about it. I suppose that's the point.
Top tip: Specify that you want an English-speaking experience, so as to fully understand the stories, and groups are usually smaller. The actors' English is usually very good.
Costs: 25 euros per person, 20 for children under 16.
Address: 18 Rue de Paradis, 75010
Labels: 75010, avoid the Eiffel Tower, Halloween, insolite, off the beaten track, Random, things to do in Paris, underground scene
