Halloween by Candlelight

This is to get an effect of various lights — firelight, candlelight, moonlight, and what not — which I think decidedly improves the scene. (Charles Dickens, 1869)

Rooms evocatively lit with an array of candles will transport guests back into the gothic Victorian era at our exclusive Halloween opening. On All Hallow’s Eve, the only night of the year dedicated to telling stories of the dearly departed and reading the fortunes of friends, you can experience Dickens’s beautiful townhouse just as if the author himself had just stepped out the door. Flickering candles eerily illuminate the elegance of the beautifully furnished interiors, the desk where Dickens penned his works and the shadowy, damp chambers of the Victorian basement.

Dickens often wrote into the night by candlelight and was fascinated by the effects created by flames. Guests will be able to immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of the dimly lit rooms and experience just what it was like to be in a Victorian home after dark.

Upon emerging from the shadowy corners of the historic rooms guests will be welcomed into the twilit netherworld of the museum’s Spirit Photography booth. Guests are invited to dress in Victorian finery, capture a portrait with a ghostly figure and delve into the unseen mysteries of the future with the help of our clairvoyants.

We will have a bar open throughout the evening to help ward off the chills of this dark and mysterious night.