Last weekend I went along to Aston Hall for one of the candlelit tours they do at this time of year:

One of the country’s finest Jacobean houses, Aston Hall is seen at its most breathtaking, lit by around 300 shimmering candles and warmed by two glorious historic fireplaces

It was pretty good too. It’s an amazing place and some of the actors that were dotted around were clearly having a lot of fun (especially one of the sword fighters at the beginning). I hadn’t realised what a big deal it was either – there were a lot of people booked in for each tour.

If you didn’t make it along this year than apparently you’ll have to wait until 2013 for the next one. In the meantime, here’s a video:

Pic from Birmingham Culture on Flickr, from a previous year.

• Invisible City‘s final event, Media Circus, takes place on 29 Oct at Fazeley Studios. With entertainment, music, drinks, performances and digital displays, along with the winners of the Invisible City categories to be announced. Fancy dress is along the lines of Victorian Circus.
• CBSO’s Friday Night Classics: Nightmare on Broad Street takes place on 29 Oct, 7.30pm at Symphony Hall, with a pre-concert talk at 6.15.
• Town Hall host a Halloween Silent Movie Special with the 1923 classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame on 31 Oct at 7.30pm.
• Black Country Living Museum are holding Halloween at the Museum on 30 & 31 Oct from 6.30pm – 10pm, with opportunities for psychic reading and trick or treating along the cobbled streets.
• Take a guided tour of Aston Hall, exploring the ghosts and legends on 31 Oct at 7.30pm. Full of spooky surprises, this is not suitable for children of a ‘nervous disposition’.
• Halloween Night at the Museum Collections Centre invites you on a spine tingling trail for a chance to see some of the scariest objects not on general display, join the tour on 29 Oct from 6.30pm – 9pm.

Since Halloween falls on a weekend, it would be a crime to let an opportunity to get dressed up go unmentioned. Most weekend club nights will be welcoming heavy eyeliner and fake blood, on the only occasion where you can get away with wearing a bin liner, here’s a few that stand out;

• Jocko Homo will be hosting The Victoria’s Halloween festivities from 9pm with free entry.
• Face present their Halloween Bash at Cellar Door, the Rainbow, with house legend Emerson Todd.
• Hare & Hounds are holding House of God Halloween Party with horror makeup available on the night.
• Eddie’s Rock Club will be dishing out a free shot for the first 100 people through the door, and a £50 prize to the best dressed.
• The fourth Electric City event at HMV Institute is Spectrum’s Halloween Fancy Dress Special, with Sub Focus and Stanton Warriors live.
• The Curates Egg presents a Halloween special at The Old Wharf on 31 Oct, with live music from Nightingales, The Courtesy Group and Black Carrot.

Plus outfit inspiration is provided by this month’s issue of Area for how to pull off a creepy-but-cool costume, with just the right amount of effort to keep your street cred.

A celebration of young people’s written and spoken words. Verbalise showcases the talents of Birmingham’s emerging spoken word artists and performance poets, kicking off with a series of Saturday afternoon workshops led by renowned spoken word artist PolarBear. Verbalise culminates in two days of performances, in and around Birmingham City Centre and appearances as part of the Young Readers festival in Birmingham Central Library and at Aston Hall’s Book Bash.

And Visualise, which is slated for the end of October 2010:

At its heart will be a major open visual arts competition for young people of all ages, to be hosted in a high profile city centre venue. The festival will also offer the chance to see the work of other arts and community organisations from across the city, working with young people and the visual arts.

A coordinator is needed for that one, if you’re interested.