OXFORD Castle aims to be the one-stop shop for Halloween this year with a host of activities for children and adults alike to enjoy the spookiest weekend of the year.

From visits to see ghostly figures in the dungeons or tours of the haunted castle itself, there has been something for everyone.

Throughout the half-term week, families have been coming to take part in pumpkin carving while ghostly tours have also been put on.

Retail Manager Tom Walburn said: “It’s quite well attended because every child who pays to go in to the castle gets to go pumpkin carving.

"We also do see parents come in with filters to trace designs and avoid the mess at home.”

For those still wanting to take part, the carving is just £2, or is free for those with a regular admission ticket taking a tour of the castle.

Also popular among children is the Trick or Treat event, which is hosted every ten minutes on Saturday and Sunday from 5pm until 7pm.

Far from your usual neighbourhood bash, children trick-or-treating at the castle knock on the doors of historic jail cells and receive treats from castle staff.

And if they can solve the riddles, they receive even more sweets.

Tickets for trick or treating are £5 per child older than five.

For the more adventurous, on Halloween night this Monday, the brave can take part in ghost tours around the castle.

The tours are led by guides dressed in their spookiest costume, who guide visitors through the cavernous building as they learn about the “betrayals, executions and rumoured spirits who haunt the historic surrounds”.

It’s been said that the ghost of Mary Bland has been spotted on occasion, usually on the Castle Mound where was hanged in 1752.

There is also Bill Spectre’s Ghost Trails for the hardiest ghost hunter in the Castleyard tonight and Saturday at 6:30pm and 9pm. The tours weave through the streets of Oxford and detail the spookiest secrets unknown to the general public.

As a landmark laden with history, it is no surprise that Halloween comes as one of the busiest weeks of the year for Oxford Castle.

Mr Walburn continued: “It’s probably our biggest domestic holiday of the year, outside of some weeks in the summer. We usually are at capacity, seeing about 150 people a day throughout the week.”

For more information visit oxfordcastleunlocked.co.uk