Afflecks, Manchester’s ever-popular independent shopping emporium, is getting ready for some spooktacular celebrations this Halloween, with plenty of spine-tingling activities happening to get everyone in the spooky spirit. The iconic building will be transformed into a Halloween House of Horror on Saturday 28 October as a very special Halloween experience brings tricks and treats to the 180 year old building in equal measure.
For £10, brave explorers can join a ghoulish food and drink tour of the whole building which will include a guided ghost tour of all four floors as well as a specially created Halloween treat from all of Afflecks’ food and drink traders along the way.
Attendees of the ghost tour will be led by long-standing Afflecks trader Karen from Mad for Art, who will be hosting this very special spooky adventure as she guides groups around the whole venue to explore the spooktacular heritage of a building that is rumoured to have seen its fair share of ghosts over its colourful history.
A Halloween themed food trail will run alongside the ghost tours on the day, giving equally petrified and peckish fans a chance to try a number of specially created devilish delights from Afflecks’ foodie traders as part of the tour.
Halloween specials included with the ticket are:
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Seasonal pumpkin soup with Welsh Rarebit soldiers from retro-inspired cafe Third Floor Rising
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Beetlejuice themed ice cream (complete with green candy hair!) from the iconic Gingers Emporium
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Spookylicious dumplings from Desert Island Dumplings (including the spaghetti and eyeballs and chopped up Suzie “Pork” dumplings).
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Animaid Cafe will also be serving a special edition Halloween milkshake – made with ice cream, strawberry sauce, strawberry pearls, and topped with whipped cream and pocky biscuits.
A spine-tingling spirit stones and spellcasting session will also be included for those who purchase a ticket, hosted by Afflecks’ resident witches and wizards over at Occult, located on the ground floor. Guests wanting to participate should simply show their ticket to redeem the experience and all spellcasters will receive a free spirit stone and spell candle to take home.
What’s more, Afflecks will, of course, also be decked out from head to toe with spooktacularly scary decorations, and there will be other Halloween themed offers from traders really getting into the spooky spirit. As well as serving up special treats, Desert Island Dumplings will also be entertaining customers in store over the weekend with Halloween inspired GameCube games and a prize every time on their wheel of fortune.
AJ Martyn, General Manager at Afflecks, said: “Spooky season is upon us here at Afflecks and the traders have really pulled out the stops to make our favourite time of year extra special! There have been many supernatural happenings reported by Afflecks over the years, with some dating right back to the 1800s.
“Halloween is the perfect time to come and learn more about one of the most haunted buildings in Manchester and refuel along the way with some eerie-sistible treats from the traders whilst you’re here. See you there!”
There will be three ghost tours throughout the day running from 11 – 11.35am, 12 – 12.35pm, and 4 – 4.35pm. Tickets are £10 and can be purchased here.
Tickets will entitle attendees a place on the tour at their allotted time, all the Halloween food and drink treats listed and the spell casting sessions led by Occult. Those with an Afflecks Halloween ticket will also be eligible to receive 20% off Afflecks merchandise, which includes t-shirts, posters, buckets hats and the limited edition Afflecks 40th commemorative book. Afflecks will be open from its usual time of 10.30am – 6pm.