With Halloween looming on October 31st, book into a cheap hotel and spend your money getting scared. There is plenty to do at the best theme parks in the UK, France and Germany this autumn.

Alton Towers

The UK's biggest theme park is running a special series of Halloween events from October 17th to November 2nd for £35 for adults and £26 for children. There are plenty of places to stay near Alton Towers, which is located off the motorway in Staffordshire.

Children and adults of all ages will be able to take part because there is something for everyone. Maze, the Terror of the Towers is so scary children under 14 are banned from entering. This is unsurprising, considering the theme park has employed a Master to give chase to anyone who invades his mansion.

Other activities include the shortcut through Gloomy Wood, meeting ghosts and ghouls (who might even be on your ride), spooky shows and terrifying revelations if you follow the caretaker. Accompanying him on his journey into the Boiler House for £8 or get chased by the zombies in the Maize Maze for free. Not for the faint-hearted.

Disneyland Paris

Families with very small children who want to dress up and have fun on Halloween can join in the celebrations at Disneyland Paris from October 4th to November 2nd. Mickey and his friends the Pumpkin Men will be welcoming guests into the park for £34 for adults and £29 for children, alongside stars Jack and Sally from Tim Burton's film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

There are plenty of family-friendly hotels by Disneyland Paris, but other cheap hotels in Paris are only a train ride away from the Marne-la-Vallee/Chessy train station, located outside the theme park's front gate.

Join Mickey and the crew for some Halloween fireworks in front of the Disney Castle or show off your scariest costume at one of Mickey's fancy dress parties on the 10th, 17th, 24th and 28th. On top of all the regular rides and famous characters there are plenty of things for the whole family to do.

Europa Park

This is one of the cheapest theme parks in Europe near affordable accommodation in Strasbourg and cheap hotels in Stuttgart. Admission costs €31.50 (£24.30) for adults and €28 for children and there are special prices at certain times of the year, like Halloween.

There are thousands pumpkins on show at Europa Park for the Halloween festival until November 2nd – you can even have a go at carving them! Other features include 6,000 corn stalks, 2,000 bales of straw and 200 skeletons. There will be an evening parade of ghosts and goblins. But beware [comma] some of the frighteners may chase you about.

Europa Park is marking Halloween with its second year of shows called Terenzi Horror Nights, which will run until November 2nd. It will take place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Acts will run daily until Halloween from October 23rd to 31st. Celebrations for the actual night itself, [remove comma] include spine-chilling classics from great DJs who will host a fun-packed party. Rides will also be open until late evening.

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