In a nod to the Hammer House oeuvre, the White Blackbird returns to mark Halloween with the Black Widow's Ball, a night dedicated to the exploration of all things horror.

Held on Friday 28 October at Stoke Place, the event features Pagan Rituals, a Mummification Room, a Nude Portraiture Salon, a resurrection of the Thirteen Club and an All Black Midnight Feast, just some of the many activities set to thrill the most seeking amongst you. Hop along to Hanover Square (W1) where carriages will be stationed to whisk guests away in sterling style on a half hour journey to the rural idyll of Stoke Place, a 17th century country house hotel in Buckinghamshire, just one of the magnificent locations owned by the Dhillon Hotel Group. With the house and grounds turned over exclusively to the party goer’s pleasure. The only strenuous choice guests face is in which order to examine the assembled delights.

First port of call is the Vyse Room's Punch Bar serving a selection of vintage punches that will leave you searching for another contusion. A bistro menu is also available (£30 for two courses and £40 for three courses inclusive of a complimentary glass of Prosecco) should you wish to wine, dine and keep hold of your blood till the early hours. Throw caution to the wind and venture to the Wedgewood room where you can join the Thirteen Club, resurrected by the White Blackbird to encourage you to flout every single superstition known to man. Established in New York by William Fowler in 1881, the club that walked under stepladders, dined under the lights of skull candelabrums and put crossed forks on their plates became such a sensation that it grew to over 2,500 members and included no less than five US presidents.

If that didn’t jinx your plans, carry on to the Thomas Grey room where the Royal Society for the Pursuit of Lovebirds will foretell your amorous fate with the help of the Ancient Greek (and very pagan) tradition of bird reading.

Visit one of the specially opened Bedroom’s and find Vintage Secret’s Mummification Room, a vintage dress up room that will have you fit for a pharaoh or jump out of your skin and take your heaving bosoms, torn lace and manly chest hair (can even be on the same person) into Emma Myrtles Nude Portraiture Salon.

Peek into another Bedroom and find Millicent Binks as Queen Dracula, where she will be bathing in blood and eating her suitors for breakfast and if this leaves your nerves are on edge visit the Alcoholic Alchemist to create your very own bespoke remedy. Should Rusella walk across your path, make sure to have your death foretold in unseemly glee before walking into the Snug where it will all come horribly true at Holloway-Smith Noir's Self Service Photobooth, complete with appropriately bloodthirsty props Run to the grounds and make for the Secret Den Bar where you can take part in Pagan Rituals with the Lady Greys or a rather civilised game of Croquet. Alternatively, dance the Vampire Fang-dango in the Ballroom with Vicky Butterfly as Demon Queen Lilith to the sounds of resident DJ Pierre Romain and Vintage Secret's Naomi Thompson.

If all that has left you feeling a bloody hunger, take yourself to the Hunting Room for an all black midnight feast by Stoke Place's Head Chef Craig Van der Meer.

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COMPETITION:

Win 1x Pair of tickets (we have 10 pairs to give away!) to attend The Black Widow's Ball on 28th October. To claim your tickets, send an email to Katie at katie@run-riot.com with the correct answer in the ‘subject’ box. The winner will be randomly selected.

Q: Americans carve pumpkins at Halloween,but what vegetable did the Irish and Scots originally carve into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory?

A: 1)Turnips 2)Potatoes 3)Beetroots 4)Marrows