Halloween at the Museum

Adult Only Zone

8pm to midnight | Treetops | Adults Only

This is an adults-only zone where you can grab a drink at the candlelight bar, try a slime shot, grab a bloody popcorn and sit in the mist and watch a horror movie marathon. 

Meet a mystic in The SpellBox, where you can have your palm read or delve into the world of tarot cards. 

The SpellBox

8 to 11pm | Treetops, Candlelight Bar

At Halloween, when the Veil is at its finest between the Worlds, spirits, witches and faeries rule the night. Experience the mystery with a psychic reading and delve into the beautiful unknown. Three witches from SpellBox will be at the event to conjure visions alluringly spooky.

Outdoor Horror Screen

8pm to Midnight | Northern Terrace

As night falls sit in the mist amongst the trees outside and dive into a darker side with back-to-back horror trailers from B grade gorefests to cult classics.

Kids Monster Halloween Disco 

7 to 11pm | Children’s Gallery Big Box

Dance like a monster under the mirror ball in the Kids Halloween Disco, with spooky songs all night to shake your claws and tails too. 

Campfire Tales

7 to 11pm | Dynamic Earth Gallery

Gather ‘round the campfire for spooky science stories of the supernatural world as we spin enchanting tales of creatures that are stranger than fiction and things that go bump in the night.

New stories start every 15 minutes.

Spooky Science

7 to 10:30pm | Children’s Gallery Garden

Mad science meets frightening physics at our Scienceworks side stage with tricks and treats aplenty from flowing slime to fountains of fog and hair-raising surprises galore.

Frog Fog Garden

7pm to Midnight | Children’s Gallery Garden

Boink Boink, Ribbet Ribbet, creep through the fog and see if you can find the hidden frog skeletons in the Frog Fog Garden! 

Face Painting

8 to 10pm | Galleria

Join in the Halloween face painting experience with our amazing Halloween witches.

Snake Pit

7 to 11pm | Children’s Gallery

Beware Snakes!! Wrestle with the fluffy snakes in the snake pit. Will you survive the cuddle attack by our silly serpents? 

Haunted Cinema

7pm to Midnight | Melbourne Story

Step into a haunted 1920’s cinema for a spooky sampling of curated clips and trailers presented by The Melbourne Horror Film Society. From 6:30 to 8:30pm, enjoy family-friendly horror clips from around the world. As night falls, dive into a darker side with back-to-back horror trailers from B grade gorefests to cult classics.  

DJ Blackscale

7pm to Midnight | Main Stage, Ground Level | Music

Dive into a night of wicked beats and spine-tingling tunes with Will Pyett, aka DJ Blackscale as he conjures a mix of dance floor bangers and Halloween inspired classics until late.

Costume Catwalk

7:30pm, 8:30pm, 9:30pm, 10:30pm | Main Foyer

The costume catwalk will start on the half hour from 7:30 to 10:30pm – join us at these times to parade your best Halloween outfits and win a prize!

Trick or Treat

7 to 10pm for KIDS | 10 to 11pm for ADULTS | Gandel Gondwana Garden

Collect them all and get a Halloween goodie bag!

Trick or Treat your way through the Bubble Garden, find your limited-edition skeleton collector cards, with delectable, wrapped candies and surprises along the way.

Horrible Hairy Hands

7 to 11pm | Lab 2

Will the Hairy Hands give you a trick or a treat? Can they tell if you have been naughty or nice? Try your luck at the horrible hairy hands to see if you will get a treat or a trick!

The Cephalopod’s Realm

7pm to Midnight | Science and Life Gallery

Creep under the giant Cephalopod and marvel as its many legs! Cephalopods are older than dinosaurs, appearing in fossil records 500 million years ago. These boneless creatures can be found in marine habitats, making them the ideal inspiration for horrifying ocean lore from around the world.

The Spiders Nest

7pm to Midnight | Immersive Studio

Warning!! Warning!! The spider zone is not for the faint of heart! Enter if you dare through the spider web to see the spider’s nest!

(This experience is possible to avoid if you really fear spiders)

The Ghost Story Stage

7pm to Midnight | Melbourne Story

The Ghost story stage is running all night with horrible history mysteries, ghostly and gory tales from paranormal Melbourne, terrifying collection objects and even a little Viking mythology!

Tales as old as time in the haunted halls of Melbourne Museum on a paranormal stage, join us for adventures through space and time. The Ghost Story stage will have new stories every 15 mins all night! Meet you ghostly host for stories with the most!

• Creepy Collecting
• The Black Cat Nine Lives
• The Stagecoach Murders
• The Trouble at the Asylum
• The Ghost in the Theatre
• The Tavern Travesty
• The Ghoul in the Goal
• Spooky Spiritualism
• The Wild Hunt - Nordic Ghost Tale
• The Zombie Vikings – Nordic Ghost Tale
• The Vikings Lonely Ghost – Nordic Ghost Tale

Shadows of Little Lon

8pm | Little Lon, Melbourne Story, Upper Level

Step into Melbourne’s mysterious past, a realm of shadowy figures and historical heists, where a criminal underbelly thrived and survived. Presented by Dr Michelle Stevenson, Head of History and Technology at Museums Victoria. 

The Vampire Squid from Hell

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

Come eye-to-eye with creatures that lurk in the ocean's shadows and inspired the scariest name of the marine world - Vampyroteuthis infernalis - the vampire squid from hell. Presented by Julian Finn, Museums Victoria’s Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates.

Ultraviolet Underworld

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

Venture into an eerie ultraviolet underground world of precious gemstones and discover the magic of fluorescence with minerals and precious gemstones from opals to sapphires that glow in the dark with Oskar Lindenmayer, Collection Manager, Geosciences and Dermot Henry, Head of Sciences, Museums Victoria Research Institute.

Zombie worms and other haunting marine life

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

Be haunted by bone-eating zombie worms, volcanic shark graveyards, and other daunting marine creatures. A satirical look at the creatures that may have inspired science fiction writers and movies from ancient oceans to today with Robin Wilson Senior Curator Marine Invertebrates, Rolf Schmidt, Collection Manager Invertebrate Palaeontology, Mel Mackenzie Collection Manager Marine Invertebrates, Tim Ziegler Collection Manager Vertebrate Palaeontology. 

Spooky skull projections

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

What do monitor lizards, and the Stegosaurus have in common? They both have osteoderms. Discover the tree of vertebrate life with real micro computed tomography µCT-scans, peer inside the skin bones to see what is hiding underneath with Roy Ebel, Museums Victoria Research Institute

Spinning webs and spider traps

7 to 10pm | Learning lab Studio

Unravel the secrets of spiderwebs from Orb Weavers, Huntsman, Funnel webs to Tarantulas, discover how these master architects spin their intricate traps.

Mysterious Minibeasts

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

How big can a spider really get? What invertebrates' glow in the dark? Meet Simon Hinkley, Collection Manager, Terrestrial Invertebrates and Claire Keely Collection Manager, Invertebrates, as they answer these and many other spooky questions! 

Fangs, Frogs and Frights

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

Learn about the razor-sharp teeth and blood sucking habits of the real-life vampires of the animal kingdom, discover scary skeleton facts with Dr Kylea Clarke, Museums Victoria’s Collection Manager of Terrestrial Vertebrates, Karen Roberts Collection Manager, Vertebrates, Katie Date Collection Manager, Terrestrial Vertebrates and Elise Ireland, Information Officer Sciences

The Creepy Library

7 to 10pm | Science and Life Gallery

Some of the most eerie, mysterious and spine-chilling creatures in Museums Victoria Rare books, from haunted bats to creatures that will you looking over your shoulder from the Museums Victoria Library team.

Our Wonderous Planet | Supernatural Science Hosts

5:30 to 8:30pm

Join Our Wonderous Planet experts Kate Phillips Senior Curator, Science Exhibitions and Zoe Walder Exhibition Officer Experience and Interpretation from 5:30pm - 8:30pm to learn more about this incredible exhibition and find out more about all of the incredible super natural parts of Our Wonderous Planet.

Our Wondrous Planet

7pm to Midnight

Discover a world four billion years in the making. In Our Wondrous Planet, you’ll come face to face with animals from around the world. Step into their vibrant ecosystems and experience the incredible connections that unite all life on Earth. Play your part in helping to shape a thriving future for our planet. 

Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard

7pm to Midnight | Melbourne Story Gallery

This premium touring exhibition is included with all Halloween tickets.

Travel back in time to early medieval Scotland and discover the unique and mysterious treasure trove of Viking-age treasures, from jewellery, personal heirlooms and one-of-a-kind objects from as far away as Central Asia.

The Galloway Hoard is considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the century.

The Bone Zone

7pm to Midnight | Science & Life Gallery

Walk past the skeletons of 17 prehistoric animals throughout Dinosaur Walk. Discover the origin of life in Victoria told through fossils, models, animatronics and animations. See a world of insects, spiders, snails and other invertebrates in Bugs Alive! and immerse yourself in the lost world of the Cretaceous in Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.

Children’s Gallery

7 to 10pm | Just for KIDS
10pm to Midnight | Everyone Welcome

For one night only, children of all ages can explore the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery, including a spooky Scienceworks side stage packed with mad science and frightening physics, the Fog Frog Garden, The Kids Monster Halloween Disco and more.

Ghastly Gondwana Garden

7pm to 10pm | Just for KIDS
10pm to Midnight | Everyone Welcome

Explore Victoria’s ancient landscapes and learn about creatures that once walked this land, from dinosaurs and megafauna and touch replicas of the bones, teeth and claws of ancient creatures.

Mystical Melbourne

7 to Midnight | Melbourne Story

Journey through Melbourne’s past and present, exploring haunted tales, supernatural legends, and the criminal events that have shaped Melbourne’s hidden history.

Vampires Bite Cafe | Main Cafe 

Munch into a meal in the vampires lair!

vgn=Vegan   v=Vegetarian   gf=Gluten Free

Savoury 

Frankenstein’s fries, chili beef, cheese sauce, sour cream, monster’s mashed avo (gf) 17
Char-spook-ery and cheese 22 
Beef Ghoul-ash with monster mash (gf) 17 
Devilish chicken burger, ghost pepper hot sauce, charcoal bun 17
Pumpkin pizza, trick or treat candy beets, feta, olives (v, vgn option) 18 
Vampire bites pack, chicken nuggets, ghoulish cupcake, harvest vegies and hummus 18 
Hot Chips 12

Sweet & Snacks 

Mummified chocolate brownie (gf, v) 7 
Jack O’Lantern cupcake 8
Halloween Cookies 6 
Zombie Finger Lollipops 3 
Chocolate Pumpkins 10

Ribbit Ribbit Frog Cart | Children's Gallery (Kids only)

Wibbily Wobbly Jelly in my belly at the Frog Cart!

Frog in a Pond Green Jelly 5

Scary Arms Bar | Main Dance Floor

A special drink delivered by a surprise scary arm - which one will you get?

Drinks

Hard Rated Alcoholic Lemonade 375ml 16 
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin & Tonic 250ml 17 
Smirnoff Double Black 300ml 16
Furphy Original 11 
Great Northern Super Crisp 10
Non-Alcoholic Soft drinks – Pepsi, Solo, Lemonade, Pepsi Max 6 
Water – Cool Ridge Sparkling 500ml, Cool Ridge Still 600ml 5 

The Candlelight Bar | Treetops (Adults only)

Grab a spooky spirit, a creepy cocktail or a slime shot at the adults only bar!

Cocktails

Hocus Pocus Gin, blue curacao, lemon juice, soda water, purple dust 20 
Vlad’s Blood Red Negoni Campari, gin, rosso vermouth, blood packs (red ice cubes) 22
Vampire Kiss (non-alcoholic) Lyre’s Dry London spirit, grape juice, soda water, candy teeth 18
Slime Shot 16

Drinks

Morgans Bay Sparkling Cuvee 12 
Morgans Bay Sauvignon Blanc 12 
Morgans Bay Shiraz Cabernet 12 
Mulled Wine 15 
Beer & Cider Furphy Original 11 
Great Northern Super Crisp 10 
James Boags Premium Light 9 
Heaps Normal Quiet XPA (zero alcohol) 9
Little Creatures Apple Cider 11 
Ready to Drink Hard Rated Alcoholic Lemonade 375ml 16 
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin & Tonic 250ml 17 
Smirnoff Double Black 300ml 16 
Non-Alcoholic Soft drinks – Pepsi, Solo, Lemonade, Pepsi Max 6 
Water – Cool Ridge Sparkling 500ml, Cool Ridge Still 600ml 5 
Hot Chocolate  6

Snacks

Salted Nuts 7 
Pretzels 7
Bloody Popcorn 10

Glow in the Dark Bar | Main Foyer

Under the black light things glow and shine - will you dare to try the fluorescing food or glowing goo? More menu items coming soon! 

Fluro Treats 6