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Pumpkins by day. Nightmares by night.
Townsend Farm, Pembridge | October 2026
I love being scared. I once watched a horror film every single day for a month, entirely voluntarily. Thirty days of jump scares, questionable decisions in dark basements and people who really should have left the house when the lights started flickering. Glorious.
So you can imagine my delight at discovering that a farm in Pembridge has managed to create the sort of autumn outing that appeals to two very different versions of me. The one who wants to take her little boy pumpkin picking, eat cake, drink a delicious hot chocolate. And the one who quite fancies being chased through a field by something deeply unpleasant.
By day, Pembridge Pumpkin Patch is all wheelbarrows, pumpkin picking, autumn treats and wholesome family chaos. But when darkness falls, Townsend Farm becomes Hallowfields, a full-blown scare attraction with live actors, creepy encounters and things lurking in places where things absolutely should not be lurking.
There's also a Twilight experience for anyone wanting the spooky atmosphere without the full psychological assault, which is a nice option for families with older children or anyone who doesn't share my enthusiasm for being terrorised recreationally.
I love that you can spend the afternoon making lovely autumn memories with the kids and return after dark to have the living daylights frightened out of you. That's range.
I'm going. Obviously.
There are food and drinks on site, a pumpkin included with every ticket and a day-and-night bundle for those who want the full transformation.
Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, with more dates later in the month | Townsend Farm, Pembridge, HR6 9HB
Day picking £9.95 | Hallowfields £14.95 | Combined pass £19.95
The daytime patch runs 9am–5pm, with Hallowfields from 6–9pm. Check the selected evening's scare level when booking.
Pick your pumpkins and book your scares →
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Horror films and cocktails. Hereford, you have my attention.
HORROR-FORD Film Festival | Hereford
OMG I think I've found my people. Hereford has its own horror film festival, HORROR-FORD, and this year it's celebrating its fifth anniversary with a programme that looks like somebody raided my ideal October watchlist.
Tonight, Thursday 15 October, there's a 50th-anniversary screening of Carrie, the 1976 Stephen King adaptation about a bullied teenage girl with telekinetic powers and a prom night that goes spectacularly wrong. A reassuring reminder that however awkward your own school years were, they could have been worse.
Then, on Sunday 18 October, The Jam Factory is hosting a 30th-anniversary screening of From Dusk Till Dawn, complete with bespoke cocktails, music from the film and a burlesque introduction.
For the uninitiated, it's the gloriously unhinged 1996 film starring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino that starts as a crime thriller and takes a very sharp turn into vampire-infested chaos.
There's more across the festival too, including a collaboration with RADIX Film Club on Monday 19 October for Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Exactly the sort of title that deserves a closer look.
A horror-film community in Hereford that also likes a cocktail? I have questions. Mainly about how I've managed to miss this.
Tonight, Thursday 15 October, Sunday 18 October and Monday 19 October | The Courtyard and The Jam Factory, Hereford
Explore The Courtyard's October programme →
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Dancing before dark. Annie Mac was onto something.
Disco Bliss | The Cellars, Shrewsbury | Saturday 17 October
When Annie Mac launched Before Midnight in 2022, I thought she was onto something brilliant. Here was a woman who had spent years at the heart of British dance music, become a mum and realised that her love of a proper night out hadn't disappeared just because she now had children to get up with in the morning.
Her answer was beautifully simple: club nights that start at 7pm and finish by midnight. All the music, dancing and atmosphere, with enough time to get home and function as a human being the following day.
And she struck a nerve. There's a whole generation of us who grew up going out, dancing until ridiculous o'clock, spending weekends at festivals and loving every minute of it. Then came careers, children, early mornings and the increasingly unappealing prospect of being awake at 3am.
But I still want to dance. I still want loud music and that lovely feeling of losing yourself in a crowd of people who are all having a jolly lovely time.
Which is why I'm delighted to see Disco Bliss returning to Shrewsbury this Saturday.
The Cellars at The Buttermarket will be filling its dancefloor with 70s disco and 80s pop from the likes of Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Wham! and Chaka Khan. Doors open at 1pm, the dancing starts at 2pm, and by 6pm it's all over.
An entire afternoon on the dancefloor and you can still make it home for bedtime. Possibly even your children's.
Annie Mac may have helped bring early clubbing into the mainstream, and I'm very happy to see the idea making its way into the Marches. More of this, please. Next time with a bit of old skool garage.
Saturday 17 October | Doors 1pm, music 2–6pm | The Cellars, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury | Tickets from £15
Book your daytime disco tickets
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A gong bath for the Celtic season of ghosts
Samhain Sound Bath | Hellens Manor, Much Marcle | Monday 19 October
If being chased through a field by Halloween monsters isn't your preferred route to spiritual awakening, there's another option.
Hellens Manor is hosting a Samhain sound bath, inspired by the ancient Celtic festival marking the transition into the darker half of the year.
Samhain has long been associated with the end of the harvest, the beginning of winter and the belief that the boundary between the living and the dead grows thinner. Which is quite a lot of atmosphere to bring to a Monday evening.
The session uses up to four gongs, crystal bowls and other instruments to create an immersive sound experience. You lie down, get comfortable and allow yourself to disappear into the vibrations for a while.
It's held at Hellens, one of Herefordshire's most remarkable historic houses, which adds its own layer of intrigue.
Bring a mat, blankets, pillow and an eye mask. Personally, I'd be tempted to take the thickest blanket in the house and emerge 90 minutes later feeling like a Victorian ghost who's finally had a decent night's sleep.
Monday 19 October, 7–8.30pm | Hellens Manor, Much Marcle | £20 | Ages 14+
Book the Samhain Sound Bath
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A pottery date for the creatively optimistic
Doodle Alley | Whitchurch, Shropshire
There's something very satisfying about making something with your own hands, even when your artistic abilities peaked somewhere around Year 4.
Tucked into Victoria Yard, just off Whitchurch High Street, Doodle Alley is a pottery-painting studio where you can turn up with a friend, your partner or the children and spend a couple of hours painting something entirely your own.
There are more than 200 pieces of pottery to choose from, including mugs, bowls, plates and various little objects just begging to be decorated with varying degrees of artistic competence.
Sessions last around 90 minutes, with prices starting at £9.95. Once you're finished, your creation is glazed and fired, ready to collect within around two weeks.
And for the grown-ups, Doodle Alley also runs evening painting sessions where you can bring your own food and drink, which sounds like a rather lovely alternative to another night in the pub.
This Friday's adults-only evening is already fully booked, but there are spaces advertised for Thursday 29 October.
I particularly like this as an easy, low-pressure afternoon with the kids. You can make something together, have a chat, and leave with a useful little object that will probably be treasured for years. Even if it's spectacularly wonky.
Open Thursday 15 to Saturday 17 October | Victoria Yard, 44 High Street, Whitchurch, SY13 1BB
Booking recommended.
Book a pottery-painting session
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THE NICE PILE
A little tango in Ludlow: Fancy learning a few new moves? Loud River Tango welcomes beginners and experienced dancers to Ludlow Assembly Rooms this Friday 16 October, 1.30–3.30pm. £10. Find out more.
Jimeoin, Newtown: The brilliantly deadpan Irish-Australian comedian brings Ballyhoo to The Hafren this Friday 16 October at 7.30pm, with tickets at £23.50. Book here.
A very human musical, Shrewsbury: Come From Away, the extraordinary true story of a small Canadian town welcoming thousands of stranded air passengers after 9/11, is at Theatre Severn until Saturday 17 October. Book here.
Greek gods and gorgeous music: The award-winning musical Hadestown, which reimagines the story of Orpheus and Eurydice with folk and New Orleans jazz, gets a big-screen showing at The Hafren this Saturday 17 October. See the screening.
A little fingerstyle magic, Ludlow: Guitarist and songwriter Amit Dattani brings his intricate acoustic playing to Ludlow Assembly Rooms this Saturday 17 October at 7pm. A lovely alternative to another Saturday in front of Netflix. Find tickets.
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One last weekend before half term, whatever that means for anyone who's only just got the school routine under control or managing the commute to work. I hope you find a little time for yourself amongst it all, whether that's seeing your mates or making an impulsive plan.
If you discover somewhere wonderful along the way, please tell me about it. MAM is becoming a lovely little community of curious people who genuinely love where we live, and I'd like to keep it that way. Share this with a friend, drag someone along on an adventure and I'll see you next Thursday.
Sarah x
Editor (Head MAM)
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