Halloween Freak Show Party

Release your inner freak this Halloween! With a packed programme of misshapen DJs, creative acts and disturbing performers, the theme for the 2011 edition of the infamous Halloween party by Amsterdam Spook pays homage to the Victorian-era freak show.

Victorian freak show

In a time when wenches wore corsets, gentlemen wore top hats and mobile phones were steam-powered, the Freak Show was a refined form of entertainment. These exhibitions of human oddities saw everything from bearded women to sword-swallowers, the Wolf Man to the Elephant Man, heavily tattooed people to two-headed cows, the 'human torso' to chicks with dicks - all displayed for guests to gawk at. Get working on that costume!

Dress up like there's no tomorrow!

Costumes are required - anything goes! Dress Halloween, go totally off-topic or run with the theme: think steam punk, Victorian, circus mutant, side show outcast, zombie ringmaster - the choice is yours.

Odeon Theater

Guests of Amsterdam Spook's annual costume bash are treated to three-and-a-half floors of Halloween this year, and each space is set up with its own theme. The depths of the Odeon will become the 'Carnival of Horrors', with a packed programme of theatre, cabaret and seriously freaky performers. On the first level, the grand 'Oval Hall' will be the nucleus of dance and electro tunes headlined by Wannabe A Star. On the ground floor, the 'Cabinet of Curiosities' chamber will be home to dark new wave sounds and unexpected acts. The evening will be hosted by Amsterdam's foxiest redheads, the Steampunk Courtesans.

Amsterdam Halloween Festival

The costume party by Amsterdam Spook is a highlight of the second annual Amsterdam Halloween Festival. Other events include a Halloween costume and make-up workshop, a Fright Night Skate, Mr Horror's Halloween Horror Show with four horror film premieres, a haunted kids' programme and a charity Zombie Walk.

Check www.amsterdamhalloweenfestival.com for programme details and costume inspiration.