Halloween in London?

I don't think Halloween is quite as big here as in the states. I don't know anyone who does anything to celebrate it, but you can find things to do. I rather like going to see The Woman in Black around Halloween. I think one of the reasons Halloween may not be quite as big is because we have Guy Fawke's Night a few days later. So, if you are still around you will find lots of firework displays to go to.

I've visited London a couple of times during this holiday, and didn't notice any obvious Halloween celebrations going on.

From Wikipedia:
"...With its roots in Celtic cultures, Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly..."

I agree with Laura that Hallowe'en is not a major event in Britain. Young children may go trick or treating in a rather half-hearted way, and there are occasional incidents with teenagers and flour or eggs. Bonfire night (November 5th, or an evening close to that night) is something much bigger, with public displays and people having firework parties at home.

Anyone with a business or activity to promote may use hallowe'en as a reason for a special event, but these are not mainstream. I was interested to read about "knee-trembling" events, as I always thought knee trembling was a rather more personal and intimate activity.

In some European countries, the following day, November 1st, All Saints Day, is the day when the dead are remembered and people visit the graves of their ancestors. Chrysanthemums are the preferred flower, and are considered a symbol of death.

We were in London on Halloween '08 and kids were out trick or treating and parading through Harrod's in costumes. A few pubs in Knightsbridge were decorated for Halloween.

I was in London Halloween 2003 - there was a particularly surreal costume/goth party going on at the Victoria & Albert museum in the evening - complete with horse drawn hearse and lots of people dressed in black dancing to loud techno music. A bit discombobulating after a 16 hour travel day (it was our first day there).

I was in Rome one Halloween. The locals didn't seem to care about it but we stumbled into a large group of mostly college age American revelers (maybe they stumbled into us is a better description) and joined them for a costumed pub-crawl.

All Saints Day was a big deal in Rome. We saw the Pope at the Vatican but the vatican museum was closed for the day. I doubt it will be as big of deal in London, but there may be some special events.