MORE than 300 little monsters and ghoulish grown-ups flocked to Farnham Castle’s first ever Hallowe’en family fun day during the half-term break.

The 900-year-old medieval landmark treated visitors to a spiders-web of spooky activities and competitions on Monday, October 23 - from ghost stories in the Lantern Hall to a Thriller-themed disco, a cauldron of arts and crafts, and face-painting.

A whopping 660 gingerbread cookies and cupcakes were also made for children to decorate, and afterwards they could burn off the sugar in a pumpkin hunt around the castle grounds.

Farnham town crier Jonathan Jones had the difficult job of judging the fancy dress competition - confronted by everything from werewolves to witches, pumpkins, ghosts, black-cats, skeletons and more.

Cressida Lee, the castle’s marketing manager, said: “We were so pleased with how the Hallowe’en event went and felt that it was a huge success. We had 330 people join us for the day and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“A lot of people commented on how it was the first time they had ever visited the castle and that they couldn’t believe such a beautiful palace, with an incredibly rich history, was right on their doorstop!”

Cressida added the day wouldn’t have been possible without the help of local businesses, who she said “really went the extra mile to make the day so special”.

She continued: “Lavender Hill made some absolutely stunning autumnal Halloween floral arrangements which made the castle look tastefully spooky and Farnham Sound and Light did a great job selecting fun but child-friendly tracks for the kids dancing in the Great Hall.

“The children had an absolute ball on the dance floor (as did quite a few of the staff!) and Sparkleface face-painting worked non-stop throughout the event to paint over 100 faces.

“It was such a fun-packed afternoon. Totally different to what we normally do – elegant weddings and corporate meetings.

“Given how well it went though, and how much everybody seemed to enjoy it, we have already started planning our next big family event.”