THE brave are invited to take part in a series of bewitching Halloween events.

Night walks and pumpkin parades are among the hair-raising highlights.

One town new to the celebrations is Leek.

Capitalising on a series of popular ghost walks held each year, the town will be hosting its first Halloween festival, with a variety of suitably spooky activities.

Bill Cawley, who has led the Shriek in Leek ghost walks since November 2005, came up with the idea for the festival, after last year's walk attracted more than 1,500 people.

Bill, aged 54, a part-time college lecturer, from Leek, said: "The walk had a good atmosphere last year and many people in town, as we wandered around, were in fancy dress.

"I thought this was something we could build on.

"The walk covers a lot of Leek history, from the supernatural to murders and everyone who comes enjoys it."

The 90-minute walk costs £4 and leaves from The Coffee Clique, a coffee shop in Getliffe Yard, Derby Street, at 2pm, 5pm and 7.30pm.

Julie Lovatt, Coffee Clique owner, aged 38, from Werrington, said: "Bill had such a successful event we wanted to expand it. At 2pm there'll be a pumpkin parade. There'll be a prize for the best pumpkin and fancy dress.

"There'll also be dancers performing Thriller throughout the day and lots of pubs have got involved – there's a tarot reader, face painters and a balloon modeller."

Elsewhere in the region, many events promise plenty of scares, including the spooky spectacular ghosts and ghouls evening walk at Park Hall Country Park, Weston Coyney, tonight, at 7.30pm, 8.15pm and 8.40pm.

Dave Simcock, aged 54, a member of Friends of Park Hall Country Park, from Park Hall, said: "People should come along to get scared. The area used to be a sand and gravel quarry, so there's a variety of terrain and spaces that lend themselves to spooky activities like this."

Scare-seekers will have the chance to carve their own pumpkins and make Halloween lanterns.

The fun continues tomorrow, with visitors to an historic hall warned they will need nerves of steel to complete a gravedigger's guided tour of its grounds.

Ford Green Hall, Smallthorne, will host the event in which guests will hear spooky tales from Tudor times and be challenged to identify body parts from gravedigger Andrew Dutton's coffin.

Visitors are encouraged to come along in fancy dress between 1pm and 4pm.

Among other spooky goings-on across the region yesterday was a Halloween party at the Small Steps day nursery, Penkhull.

Donations were also taken for the children's ward at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire during the event.

Meanwhile, 15 youngsters aged nine to 14 at the Time 4 Me club at Haywood Engineering College, Burslem, ended a week of activities and trips out with a Halloween party.

Cheadle town centre will be no place for the faint-hearted tonight as streets are taken over by ghouls and witches.

The Halloween celebrations have been organised by the town's Business Group and include a pumpkin parade from Greyhound Walk at 5.45pm. There will also be a fancy dress competition, quiz and best-carved pumpkin contest. Entertainment has also been laid on in Market Square, including apple bobbing and a chocolate fountain.