Halloween in Korea is a strange holiday. Nobody knocks on doors, the theme parks avoid the word in their event names, and yet 110,000 people squeezed into Hongdae on the night last year.

Last updated: September 21, 2026 (KST)

Here is the bottom line for 2026. October 31 is a Saturday, so expect two peak nights, Friday the 30th and Saturday the 31st. The theme parks are the easiest way to do Halloween properly, and all of their seasons are already running: Everland until November 22, Lotte World and Legoland until November 15, Seoul Land until November 1. For street atmosphere the crowd has moved from Itaewon to Hongdae and Seongsu, under heavy crowd control. Two things catch foreigners out every year: a police costume is a crime here, and the Seoul subway stops around midnight on Saturdays.

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How Korea Does Halloween Now

Korea's first Halloween event was held at a hotel in Itaewon in 1988. In the 1990s the holiday spread through English kindergartens and hagwons (학원, private academies), in the 2000s through malls and theme parks, and in the 2010s through social media, with Itaewon and Hongdae as the two hubs.

Since the Itaewon disaster of 2022, the holiday has been quieter and much more tightly managed. Theme parks kept their horror seasons and dropped the word from the titles. This year's big events are called Blood City Zero, Invitation to a Bizarre World, and K-Dopamine Ghost Festival.

So what you get in 2026 is a holiday that is lively but careful. Parties happen, costumes come out, and the city manages the streets closely.

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Theme Parks, the Easy Way to Do It

Every major park's autumn season covers Halloween night this year.

• Everland, "Blood City Zero: Hell Gate", September 12 to November 22, daily 16:00-21:00. This is Blood City's 10th year, and it is staged as an outdoor immersive zombie show across five zones, made with film director Lee Seok-hoon. Performers include zombies over two meters tall. Entry to Blood City is included in park admission.
• Lotte World, "Invitation to a Bizarre World", main festival September 19 to November 15. A collaboration with the horror anime Junji Ito Collection, featuring Tomie and Soichi, which the park calls a theme-park first. The new "Dark Fantasy Festival" parade runs at 20:20 every night. It is in Jamsil, on the subway, which makes it the simplest option for a weeknight.
• Seoul Land, "K-Dopamine Ghost Festival", September 5 to November 1. Korean ghosts such as the gumiho (구미호, nine-tailed fox) and the jeoseung-saja (저승사자, grim reaper) share the stage with Dracula and Frankenstein.
• Korean Folk Village, horror programs until November 15. The haunted prison Salgwiok (살귀옥), the haunted den Hyeoran Sikgwi (혈안식귀), and a night experience called "Ghost Pursuit" all run through Halloween. Last year the two haunted houses cost 13,000 KRW (about $9.50) and 8,000 KRW (about $6) on top of admission. This year's add-on prices are not posted yet.
• Legoland Korea, "Brick or Treat", September 11 to November 15, in Chuncheon. Not scary at all. A monster stamp rally, dance parties, and a costume contest at 15:00 on weekends and holidays, all aimed at elementary-age kids.

Foreigner Tickets

Seoul Travel Pass currently lists foreigner-only day tickets well below gate price:

• Everland, 51,000 KRW (about $37.50) for September and October, against a listed regular price of 68,000 KRW (about $50). November and December dates drop to 44,200 KRW (about $32.50).
• Lotte World, 42,500 KRW (about $31), against a listed regular price of 62,000 KRW (about $46)

Both require a passport at the gate. Neither listing says whether an Alien Registration Card is accepted instead, so residents should bring the passport. Everland's Horror Maze is a separate paid booking inside the Everland app, reported at around 15,000 KRW (about $11) per slot. Confirm the price in the app.

📍 Getting to Everland from Seoul: bus 5002 from Gangnam costs about 2,500 KRW (about $1.85) and takes 40 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. The alternative is the subway to Giheung and then the Everline light rail. Shuttle buses run 11,000 to 14,000 KRW (about $8 to $10) round trip.

💡 TIP: Blood City opens at 16:00 and the park empties out all at once after 21:00. On October 30 and 31, check the last return bus time before you go in, not when you come out.

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Hongdae, Seongsu, and Itaewon on the Night

Seoul has not yet announced its 2026 Halloween safety plan. Last year's plans came out on October 24, so expect the same timing. What follows is how 2025 went, and it is the best guide to this year.

Hongdae is now the center. About 110,000 people were there at the peak on Halloween night 2025, a three-year high. Mapo-gu put 1,804 staff on the ground, tracked crowd density with AI cameras at nine points, and ran an intensive control window from 20:00 on October 31 to 05:00 on November 1. Police named eight key zones across the city: Itaewon, Hongdae, Seongsu, Konkuk University, Gangnam Station, Apgujeong Rodeo, Myeongdong, and Ikseon-dong. Staged road closures were prepared for Jandari-ro in Hongdae, Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu, Myeongdong-gil, and Itaewon-ro.

In practice that means fences, one-way pedestrian flows, and officers with loudspeakers asking you to keep moving. Follow the flow even when it takes you the long way around. If a street feels too tight, leave it early.

Itaewon Today

Itaewon is quieter than its reputation. On Halloween night 2025 about 17,800 people had visited by 21:00, a fraction of the Hongdae crowd. Reporters described flashy costumes as barely visible, with most dressed-up visitors being foreign tourists in simple accessories. The bars and restaurants are busy again.

The controls are still strict. Yongsan-gu's 2025 plan split Itaewon Station's exits once the area reached its "crowded" stage, with exits 1 and 2 for entering and exits 3 and 4 for leaving. On the night itself, Line 6 trains skipped the station from 23:00 on October 31, the alley beside the Hamilton Hotel was closed at about 22:20, and an emergency text told people to use Noksapyeong or Hangangjin stations instead. Plan on walking to one of those two stations at the end of the night.

That alley is now the 10.29 Path of Memory and Safety (10.29 Gieok-gwa Anjeon-ui Gil, 10.29 기억과 안전의 길), a memorial to the victims of the 2022 disaster. If you pass through, pass through quietly and keep the costume photos for somewhere else.

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Getting Home After Midnight

This is where a Saturday Halloween hurts. Seoul subway lines run their last trains until about 01:00 on weekdays but only until about midnight on weekends and public holidays. So Friday, October 30 gives you an extra hour, and Saturday, October 31 does not. No Halloween extension has been announced.

Your options after the last train:

• Owl Bus (olppaemi beoseu, 올빼미버스), 14 night routes numbered N13 to N75, running roughly 23:00 to 06:00. The fare is 2,500 KRW (about $1.85) by transit card. Look up which N route passes your stop in Naver Map or KakaoMap before you go out. If you still need a card, see our Seoul transportation card guide.
• Taxi, base fare 4,800 KRW (about $3.50) for the first 1.6 km. A 20% late-night surcharge applies from 22:00 to 23:00 and from 02:00 to 04:00 (base 5,800 KRW, about $4.25), and a 40% surcharge from 23:00 to 02:00 (base 6,700 KRW, about $4.90). Trips that leave the city limits add another 20%.
• Walking out first. When roads are closed for crowd control, taxis cannot reach you inside the zone. Walk a few blocks away from Hongik University Station or Itaewon before you call one.

💡 TIP: If you live outside central Seoul, Friday the 30th is the smarter party night. Same crowd, same costumes, and the subway runs an hour later.

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Costume Rules That Can Get You Fined

Police uniforms are illegal to wear. Under Korea's police uniform law, wearing a police uniform or a convincing look-alike carries up to six months in prison or a fine of up to 3 million KRW (about $2,200). Selling or renting one carries up to a year or up to 10 million KRW (about $7,350). Police run a crackdown for about two weeks around Halloween every year, and banners in Hongdae last year read "Police uniform costumes are illegal." The reason is practical: in a crowd emergency, people need to know who the real officers are.

Military uniforms and replica guns are also a problem. Wearing a military uniform as a civilian can bring a fine of up to 100,000 KRW (about $74) or detention, and in 2023 a man carrying a replica gun in Hongdae was sent to summary trial. Skip the soldier, SWAT, and armed-anything costumes.

Drinking outside is legal in Korea in general, but districts can designate no-drinking zones with fines of 50,000 to 100,000 KRW (about $37 to $74). Watch for the signs in parks and plazas.

In an emergency call 112 for police or 119 for fire and ambulance. The 1330 tourist helpline answers 24 hours in English, Japanese, and Chinese, and its operators can interpret on a call to 112 or 119 for you.

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Where to Buy a Costume

• Daiso is the first stop. Its Halloween line has run 1,000 to 5,000 KRW (about $0.75 to $3.70) per item in past years: garlands from 1,000 KRW, LED lanterns at 3,000 KRW, witch hats, candy buckets, and a moving-ear hat at the top of the range. The shelves usually fill in early October. More on Daiso in our shopping guide for foreigners.
• Party shops in Gangnam and Seocho, such as Joy Party, Party N Deco, and Party House, carry full costumes, wigs, and makeup.
• Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street in Changsin-dong is Korea's largest toy wholesale market, with party goods at roughly 30 to 40% below retail.
• Coupang and Gmarket for anything specific. Order by mid-October to leave time for delivery and a return if the size is wrong.

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Halloween With Kids

Door-to-door trick-or-treating is not a Korean custom, so foreign parents build their own. In 2025, expat parent groups ran candy-station events at Olympic Park in Seoul and in Gwanggyo, with similar meetups in Ilsan, Pyeongtaek, and Busan. Near Camp Humphreys, the Anjeong-ri neighborhood has held a Halloween festival with a costume contest in past years.

The 2026 editions are not announced yet, and that is normal. These events are typically posted in local expat Facebook groups only one to two weeks ahead, so start checking in mid-October. Until then, Legoland's Brick or Treat and Lotte World's daytime parades are the reliable options, and several resorts ran family Halloween packages last year.

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Korea did not need Halloween to have ghost stories. The cheonyeo-gwisin (처녀귀신, the long-haired virgin ghost) and the grim reaper in a black gat were frightening children here centuries before the first pumpkin arrived in Itaewon. That is why the best Halloween nights in Korea feel a little borrowed and a little homegrown at once. Dress up, stay with your friends, follow the one-way signs, and leave yourself a way home.

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