Spooktacular Saturday: Newcastle Castle

This May marks 120 years since Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula was published, and to celebrate, we are holding a day of frightening fun for all the family.

The vampire famously lived (for want of a better word) in a gothic castle in Transylvania. Brave vampire-hunters are invited to explore the atmospheric passageways and ante-chambers of the Keep, as part of a children’s trail. You may even bump into Dracula or one of his friends along the way. There will also be the chance to meet the Castle's resident surgeon and hear him talk about leeches, which would have been used to suck patients' blood in medieval times!

In the Black Gate, there will be vampire-themed crafts, including the chance to make masks and your own swooping vampire bats to take home with you! At 2pm, author R.A. Browell will give a reading from The Carfax Chronicles: a new series of fantasy fiction books aimed at young teenagers. The first in the series, Earthcry is out now from Tyne Bridge Publishing, with the second, Assassins, due out later this year.

10am