Spooktacular | Are you ready for Halloween?
Spooktacular at Ribhouse Texas
Even the staff is dressed up at Ribhouse Texas
Boo Batter Ice Cream at Cold Stone Creamery
glow in the dark Starbucks cups
Starbucks Night Sky Glow in the Dark Mug
Here in the Netherlands, we need to put our coats back on and it’s getting dark early. In short Autumn has really started after a beautiful summer. We have been able to enjoy many drinks on the terrace this year, as can be found in our lists of popular summer drinks and craft liquor drinks from the Netherlands. Now it’s time for autumn, forest walks, hot chocolate, games and Halloween. Even here in the Netherlands, this holiday is being celebrated more and more often. We have a list of spooktacular cocktails, donuts, Chucky beer, food, Halloween cups and events, even a Halloween Bingo!
4 minutes read
Ribhouse Texas | Decorations and the staff is also dressed up
During Halloween (it starts at this chain on 18 October), the restaurants of the Dutch chain of RibHouse Texas are transformed into true haunted houses, check out this Instagram post. The staff and chefs are dressed up and the changing menu is full of spooky dishes, desserts and drinks.
Ribhouse Texas is an American Steakhouse with 6 restaurants in the Netherlands. The restaurants are decorated with original rodeo, country and western collections and the menu features a wide range of (dry aged) steaks and ribs. In addition, each restaurant has a changing menu including vegetarian and fish options.
TGI Fridays | Come dressed up to receive…
The Dutch restaurants of TGI Fridays are creating a real Halloween party this year. From Monday 24 October, you can eat and drink spooky goodness here. For a fortnight, their restaurants will be transformed into the spookiest eatery you’ve ever seen. If you come dressed up you will get a serving of JD chicken strips or mozzarella sticks as a reward.
Today, TGI Fridays is a global household name: it already has fans in 61 countries, including the Netherlands with restaurants in Rotterdam and Utrecht.
Spooktacular burgers at Fat Phil’s
We also came across the scary burgers at Fat Phil’s. For the whole month of October, you can order your favourite burger at Fat Phil’s restaurants in the ‘spooky’ style. You will then get your burger on a black bun. Fat Phil’s has locations in Amsterdam, Almere, Arnhem, The Hague, Groningen, Leiden, Leidschendam and Zoetermeer.
Walibi Fright Nights
The ‘Walibi Fright nights’ and Eddie The Clown are popular here in the Netherlands. During the month of October, Walibi transforms into a veritable haunted house. Every year you can haunt through the park, or in one of the haunted houses. Besides the haunted houses, they also offer ‘experiences’ and you can sleep in one of the ‘after dark’ houses where you won’t sleep much, we think. We also came across a new initiative from Walibi, starting this year they also have the dinner experience, ‘campsite of curiosities’. Guests get full service, shared dining (a well-stocked board per table with something for everyone), side dishes, a dessert and 75 minutes of unlimited drinks (beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee and tea). Spooktacular idea if you ask us!
Disney Halloween Festival
If you think Walibi fright nights are too scary, Disneyland Paris is a fun alternative. They celebrate the ‘Disney Halloween Festival’ from 1 October to 6 November. Here, too, the park is decorated Halloween style and you can enjoy various Spooky snacks. The Disney Villains steal the show during this ‘Halloween’ season during their 30th anniversary. Guests can enjoy the ‘terrifying’ atmosphere, enchanting encounters, ominous activities, spooktacular attractions and more surprises, according to Disney.
Spooktacular Cocktails
You can find inspiration and recipes of the most spooktacular cocktails and mocktails all over the internet. Among others, we came across a list of spooky Halloween cocktails on Cosmopolitan’s website, cocktail inspiration, and recipes. Great idea to turn a classic like the well-known mimosa into an ‘apple cider mimosa’, with cinnamon and apple juice or the ‘pomegranate cider mimosa’ with pomegranate and salted caramel. And the ‘Witches Brew Lemonade’ with gin, blue curaçao and sparkling water looks delicious as well. Great idea to create your own spooky cocktails this autumn!
Chucky Beer
ELysian Brewing Company created a Chucky pumpkin beer to celebrate the second season of Chucky’s TV show of the same name from NBCUniversal.
Chucky, the knife-wielding killer doll from everyone’s nightmare, first appeared in the 1988 film Child’s Play and has become a cultural icon in the following 34 years. He starred in eight feature films and was given a television series of the same name on Syfy and USA Network last year. Chucky is now also getting his own beer, just in time for Halloween. “This pumpkin beer offers a fresh, unique way for fans and beer enthusiasts to quench their thirst with a taste of Chucky ahead of the premiere of season two.” They made a cool video to go with it. Spooktacular!
Starbucks | Glow in the dark cups
All those spooktacular drinks obviously have to be drank from cups, and Starbucks has created great cups. Just in time for the spooky season, Starbucks released a range of new glow in the dark drinking cups. The new drinking cups, mugs and more are fun and not scary at all. The products were available in Starbucks-licensed shops as early as September.
Dunkin’ Donuts | A ‘Bloody Mess’ donut?
Not only Starbucks had the idea of creating spooky cups for their coffees and frappuccinos. We also spotted cute Halloween-inspired glow in the dark cups at Dunkin’ Donuts. So far, we have only spotted these spooktacular cups on the US website, we are curious to see if we will spot them in the Netherlands. We did come across Halloween-inspired donuts on their Dutch Instagram. You can choose between a ‘Black Cat’ with chocolate filling, icing and speckles, the ‘Bloody Mess’ with cheesecake filling, white chocolate icing and red velvet crumble and the ‘Happy Pumpkin’ with pumpkin cream filling, orange icing and chocolate topping. We will definitely stop by to get one, or two 😉.
The Boo Batter Ice Cream returned at Cold Stone Creamery
At Cold Stone Creamery®, they are already getting into the Halloween mood with their fan-favourite Cake Batter Ice Cream®. Things are getting extra spooky again and Boo Batter™ Ice Cream, is featured in the Treat or Treat™ Creation™ as from 1 October.
The Treat or Treat Creation consists of Boo Batter Ice Cream mixed with trick-or-treat favourites such as Halloween OREO® Cookies, KIT KAT® and M&M’S®. Guests can also add an orange waffle cone or bowl to make it extra ‘spooky’. Is this a fun initiative for Dutch ice cream parlours?
Cold Stone Creamery® creates the ‘Ultimate Ice Cream Experience’ together with their franchisees and there are nearly 1,500 locations in 30 countries.
The Garret Cocteleria in New York
Inspiration from the United States or for those planning a trip to for example New York this autumn, The Garret Coctelaria. From 21 September and until 19 November, Garret Cocteleria has a spooky autumn pop-up. Here, they celebrate the traditional ‘dia de los muertos’ in Mexican style with themed cocktails and honour the artists and icons who are no longer among us.
Black Lagoon pop-up in America and Canada
Black Lagoon is an immersive Halloween experience, from spooky themed cocktails to just plain creepy! An unmissable pop-up in the (spooky) season, there are pop-ups in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, Chicago, Denver and Portland. Black Lagoon is the brainchild of Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage. After having their first pop-up of its kind at the famed Dungeon in New Orleans in 2019, they decided it needed to be bigger, creepier and louder than ever.
Black Lagoon is a spooky experience that pays homage to the macabre with a touch of goth and metal. Wear your costume to these dark dungeons of booze and enjoy innovative and deliciously creepy cocktails! Check out this Instagram post from Toronto.
Spooktacular events
In England, Halloween is celebrated a lot more extensively than in the Netherlands. We spotted some interesting events that might serve as inspiration for the Dutch hospitality industry. In October, for instance, Phantom Peak is transformed into Hallowed Peak. With paranormal investigators, terrifying horror experiences at Madam Mechanica’s, ghost stories, performances, spectacular live music, and a delicious Halloween drink on arrival.
We also came across the Sky Garden Halloween Party, this party takes place on 28 October, take a look at their website if you want to know more.
And we came across a spooky bingo at Hijingo in London. Here, you can take part in a 90-minute spooky bingo with a chance to win different prizes. According to their own website, Hijingo is ‘The future of bingo’, a multi-sensory bingo experience, combining live entertainment with special lighting, ground-breaking sound effects and stunning moving images. This combined with the chance to win epic prizes. As far as we know, we do not yet know this concept of Bingo in the Netherlands.
