Halloween is kind of a strange holiday. Everything is called “spooky,” or sometimes “spoooky,” with three ‘o’s, but nothing is meant to actually be scary.
You can decorate with plastic spiders and webs made out of cotton, but try bringing in actual spiders and let them build homes on Shawna’s desk and see what happens. Fake blood is fine; real blood gets you arrested. Ditto skeletons.
I have always been a fan of monsters and scary movies, and even Halloween’s cleaned-up, kid-friendly version is fun, and it comes with candy. But I like it starting around Oct. 24.
I own prosthetic fangs and a Dracula cape, so I’m ready to go any time, but a week is enough.
But some restaurants have decided that Halloween needs to start early this year.
Applebee’s came out of the gate at the beginning of September with new versions of its annual $6 “Spooky Sips,” a solid month earlier than last year.
They’ve changed things up a bit. Last year’s Dracula’s Juice was made with Bacardí Superior rum and Patrón Silver tequila with strawberry and lemon sour. This year the tequila is the considerably cheaper Cuervo Tradicional Blanco and the strawberry has been replaced with more niche prickly pear.
Last year’s Tipsy Zombie was Bacardi Superior Rum with passion fruit, pineapple, cherry, and lime, topped with a gummi brain, and this year’s has the addition of melon liqueur along with the rest.
Last year customers could also order a $2 “Vibe Drop” of melon liqueur or Blue Curaçao to add to cocktails and make them change color, which was fun.
This year they’ve made the very on-trend move of adding spooky mocktails: The Tropical Spell with pineapple, passion fruit, cherry, lime, and dragon fruit, and Graveyard Soda, which is Mountain Dew and blue raspberry syrup topped with a creamy swirl, whipped cream, grenadine, and Oreo cookie crumbles. They’re each $4.
Applebee's Spooky Sips | Photo courtesy of Applebee's
Jack in the Box also jumped the (fake-blood-drenched) gun with the Sept. 10 launch of its Munchie Meal of Horror, a collab with The Simpsons and that TV series’ annual Treehouse of Horror special.
Starting at $13 it features a Double Krusty Burger of Terror or Double Chicken Sandwich of Terror, plus two tacos, curly fries, and a drink. It comes in a thematic box and glow-in-the-dark cups.
The builds are mostly unremarkable — lettuce, tomato, and cheese — but they do each have a Spooky Simpsons Sauce, which is a smoky barbecue ketchup (eat it if you dare! I guess).
There are also Forbidden D’oh!nut Holes on offer, which are cinnamon sugar doughnut holes with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles priced starting at $1.99. Those are actually Simpsons-themed rather than based on Halloween — the doughnut Homer eats on TV has pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles, so that’s fun.
And this Wednesday, Sept. 16, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is introducing ghost and goblin iced lattes available through the end of October. The Ghost Iced Latte is espresso with white chocolate powder and cookie pieces topped with cold foam and cookie crumbles. The Goblin Iced Latte swaps out the espresso for matcha, turning it green — one of the colors designated spooky for Halloween, although of course green becomes festive a month later when Christmas season starts.
Why is Halloween season starting so early? Well, it’s a considerably bigger holiday than it was pre-pandemic when annual domestic spending was $8.8 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Last year, it was $13.1 billion.
Meanwhile, we all know consumers are skittish and tightening their belts, so maybe it makes sense to get them to start spending on scary-acting food & beverage as soon as possible. On top of that, Halloween’s on a Saturday this year, which is handy for revelers, trick-or-treaters, and their parents who don’t have to deal with sugar highs and crashes on a school night. But it’s a bummer for restaurants, who can’t bank on a midweek indulgence, potentially bookended by two festive weekends.
Will the gambit work? Well, Applebee’s and Jack in the Box are part of public companies, so we’ll find out soon enough.
In the meantime, keep the real spiders to yourself.