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In the midst of spooky season, Halloween-themed bars are scaring up monster business timed to Halloween, with lines out the door for the chance to sip on an array of chilling cocktails while taking in some over-the-top frights.
From a tiki bar serving up tropical delights to a gothic spectacle crawling with goblins — the Big Apple’s watering holes are going all out to give customers a frightfully good time.
And New Yorkers are cashing in on the action, one witch-tastic cocktail at a time.
“Halloween bars are fun because they are, by definition, limited edition,” Mandy Naglich, cocktail expert and author of the book “How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life,” told The Post.
“In a world where it’s on-trend to sip clarified pina coladas, minimalist margaritas, and extra-refined martinis, it’s fun to know you’ll be getting a tiki drink made with fake vampire blood. Let us have fun! It’s a bar!”
Behind the ghoulish fun is a seasonal business, as NYC bars invest in elaborate decor, enticing menus and captivating experiences to draw crowds — and keep them coming back.
From haunted underwater worlds to witchy rooftop escapes, these limited-run concepts are proving there’s money to be made in a little Halloween havoc.
“October is easily our busiest time of year,” Kavé Pourzanjani, the owner and general manager of the spooky East Village bar Paradise Lost, told The Post.
Boasting a Tiki-horror theme with eye-popping interiors, Pourzanjani opened the year-round bar in 2023 as an upscale tropical cocktail oasis.
It’s inspired by B horror films, the spirit of punk rock and the work of EC Comics, the latter being the publisher behind the “Tales from the Crypt” series.
“We had a love for the nonsensical world of Tiki, and were hoping to get away from a lot of the usual trappings you see in Tiki bars and instead focus on its less-explored aspects,” Pourzanjani said, noting there’s usually a long wait list on the weekends with guests thirsting for an array of frightful libations.
Paradise’s beast of a menu boasts 25 bespoke cocktails, plus an extra eight available exclusively for October and November. Each one has fewer than 12 ingredients “in true Tiki fashion,” according to Pourzanjani.
Among them is a crowd favorite, The Pumpkin Pie Tie, a stand-out made with a blend of Ron Del Barrilito 2 Star, Jamaican, Venezuelan and Martinique rums, along with pumpkin spice, Sichuan peppercorn and a brown butter maple gardenia.
“My hope is to always keep Halloween open to the public, never charge a cover or ticket fee, and make certain it’s one helluva good time.”
A short walk on from Paradise lies The Haunting on E 9th Street, a spooktastic spectacle that has taken over The Cabinet Mezcal Bar.
For this month only, the bar has traded its usual look for one crawling with ghosts and goblins — complete with spooky cocktails, including a mezcal-based ‘clown pear-anoia’ and a whiskey ‘poison apple,’ some even served in skull-shaped glasses.
“Halloween resonates everywhere, and I think that bodes well for building a destination around it,” Joann Spiegel, the Vice President of Miracle Inc., told The Post of her viral pop-up company, which completely takes over a former concept for the holidays.
This year, Miracle is taking over 40 bars all over the US. That includes another Haunting concept over in Bushwick, in the usual home of Vacations.
The ghoulish operation traces its roots to NYC in 2014, when founder Greg Boehm — an NYC cocktail star behind acclaimed bars including Mace, Katana Kitten and Super Bueno — was opening a stand-alone bar that was delayed due to construction
“It wasn’t cosmetically ready, so his mother said, ‘Why don’t you just hide everything behind Christmas decorations?’ They didn’t know what they were creating at the time, but it became absolute insanity; people couldn’t get enough of it.”
Eventually, the viral bar became the holly jolly-themed Miracle, their global Christmas pop-up. That holiday concept then expanded to Halloween, with the Christmas version opening its doors shortly after The Haunting ends.
Fun decor and festivities aside, running a ghoulish pop-up is not for the faint of heart.
“It’s like opening a brand new restaurant in an extremely-shortened timeline,” said Spiegel, who noted that planning takes years.
“The entire aesthetics of these bars change, from the hand soap to the beverage napkins, both outside and inside, let alone the menu,” she says, noting a mad scramble to switch everything as quickly as time allows, which usually takes a grueling four days.
Spiegel declined to disclose how much the massive makeover costs.
At The Haunting, the witchy cocktails are just as festive as its surroundings, including the Widow’s Whisper, a frightful, flavor-packed blend of vodka, chocolate, melon, lychee, matcha, yuzu, cardamom and rose, finished with a dash of absinthe.
For the bars they transform, the payoff is worth the scramble, according to Spiegel.
“Everybody comes back again and again because it does increase business; they cut through the noise to give people a destination to celebrate,” she said.
“We get bigger every year.”
But a booming business can bring its own set of headaches.
“With a pop-up you’re not flying completely blind, but you do have moments like; ‘Oh, my God, we already sold all of our mugs after two weeks,” Erin Hayes, co-founder of another Halloween hideaway, The Black Lagoon, told The Post.
This month, The Black Lagoon has taken over Boerum Hill’s Someday Bar, one of 34 bars across the country being transformed by the company for 2026. The result is a kitschy horror fever dream brought to life.
Inside, Someday is transformed into a spooky underwater haunted seabed, complete with a cast of custom sea monsters who haunt the space dreamed up by designer Kasira Hill. They include an octopus-witch named Abyssia.
The original concept began on a smaller scale.
“For our first one, we rented out a little space and just went for it with a three-week pop-up and the reception was insane,” recalls Hayes.
“We had people lined up around the block every night of the week,” she says, noting their busiest days are Fridays and Saturdays. To alleviate any sell-outs of custom goodies like ornate mugs, the company stores a backlog of merch ready to ship at a moment’s notice.
Cocktail creation, meanwhile, remains at the heart of the operation. Hayes and co-founder Kelsey Ramage consider it one of their “first loves,” spending months developing gourmet twists on classic drinks.
“Our favorite from the very beginning was Abyssia’s Obsession, which I would describe as a Pumpkin Spice Pina Colada,” Hayes muses of the creamy orange libation.
It includes a deliciously unsettling mixture of pumpkin-infused Kraken Rum, along with fruity pineapple and coconut, and Lustau Sherry “to dry it out a touch, so it’s not so in your face.”
But for Hayes, it’s more than just elaborate décor and festive drinks
“Things in this world are so heavy right now, so Halloween itself is a time to let go of the shackles of being a grown-up and let out your inner child a bit.”
“I’ve been to Black Lagoon the last two years and there’s a lot to love about it,” said the aforementioned Naglich.
“Even though the cocktail presentations here are a bit extreme, the flavors of the drinks are dialed in and balanced. You can tell there are veteran bartenders behind the event, not just people trying to cash in.”
Letting go of your inhibitions is also the eerie ethos at Midtown’s towering Dark Magic Hour, located on the 18th floor of the Moxy Times Square.
Normally the home of Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge, which boasts sweeping skyscraper-accented vistas, the space’s seasonal concept is inspired by horror films, including “Practical Magic,” right down to a Midnight Margarita on the menu, which was famously featured in the film.
“We approached it almost like building a movie set,” Christian Parker, Director of Marketing at TAO Group Hospitality, told The Post of the space, which features floating candles and tarot cards, all revolving around a massive ‘Wishing Willow’ tree; the result of a collaborative process between the company’s design and production partners.
“We wanted it to feel cinematic and nostalgic.”
Guests are also invited to make a wish at the centerpiece tree, while Dark Magic Hour’s menu includes a luscious Bloody Chocolate Fondue, which features a black cauldron of creamy strawberry chocolate alongside graham crackers and marshmallows.
“In New York, people are always looking for an experience that feels immersive and transportive,” said Parker.
“Halloween gives us an opportunity to completely transform a familiar space and create something guests can experience beyond just going out for a drink or dinner.”
