With Diwali busting budgets and strict regulations confiscating nightlife, house Halloween parties are the big trend this year. By Karan Bhardwaj
Blood splattered all over the walls, skeletons hanging from ceiling, Dracula peeping from the dark, waiting to welcome the guests and ghosts cheering and shaking a leg together. This isn’t any description of a haunted place or scene from a horror film. It’s the detail of one of the house parties in the city this Halloween.
The Halloween Day, which used to be a flagship event across city restaurants and clubs is now shifting gears towards private parties. A lot of party animals find this option viable and economical. It saves money, offers more fun and makes for a good experience.
Anik Verma, who has been hosting house Halloweens for last three years, tells us, “It makes a lot of sense to have Halloween bash at a house. They are cheaper and no terms and conditions apply to them. A lot of people especially women are generally not comfortable in stepping out in weird avatars at clubs thronged by strangers. So being at a friend’s place among group of known people is any day a better idea. Also, it doesn’t dig a deep hole in your pocket. You spend relatively more money in restaurant bars and big hotels.” Verma has got invitations from a lot of friends and they are planning to go for Dutch. “Every year, we pool in money and divide the expenditure. So it costs less,” he says.
Till two years go, Delhi’s food joints and farmhouses were quite upbeat about Halloween. However, the evil spirit has gone down due to strict regulations governing city’s nightlife. Diwali too seems to have played a spoilsport. “It’s like a double blow. People are still recovering from Diwali festivities. They have already busted their budgets and pepping up for another party is bit too much,” says Akshay Anand, owner of 1 Boulevard and Townhouse Café. The Halloween market is low simply because the spending capacity of customers has gone down. As a result, the restaurants are also not investing heavily on the theme. Most of them are simply decorating the places and carving out special menus avoiding any experiments of sorts. “But the lavishness is gone,” says Anand.
Halloween is all about late night hang outs and strict regulations have proved to be a dampener. Rita Menon, a 28-year-old MNC employee, says “It takes hell lot of efforts and money to sport that spooky look. Right from carving pumpkins to dressing up in ghost costumes and playing tricks on people is all about liberty and emancipation. But that looks eerie now. By the time you reach the venue, they are told to stop music or shut shop. What’s fun about it thenIJ It’s better to attend some private parties,” she says.
Horror on my plate
With restaurants and five-star properties coming up with specially-crafted menus, food junkies are in for a treat. However, the platter cost has shot up exponentially. The Halloween specials at 1911 restaurant at The Imperial has multiple options to gorge on. There are crusted rack of lamb green bean layonnaise and rosemary jus, pepper stuffed eggplant, confit pumpkin, mozzarella and tomato concase along with live stations including carvings, shawarma, barbeque amongst other delectable dishes. The meal for two costs around Rs5,500 excluding taxes. Club Rhino will host a musical eve apart from special drinks like pumpkin stew, witches brew. You can also ask for scary bloody drinks at the bar. Monkey Bar at Vasant Kunj is all set to hosts its first Halloween. “We are going to revamp the interiors with tombstones, spiderwebs, fog and glowing pumpkins. We have bloody waffles, devilled ribs and spiced pumpkin cheesecake,” says Kunal Chandra, communication manager.