HERE are 20 different pumpkin recipes from soups to pies to celebrate Halloween with. Just joking – ToM’s take on trick or treat. Instead, here are a few of the more “spooktakular” foodie-friendly events around that don’t involve gouging out a big, orange tasteless gourd.
Junkyard Golf Club Presents Day of the Dead with El Jimador (Oct 31) transforms the First Street crazy golf venue into a tequila-crazed terrorfest (pictured above). The tequila brand is offering a themed Halloween cocktail called El Vimador and a face paint artist to give punters that Day of the Dead look. Students can get 50 per cent off golf on the night with a valid student card. 7pm – 12am at Junkyard Golf, First Street, Manchester. Tickets cost £8 off peak and £9.50 peak. Book here.
A spirit will haunt you, too at WOOD – the hugely popular gin. On October 31 the First Street restaurant is presenting Ginema with a Halloween cinematic banquet featuring‘Psycho’. Limited to 18 people in their private screening room, it costs £39 a head. For this you get a glass of fizz on arrival, cinema style canapes and flavoured Didsbury Gin & Tonics to accompany the first part of the Hitchcock classic in our Private Screaming/Screening Room. After the intermission you are served a ‘devilish’ dish creted by chef/patron Simon Wood accompanied by further G&Ts plus petits fours. Book via [email protected] or 0161 236 5211.
Victoria Baths on Hathersage Road takes Halloween movie mania a step further with an entire weekend devoted to a pop-up of scary screenings – Hocus Pocus (4pm) and Beetlejuice (8pm) on Friday, October 27 and on Saturday, October 28 The Addams Family (4pm) and a repeat of Hocus Pocus (8pm).
They are accompanied by exceptional street food from Dim Sum Su, the Blue Caribou Canteen and Mac Daddies, plus craft beers from Thornbridge, Prosecco, wine, soft drinks, hot drinks, popcorn and fresh doughnuts.
Audiences are invited to wear their most frightening fancy dress and bring along a blanket to snuggle up in front of the big screen. The afternoon screenings are family-friendly with a recommended minimum age of six, while the evening sessions are adults-only (minimum age 16). Tickets are from £13 for balcony seats to £15 for pool level seats. Discounts are available for students and over-60s. Book via thevillagegreenevents.co.
Rosso in Spring Gardens is adding a touch of surprise to its spooky screening on Halloween night. At 9.30pm the lights will dim and the movie will begin but they are not revealing which one till that moment. The screening is free to any customer who books dinner from the a la carte at 8pm. Guests are able to order Halloween cocktails and creepy popcorn as they watch.
There’s also a Spooky Outdoor Cinema in Exchange Square on Saturday, October 28 and Sunday, October 29, featuring Hotel Transylvania (Sat, 12pm), Hocus Pocus (Sat, 2pm & Sun, 10am), Ghostbusters (Sat, 4pm), The Witches (Sun, 12pm) and The Addams Family (Sun, 2pm).
Both The Oast House in Spinningfields and The Botanist chain are getting in the spooky spirit, the former transforming itself (sic) into ‘The Gh-oast House’, the latter offering us a ghoulishly good cocktail special called ‘The Green Goblin’.
On Saturday, October 28 ‘The Ghost House is hosting a ‘truly wicked’ fancy dress Halloween house party as part of its ‘Halloweek’ (Oct 27-31) celebrations, which include giving its Curious Tepee a spooky makeover. Further information here.
The rather tasty ‘Green Goblin’ “combines dark notes of black sambuca, bitter notes of Grand Marnier and sour notes of Licor 43” apparently and isserved in a Martini glass. It’s available for £7.50 from October 27 to November 1 at the Botanists on Deansgate, and at MediaCityUK, Knutsford, Didsbury and Alderley Edge. The 'blood' on top is a tangle of red amaranth – a cross between cress and beetroot giving an earthy note to the drink.
And, of course, where would Halloween be without a burger special. All Star Lanes in The Great Northern has come up with The 'Burger in Black’ (£13), their macabre take on the classic patty, featuring a toasted charcoal brioche bun, encasing a 6oz steak and rib cap patty, topped with Sage Derby cheese, guacamole and rounded off with a vodka spiked roast pepper Bloody Mary relish.
Even scarier is the range of Halloween-themed cupcakes (above) from Hey Little Cup Cake coffee shop in Spinningfields.
Well OK, to wrap up, maybe just the one Halloween pumpkin special. Butternut squash actually in Zouk’s seasonal special (below) roast with garlic, tomatoes, coriander and cumin £5.95. Check out, too, the new weekend brunch offering at their Tea Bar & Grill on Chester Street, M1 5QS.
Halloweekend – a host of family-friendly fun events
For a full round-up of city centre Halloween-themed events, including the climactic, free, family-friendly Halloweekend (think major buildings lit up a ghastly green) check out Visit Manchester or organsiers BID Manchester. For event updates follow @halloweenMCR
Halloweekend (Oct 27 and 28) offers a city Trick or Treat hunt, with sweet or scary surprises behind every door, and a Haunted Maze in St Ann’s Square, inviting visitors to try and make it round its gothic pathways without bumping into its creepy creatures. There’s also a bid to create the biggest fancy dress in Halloween history at The Big Dress Up. Families from across the region are encouraged to come dressed in their spookiest costume, with the best having their photos taken and asked to join DJs on the Capital FM main stage in Exchange Square. Capital FM will also be hosting a Canine Catwalk, for dogs with the cutest costumes.
As part of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Gothic Festival, they will be hosting a Goth Fashion Show. Dress code Black, naturally.