Halloween has long ceased to be a simple party and has become one of the year’s most anticipated dates, with an entire universe around it that fills October with hundreds of activities and experiences linked to fear. The spooky season, together with Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day, is capable of turning this weekend into a whole cultural, gastronomic, and, of course, terrifying experience, and Madrid is the perfect city to live it with the intensity the celebration deserves. Mark it on your calendar!
TO DRENCH YOURSELF, LITERALLY, IN HALLOWEEN. You only need 30 minutes to experience an event where fear, disgust, and laughter happen all at once. Gore Experiment lands at La Escalera de Jacob, the theater and bar situated in Lavapiés, to deliver a show between blood and guts. The fact that you’re handed a poncho upon entry is not a coincidence… The splashes are guaranteed in this horror and black humor play written and directed by Gerard Clúa (Friday, October 30, at 21:00; Sunday, November 1, and Monday, November 2, both at 19:00).
TO EAT FOR FUN. For those who want to celebrate the date with a proper feast, Roost Chicken has prepared a Ghost Menu that, while it might seem to be another of its delicious spicy fried chicken burgers, a mozzarella cheese bomb, caramelized onions, bacon crunch, and mozzarella sauce, its ghostly appearance will surprise you with its phantom look. Paired with special packaging for the occasion and its star lemonade this time in green, Roost Chicken has also lined up a prize for anyone who comes dressed as a ghost on October 31: a free burger for your next visit (Madrid, several locations).
TO TOAST. It isn’t only the menus that have been Halloween-ified; the cocktails have also joined the celebration and restaurants like Mítiko, famous for its Nikkei cuisine, unveil a recipe available only on October 30 and 31: The Last Sigh. With a clear inspiration from pisco, the cocktail brings together a criollo reduction and a foam with notes of suspiro a la limeña, nodding to traditional Peruvian pastry. The finishing touch this time is a crescent moon that, dusted with ground cinnamon and cocoa, mimics sweet ashes in harmony with the night (Sor Ángela de la Cruz Street, 22).
