For Halloween, girls and boys dress up as Power Rangers and Star Wars characters to go trick-or-treating, while adults dress up for a night out with friends. That’s not the end of the makeovers, though: The food and drinks have to get festive, too. And thus, summery drinks such as Salty Watermelon Frosties become Zombie Brains (at least according to Cosmo) and everyday foods become a thing of horror.
While some Halloween traditions have come and gone-costumes are still a mainstay, but there are fewer midnight superstitions and more pumpkin carving-All Hallows Eve, shortened to Halloween, is here to stay.
Halloween came out of Christianity’s attempt to remarket the Celtic holiday Samhain (pronounced sah-win), which celebrated the in-between space of fall and winter, life and death. While Samhain had been around since the beginning of Anno Domini, when Christian rulers spread their conquering roots through Europe, they weren’t big fans of the holiday. They tried to modify it to fit their own customs by calling the day after Samhain “All Hallows,” or All Saint’s Day. Yet people still celebrated All Hallows Eve as they did Samhain: They gathered around in costumes at large bonfires and left food outside of their houses for the wandering dead. Whether it was the actual dead or the few rascals that dressed up as spirits every year, the food offerings were happily eaten.
Clearly, everyone needs refreshments, so to add some Halloween pizzazz to your spread, just follow one simple rule: Like Halloween costumes, Halloween drinks are big on looks. You can have a truly nonthreatening drink, but if it has a strong color and some spooky accessories, you’ve got your malicious mixer for the night.
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