Be afraid…be very afraid…it’s that magical time of the year, Halloween! Every year as autumn begins, people are seen trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, and dressing up, spreading Halloween spirit. However, in Korea, where Halloween isn’t celebrated as much, various franchises such as Starbucks, Baskin Robbins 31, and Tous Les Jours step in to explode with creative decorations and seasonal menus, enticing customers to enjoy their very own spooky Halloween.
One of most widely known cafés, Starbucks, decided to enhance their service with Halloween decorations and bring their Halloween themed Trick or Treat stores back after 19 years. These Trick or Treat Starbucks are filled with Halloween decorations along with Halloween themed photo zones and crane machines for sweets. In Seoul, a total of five Trick or Treat Starbucks were located in different areas: Jong Ro, Itaewon, Hongdae, COEX, and Gangnam station. These Trick or Treat Starbucks stores opened their doors on Oct. 18 and closed on Oct.31releasing several spooky seasonal menus suitable for the season. Starbucks surprised their customers with new drinks named the Vampire Cappuccino and the Monster Cappuccino along with snacks called the Halloween Crunch Cupcake, Halloween Pumpkin Tart, and Halloween Macaroons.
“I visited the Trick or Treat Starbucks and ordered the Vampire Frappuccino which I really liked,” said Annette Choi (11). “The Frappuccino was really sweet and it tasted good, and I really liked how the bat-shaped chocolate bits were crunchy. I think that the Halloween themed menus did get me more into the Halloween spirit as they made me excited for Halloween. I think the holiday-themed menus encourage customers to enjoy the season to the fullest.”
With Halloween coming up, Baskin Robbins, one of Korea’s best selling ice cream stores, also released a new ice cream menu called the Monster Marshmallow. They also displayed their Halloween-themed ice creams in their flavor of the month list, including flavors called the Ghost World, Witch’s Halloween, Witch’s Cocktail Party, and of course Monster Marshmallow. In order to promote their Halloween-themed flavor, Baskin Robbins also held an Instagram event from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 where by posting any picture with the hash tag #Monster Marshmallow, people could win a free ice cream.
“As someone who enjoys Baskin Robbins on a daily basis, I was excited to go try the new flavor Monster Marshmallow,” said Angelica Eun (10). “Monster Marshmallow is a vanilla based ice cream with marshmallow inside topped with red and blue chocolate chips. The combination of chocolate and marshmallow worked very well but after few bites, it felt like it was too sweet.”
Last but not least, Tous Les Jours, one of South Korea’s most renowned bakery café, well known for their annual Halloween baked goods, attracted a lot of customers this fall. Namely, Tous Les Jours introduced their new Halloween line up consisting of Happy Halloween Cake, Ghost Horror Town Cake, Ghost Croissant, ghost Chocolate Stick, Pumpkin Chocolate Stick, Scream Fougasse, and Petit Cream Bun.
All the delicious Halloween-themed desserts further boosted the Halloween spirit and provided another magical time filled with horror and joy.