Spooky fun abounds in Seoul
Everland is offering Halloween-inspired dishes. Everland
While the adults seek out spooky fun with good music and scary experiences, the parents look for places where their children can trick-or-treat.
Many local amusement parks and hotels are decorating their facilities to cater to fans of Halloween both young and old. During the day, they will provide activities for the young guests, and as the night goes on, the venues turn into haunted houses for some ghostly fun.
Itaewon has been a popular Halloween choice for many partygoers in the recent years due to the abundance of unique costumes, but if you want a more intimate experience with close friends and family, check out the places below.
Theme park horror
Local amusement parks will use their resources to give visitors scary and exciting memories to take home. For example, Lotte World, for the first time since its establishment in 1989, will be turning its folk museum into a haunted house. The amusement park decided to place actors dressed up as ghosts in each section of the museum, and the ghosts they portray will each be from a different historical era, such as the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) and the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to A.D. 935).
And to ensure that all visitors get an exciting and scary experience, the park will only let groups of four to six at a time enter the haunted house so as not to spoil the surprise. The haunted house will be open Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For those who prefer comical experiences to scary ones, visitors of the park can also play rock-paper-scissors with a pumpkin man for candy. And zombies will perform comical mime acts for the children. The special events will run through Nov. 1.
In addition, a Halloween party will be held on Friday, Oct. 30. The “Halloween Hip-Hop Night Party” will start at 10:30 p.m. and will last until 5 a.m. the next day. Many well-known hip-hop artists such as San E will perform, while ghosts and ghouls of all kinds will be roaming around the park to frighten guests. Some of the rides will also be transformed into Halloween-themed experiences, such as ghost bumper cars and a haunted merry-go-round.
Dancers in skeleton costumes perform at Lotte World. Lotte World
Everland, another major amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi, is focusing more on presenting Halloween-themed food at its restaurants. One of the 25 new dishes being offered for the occasion is “Count Dracula’s Pizza,” which has bread shaped like Dracula’s coffin in the middle of the pizza to make it more spooky. Some of the fried rice dishes will come with skull-shaped fried eggs on top, while the park will also serve red muffins. For those who don’t have time to prepare costumes before visiting the park, you can find capes, masks and witch hats at shops inside the park.
Hotel night out
Local hotels are also presenting many different Halloween-themed events and special packages to appeal to guests who want to celebrate the holiday while spending time with friends and family. Some are for a grown-ups’ night out, while others cater to parents with children.
For those looking to party near Itaewon, the Grand Hyatt Seoul is holding a party on Oct. 30 and 31, as well as a week earlier on Oct. 23 and 24, at its bar, J.J. Mahoney’s. For the 27th Halloween party hosted by the hotel, it decided to choose monkeys as the theme. Bartenders and service attendants will be in costume to greet guests, and the inside of the venue will be decorated with brightly colored objects. Of course, there will be a contest to choose the guest with the best costume. But it’s still okay to come unprepared, for the bar will have a makeup booth where guests can get a festive makeover. The entrance fee for Oct. 23 and 24 will be 30,000 won, and for Oct. 30 and 31, it will be 50,000 won.
In southern Seoul, the JW Marriott Hotel Seoul will host the “Horror Halloween” party on Oct. 30. The first 100 guests to enter the party will receive party gear such as LED headbands and sparklers. Beer will be served for free from 8 to 10 p.m. to get the party started, and it will keep going until 2 a.m. There will also be a lucky draw for the prize of an overnight stay at the hotel. The entrance fee is 30,000 won for one guest and 50,000 won for two.
The Grand Hyatt Seoul decorates its bar with jack-o-lanterns. Grand Hyatt Seoul
For families with children, the Banyan Tree Club and Spa is holding a “Masquerade” Halloween party on Oct. 31. The hotel will offer face painting for visitors, and children can make their own Halloween props, such as masks and magic wands. To capture children’s imagination, there will also be mime and juggling shows. There are two sessions for the event, one starting at 1 p.m. and the other starting at 4 p.m. The entrance fee is 99,000 won for children and 33,000 won for adults for non-members. Members pay 66,000 won for children and 11,000 won for adults.
Meanwhile, the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill in eastern Seoul will decorate its outdoor space for guests staying at its camping zone from Oct. 29 to 31. There will be a tent decorated with Halloween props for photo ops. And children interested in trick-or-treating can do so in the hotel lobby under the leadership of hotel staff.
Finally, for those who crave seasonal desserts, head to Deli Amador at the Imperial Palace Seoul. It will offer various special baked goods, such as a chocolate cake with spider decoration, cupcakes with ghost decorations, pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin cookies. A spider cake is 45,000 won, and a pumpkin cookie is 5,000 won.
BY LEE SUN-MIN [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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