Cobwebs drape across bamboo. Arms and legs dangle from the ceiling and the thatched-roof bar where tiki drinks are garnished not just with little paper umbrellas but plastic skeleton arms and gummy-candy eyeballs. A heavy fog periodically pumps out across the space, taking on the hues of shifting red, purple and orange lighting, while the occasional animatronic ghoul is meant to give guests a scare. This is Halloween at Long Beach’s Bamboo Club, a new-wave tiki bar that’s renamed itself the Tremble Club all October long.
Beverage director Dustin Rodriguez helped open Bamboo Club — one of the best tiki destinations in Southern California — nearly six years ago. While the horror buff loves to celebrate Halloween, this is Bamboo Club’s first blowout, monthlong pop-up for the holiday, complete with new drinks, costume contests, live music, spooky-item marketplaces and more.
He and the rest of the team annually serve themed menus in December, but given the popularity of last year’s Tinsel Club, which Rodriguez noted was the busiest month Bamboo Club had ever seen, they decided to add a Halloween pop-up to the roster. In the past he’s dabbled with one or two creepy cocktails during October; for the Tremble Club’s inaugural event, the beverage director is serving six — and they’re all inspired by horror films.
“Horror movies are kind of my forte,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of these are riffs on cocktails that I felt would work for spooky season.”
In addition to festive new drinks, Bamboo Club’s Halloween-themed pop-up, Tremble Club, features creepy decor like fog and hanging fake limbs.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
To Rodriguez, tiki and horror go hand in hand: Typically dark, windowless tiki bars are easily made spooky, and the subcultures overlap in mood and aesthetic.
“It melds really well with the horror movie scene, especially older [films] like Universal Monsters,” he said. “That all comes [from] around the same era too — we’re talking from the ’30s and early ’40s — and the lore of Polynesian culture: being in the jungle and the unexpected.”
The Fall of Romulus, a nod to the most recent “Alien” film, is a variation on tiki legend Donn Beach’s peachy, minty classic the Missionary’s Downfall. At the Tremble Club, Rodriguez amps up the booze with extra white rum and adds a fresh, sweet-but-tart raspberry float that replicates the look of blood. The habanero-tinged Day Walker — an ode to “Blade” — was inspired by the Firewalker cocktail but adds activated charcoal and coconut for a creamier, creepier look. The Basic Witch revamps the classic Pearl Diver with a pumpkin spice bent, while the Witches of Eastwick (a play on the Eastern Sour) plays up a potions angle with a house-made tea syrup.
To get into the spooky tiki spirit, Rodriguez shared his recipe for the Fall of Romulus, one of the Tremble Club’s most popular cocktails. But there are plenty of ways to celebrate the thinning of the veil, the time of year when the separation of the physical and spiritual worlds supposedly narrows — and the recipes, in all their autumnal glory, can be the most delicious. Here are just a few ways to add Halloween touches to your dinner table, where gummy-candy eyeballs in your drinks are not necessary but highly encouraged.
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Bamboo Club’s Fall of Romulus Cocktail
This cocktail from Bamboo Club and its Halloween pop-up, the Tremble Club, is a festive, fiendish delight given the float made from fresh raspberry, “which keeps it really nice and tart without getting it overly sweet,” beverage director Dustin Rodriguez said. But the Fall of Romulus, while spruced up for the season with that red raspberry “blood” and its garnishes, is bright and fruity — making it a perfect year-round cocktail without the addition of gory kitsch.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 10 minutes. Serves 1.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Marshmallow Ghosts
Why commune with regular old ghosts when you can summon spirits made of sugar? With this recipe by former L.A. Times test kitchen director Noelle Carter, you can give homemade marshmallows the Halloween treatment thanks to a piping bag and either food coloring or icing for the eyes.
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Cook time: 1 hour. Makes roughly 3 dozen ghosts.
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Tomato Soup With Ghost Toasts
Should your preference for spooky treats lean more savory, host a soup seance. Food writer and recipe developer Janet McCracken fashions ghosts from cutout bread and cheese to haunt a bowl of creamy tomato soup.
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Cook time: 30 minutes. Serves 4.
(Ann Johansson / For The Times)
Pumpkin-Face Quesadillas
These festive quesadillas are bound to be a hit with kids, former L.A. Times Food staffer Cindy Dorn wrote, because they’re much simpler (and much less traumatizing) than the classic peeled-grapes-as-eyeballs with spaghetti-as-guts. Carve quick faces into your tortillas before cooking, then use them in a meal that layers beans with grated cheese.
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Cook time: 15 minutes. Makes 4 quesadillas.
(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Homemade PayDay Bars
Whether you’re hoping for a homespun candy alternative to pass out to trick-or-treaters or you’re looking to snack on something sweet yourself, give Halloween candy the glow-up it deserves with former L.A. Times Cooking columnist Ben Mims’ recipe for homemade PayDay bars. Nutty, chewy, caramel-rich and buttery, this candy is a classic for a reason — though, Mims notes, it can be made with any alternate nut to peanuts and, if you’re more of a fan of Baby Ruth bars, easily coated in chocolate. Find more recipes for homemade Halloween candy here.
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Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Makes about 6 dozen pieces.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)