pune halloween has takers in the city who dress up in elaborate costumes and enjoy the spooky vibe at venues restaurant and pub owners said that this time of the year is when cobwebs are cleaned to put up fake ones as decoration abhijit jagtap manager at high spirits cafe in koregaon park said we organise a masquerade for halloween every year our guests need to put in time and effort for their costumes just wearing a mask or a hat will not get you entry to the venue the most notable costumes win prizes we usually have to organise the event on two days to accommodate everyone this year our theme is based on the horror television series bates moteltightlipped about the screaminducing surprises anticipated by the patrons he added we have also hired three cosplayers to spook the guests the patrons in costume used to walk in a parade from the venue down to kalyaninagar crossing but we have discontinued that due to traffic and safety issuesafter weeks of serious planning and execution cosplayers in the city have come up with innovative costumes themed on scary fictional characters and real people featured in documentaries amateur cosplayer nidhi dave said many people are going for the look of disturbed criminals featured in docuseries like jeffery dahmer or ted bundy since they are popular in pop culture right now and the costume does not require too much makeup or an elaborate getup another easy costume is a zombie where you can add some fake blood or red paint and makeup to give your face a decaying look you can also give it another dimension by wearing costumes like a nurse doctor judge police groom or bride or just casual clothes as it works on anythingcosplayers will not want to give away details of their costumes as the surprise element when they reveal it at a halloween event is a big dealthe market mundhwa has organised a spooky soiree themed on the celtic festival with a tricky menu of treats and fun activities rishi mehra director food and beverage the westin said our halloweenthemed menu offers innovatively presented items such as calamari devils rings and ghouls scales made with spinach and pok choi witches stew made with chicken and egg tofu brains with mushrooms and burnt witches hair made with rice vermicelli noodles and so on not only has the restaurant been decorated to create an eerie vibe synonymous with halloween our staff will also be given a spooky makeover for the festivalwhile adults get their scares at bars and pubs various kidfriendly venues have also organised halloweenthemed programmes praveena mani founder of amazeum childrens museum on senapati bapat road said due to the increase in travelling abroad or the influence of movies and television shows many children are excited to dress up in innovative costumes while the older kids are seen opting for scary costumes the younger lot prefers to dress cute as their favourite characters from cartoons we have