We spent last year’s Halloween club-hopping and promptly cringed when we saw our 30th vampire, whined when we glimpsed the 20th wicked witch and screamed when we spotted the 5th Frankenstein (and it wasn’t out of fear). Yes, spider webs, ghosts and the likes are getting way tooooo predictable and boring. So imagine our elatedness when we heard a few party spots this year are welcoming the night of horrors with some refreshing themes. Come all tricked out in something other than Dracula’s teeth and check out these hangouts for a real treat.

I’m a Glam Oddball

Inspired by clubs such as Blitz, Taboo and Mudd Club in the UK and the US of the ’80s and ’90s, The Butter Factory (#01-03 Riverside 48, 48 Robertson Quay, 6333-8243) puts up a Halloween party on Oct 28 with the theme “Freakshow Fashionistas.” Things are going to get grotesque, shocking and yet, fashionable.

Performance art is going to be one of the highlights. Greet the headless butler, pick up the bearded lady Mariah Scary, chat with the heads on the tables, get chummy with a disjointed man and shake hands with the conjoined twins. Just leave your common sense at the door.

The dress code? Glitzy, glamorous, wayward, eccentric and OTT. Owner Bobby Luo quips, “We don’t want a normal cobweb-and-broomstick kind of Halloween. Take some time to put together your outfit rather than just renting the whole costume from a shop. Pick something from your wardrobe, or from the hardware shop, and just mix and match everything!”

There will be a mini runway for people who are in costumes to strut their stuff. Local designers Ernest Seah, Ling Ling and Mark Ong have also been commissioned to create outfits which will be showcased.

If you don’t have the time (or imagination) to put together an outfit outrageous enough to suit this party, step into the face-painting booth “The Freak Machine” outside the club to be made up, then piece together a costume at “The Chic Freak Boo-Teeq” for free. We bet you won’t be recognizable after that.

Save Me

Bar None’s (B1 Singapore Marriott Hotel, 320 Orchard Rd., 6831-4657) Halloween party on Oct 28 is titled “Superheros Convention,” and the place will be decked accordingly. Lounge away in the bat cave of Bruce Wayne, or call your buddy from Superman’s signature red phone booth. Forget reality.

Think again if you think the organizers of the party want the bar to be packed with punters wearing their underwear on the outside. Marketing Executive of Bar None Pamela Tan says, “Guests are encouraged to invent their own superheroes powers. So what will the staff of the bar wear at the party? “We’re inventing our own outfits too: Expect spandex, tights and all that stuff in technicolor!” she adds.

High Seas

If Pirates of the Caribbean is your favorite movie, and you say “Ahoy!” instead of “Hello!” whenever you greet your friends, head down to Thumper (Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Rd., 6735-0827) on Oct 28. The place is being transformed into Davy Jones’s ship.

Like all pirates, drink up and make merry. WAT Da Funk! will be hurling out chart toppers and rock tunes, while DJ Ann churns out dance numbers. Come pretty in lots of eye shadow like the sexy Jack Sparrow, and don’t forget to bring a parrot (if you have one, that is).

Big on Fun

Zouk (17 Jiak Kim St., 6738-2988) is tying in with theater company Dream Academy in this year’s revelry, and the title of the party is “The Not So Little Club of Horror,” a spin off from Dream Academy’s latest musical Little Shop of Horrors.

Come dress to kill on Oct 28, and see if you can catch a glimpse of stars such as Hossan Leong, Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong, who are headlining the musical. Hop over to Phuture where a new night “Holla! With Nervous” is being launched. DJ Nervous will be dropping hip hop and R&B beats to make all fly girls and b-boys carve up the dance floor.

Reviving the Dead

If celebrating Halloween with local bands and DJs sounds like a hell of a lot of fun, head to Home (#B1-01/06 The Riverwalk, 20 Upper Circular Rd., 6538-2928) on Oct 31. This year’s party “The Dead Come Home” features some local musicians who want to make heads turn with their music.
Outfits 1234X, Destroy All Monsters, Happy Hour Gizmo and Ronin will be singing punk, rock and hardcore songs praising the dead, before DJs Sham, Zahir, Aida and Joe Ng seize the decks and hurl out indie numbers.

This year’s Halloween is no time to be cowering in your abode, or banging on neighbors’ doors and demanding sweets. Put together a bizarre outfit and hit these party spots. With these novel themes, they could just renew your interest in the supernatural.