Halloween Bars Are Scary Profitable

For many bargoers, visiting one of the myriad Christmas-themed pop-ups that roll out in December has become an annual rite. Bars count on the business that these programs bring in, too.

Increasingly, hospitality pros are hoping to replicate that magic—and profitability—with Halloween-themed pop-ups that extend beyond spooky season.

For the past six years, a “goth-tropical” franchise called Black Lagoon has been the front-runner in the Halloween bar biz, transforming bars across North America with eerie, cinematic décor and themed drinks like the Moon Shadow (nutmeg-infused vodka, banana liqueur, and cold brew coffee). In 2026, 34 venues are slated to participate.

Co-founded by Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage, both based in Los Angeles, Black Lagoon began as a post-pandemic pop-up. 

“We love the witchy vibes, the celebratory aspects of it,” Hayes says. “Kelsey had found a place to rent for the month of October, and it was successful beyond what we had imagined. We had people lined up around the block every night. People loved the weird and wonderful vibe that we were putting out.”

Over time, their pop-up grew into a franchise. Bars pay a fee to rebrand as a Black Lagoon for the month. In turn, they receive creepy tropical mugs and other glassware; a six-drink menu that spotlights a handful of brand sponsors, including Teremana tequila, Kraken rum, and Mr. Black cold brew coffee liqueur; a lookbook for décor; and playlists.

“We try to make it plug-and-play,” Hayes says. “We say, ‘Here are the things you need for your success, now it’s up to you to put it into play.’ They can do whatever they want to dress up the space, we just ask them to keep to the menu.”

Black Lagoon’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. This year, New York City-based Cocktail Kingdom Hospitality Group, the team behind super popular Christmas-themed pop-ups Miracle and Sippin’ Santa, is getting into the mix with The Haunting, a similar franchise of Halloween-themed immersive pop-up bars.

The mood skews more nostalgic than goth, leaning into childhood haunted houses for aesthetic inspiration and trick-or-treat bags for drinks like the Scream-sicle (tequila, spiced vanilla liqueur, carrot and orange cordial, and habanero). 

About 40 bars—most of which are already part of the Miracle franchise—are slated to participate in the month-long pop-up. There are locations across the United States and in London and Oslo. The business model is similar to Miracle and Black Lagoon: bars pay a fee to participate, and receive recipes and physical menus (unlike Black Lagoon, brand sponsors are not designated), social media assets, and branded merch. The latter includes mugs resembling colorful cauldrons or creepy doll heads, created by Cocktail Kingdom and available for purchase.

Treats for Some Bars, Tricks for Others

Halloween presents an oddly uneven playing ground for bars.

For traditional bars and taverns, it’s a bonanza: The Saturday before or after Halloween consistently ranks among the top ten days of the year for drinking venues in the U.S., according to Nielsen’s NIQ BeverageTrak. 

In 2025, it was the eighth busiest night of the year, as measured by sales value at the average outlet. It ranked behind St. Patrick’s Day in the number-one spot, as well as sports events like the official kickoff of the MLB Division Series, March Madness, and the NFL regular season opening week.

“Halloween is one of the strongest sales drivers for bars and restaurants because it turns a night out into a full-fledged occasion,” says Matt Crompton, vice president of On Premise for NIQ. 

The occasion gives people a specific reason to go out, particularly in groups, so bars see higher-than-normal amounts of weekend traffic. Consumers are willing to spend more on themed cocktails and other premium drinks, too. 

“Combined with broad appeal across age groups and the amplifying power of social media, Halloween consistently ranks among the top revenue-generating days of the year for drinking venues,” Crompton says.

However, intimate bars that focus on high-end drinks typically don’t see the same results, says Greg Boehm, founder and CEO of Cocktail Kingdom Hospitality Group. “Halloween is a bad night for cocktail bars.” 

The Miracle team is hoping a monthlong spooky season pop-up might help turn that around. 

“It’s about extending the season and having a good time,” Boehm says. “It’s not about having a Halloween day—it’s about having a Halloween season, like we did with Miracle.”

Halloween Every Day?

Of course, many bars trick out for Halloween independent of either franchise. And a committed handful celebrate the macabre all year round, such as NYC’s Paradise Lost, Los Angeles’s Beetle House, and spots like Vampire Café or The Crypt in New Orleans, a city that proudly boasts dozens of haunted and/or gothic bars, regardless of the season. 

But perhaps the longest-running year-round stalwart is Jekyl and Hyde, a Pittsburgh bar marking its 30^th anniversary in 2026. (Its Instagram tagline reads, “Celebrating Halloween every day.”)

The space started as a typical neighborhood spot near East Carson Street, a main drag in the South Side neighborhood noted for its high concentration of bars, recalls owner Mike Alberter. When a regular customer who was in the business of building haunted houses offered to donate ghostly trappings after the season wrapped, Alberter saw an opportunity to make his bar stand out. Year after year, he added more black lights, fake cobwebs, miniature skulls, and more.

“There’s stuff on the ceilings, the walls,” Alberter says. “We put little spider rings into the drinks. We have candy out every day, like trick or treat.” 

While the two weeks leading up to Halloween are always packed, he says, business is steady all year long. Events like horror film screenings and “scary-oke” karaoke nights bring in costumed revelers eager to sip drinks including the signature Jac-O-Lantern (vanilla vodka, orange cream liqueur, orange juice, Sprite, and whipped cream).

“People love Halloween all year long [because] they love to dress up and be whoever,” he says. “I feel like Halloween is bigger than Christmas, in terms of money spent.”

Experiences and Escapism

Black Lagoon’s proprietors have opted to inject extra ghoulish glee into immersive events spanning beyond October. Hayes and Ramage also run Krampus Cove around the holidays, and recently expanded into the warmer months with their Summerween-inspired Bad Witch goth-girl pool parties. 

“People are looking for experiences more than anything,” Ramage observes. “Things are tough and heavy in terms of the world right now. The dollar is stretched. People want to go out and do more than just have drinks. People want to escape the world and enjoy some silly spookiness.”

Adding to that endeavor, mass merchandisers have steadily stretched the Halloween sales season earlier and earlier, erasing the gap between Summerween and All Hallow’s Eve. 

“We see Disney and Universal and the home décor stores are dropping their décor August 1,” Ramage says. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. “Halloween isn’t just October 31,” she says. “You can have Halloween vibes anytime.”

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