Bars and Lounges

There’s a Goth-Horror Halloween Cocktail Pop-Up In Vancouver Right Now

Cocktail mavens Erin Hays and Kelsey Ramage bring their dungeon-y, metal-goth bar experience to Vancouver—just in time for Halloween.

By Kerri Donaldson /

The leaves are changing. The nights are getting longer. And the abandoned Toys R’ Us stores are finding new life as Spirit Halloweens. It’s official. We’re into the spooky season. And this year a new award-winning pop-up has rolled into town and it wants to help you get in the horror holiday spirit.

Close up of dark maroon cocktail with mint and blood orange garnish that says Black Lagoon on glass
Credit: Photo courtesy of Black Lagoon. “Blood Rave” Cocktail (pictured)

Introducing: The Black Lagoon. It’s a goth-horror (with a dash of metal) pop-up and it’s taken over the Butcher and Bullock. With its gothic dungeon motif—complete with morbid skulls, life-size coffins and items you’d probably find in the “Occult and Bizarre” section of a Medieval HomeSense—it’s got a real Halloween vibe. Just don’t confuse it for kitsch (think less The Nightmare Before Christmas and more House of 1,000 Corpses). 

Co-founders Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage stand and sit together with a dark restaurant backdrop
Credit: Eugene Lee. Photo courtesy of Black Lagoon. Co-founders and bartending greats Erin Hayes (Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles and Chicago’s Lost Lake) and Kelsey Ramage (Trash Collective, Toronto’s soon-to-open Supernova and Tales of the Cocktail’s International Bartender of the Year 2020).

Before it was the Black Lagoon, it was Tales of the Cocktail; a successful pop-up out of New Orleans’ notorious Dungeon Bar. But co-founders and master mixologists Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage wanted to go bigger, creepier and louder with it. And they did. You can now find this pop-up in nine cities across Canada and the U.S.

Close up of cocktail in black skull shaped glass
Credit: Black Lagoon (Pictured) “Closed Casket” cocktail, made with Bruichladdich Classic, St. Remy, Giffard L’Abricot, passionfruit syrup and miso falernum.

But the real trick to this treat? The expertly-crafted cocktail menu. The drinks are all Halloween-hued—blood red, bat black and eerie orange— and riddled with puns. You can find drinks like “Closed Casket” (pictured above) and the “Screaming Banshee” (pictured below). You can even buy their custom glassware, too. (A good way to remember your night that isn’t just a hangover.)

Cocktail drink with see-through skull shaped glass and mint and orange garnish
Credit: Black Lagoon. “Screaming Banshee” cocktail, made with Botanist Gin, Giffard L’Abricot, pineapple syrup and Greek yogurt.

And don’t worry. You’re in a Monster Mash-free safe zone. There’s even a curated goth metal playlist (with some pop and punk sprinkled in for good measure). Check out Black Lagoon’s “Early” playlist here.

Black Lagoon kicked off October 11, but runs till Halloween. blacklagoonpopup.com