cherrypatter nyc
and great ideas for what to do too!
abracadabra superstore: freaks, gore and more
if you still haven’t gotten that perfect costume for this weekend, and have a few bucks to spend, abracadabra superstore should be on your list, especially for the gory stuff. this space, which is not exactly attractive or well laid out, is chock full of nearly every kind of get up that you could imagine. while it seems it is mostly designed for adults, they do have more than 100 different kinds of kids costumes from the medieval (knights, kings, peasants and pawns) to the romans (centurions and cleopatras) to grim reapers, vampires, and elvis. costumes can be rented or bought so you aren’t necessarily stuck at home with a big gorilla outfit.
apparently abracadabra does a whole lot more than costumes and makeup. they have an extensive magic department (occasionally they host magic shows on sundays), lots of special effects so they’re good for props, wigs of course, and things for juggling, clowns, and lots of entertaining gags and novelties.
other than visiting a local ricky’s last year on flatbush which was a bit disappointing given their pretty limited stock, i cannot say that i have any idea if this shop is better or worse than other costume stores out there (one of their big competitors seems to be a national chain halloween adventure which i have not visited). and in some ways, it doesn’t matter. all i know is that if in the future i desperately need a victorian period costume, or a clown, abracadabra is where i would come running to first. even better, during halloween season abracadabra is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. abracadabra superstore, 19 west 21st street between 5th and 6th avenues, manhattan, new york, .
and, on a side note, sorry for skipping yesterday. i have a great little brooklyn shop in crown heights i plan to profile but work has been a little crazy this week (first baltimore and then harrisburg — yes i do get to travel to exciting spots) so it will have to wait till next week.