Halloween at The Garlic Tree

Yesterday evening the streets were full of all manner of mutants and monsters as people around the world celebrated Halloween. And in Restaurant Story this event provides a great excuse for some seriously spooky decorating. My place, The Garlic Tree, is among the many diners which have taken on a scary outlook for Halloween, and I'd like to share some of the wicked features currently on display...

We start the tour at the entrance, where the foyer section has been completely overhauled.

Foyer section of The Garlic Tree

As is the case throughout my restaurant, there's a range of Halloween items from several years. The Headless Horseman is a 2012 goal prize, and is standing guard over the door in case any unsuspecting customers try to exit!

The Old Saloon wallpaper does a great job of providing a dark, dank and rough atmosphere, and is adorned with Pumpkin Sconces and the Web Window. The orange of both these wall decorations and the Headless Horseman's pumpkin make for a quality contrast with the black tones elsewhere. The Spider Stone flooring adds to the bleak surrounding, and its numerous webs keep in line with the unkempt finish.

Captain Phoebe has retained her position as our host since her uniform passes as fancy dress, and I've left the Chilled Drink unaltered too. This is important to me as it ensures that the general structure of The Garlic Tree remains, with Halloween weaving its way through the place rather than the restaurant being completely blitzed for the occasion.

The same can be said of the main section, where the tables and chairs continue to be located around the centrepiece where most of my dishes are served to.

Main section of The Garlic Tree

Following this week's update I've replaced the usual Wooden Pillars with a Well of Spirits in each corner of the centrepiece. This may be the first time in around two years that those pillars have been shunted into storage!

The wells go well (see what I did there!) with the Cocoon Counter, another new item this week. Having not had the foresight to buy large numbers of counters in previous years, I hadn't replaced my normal French Counters up to this point, but the Cocoon Counters are sufficiently creepy to be worthy of lining the centrepiece.

And that centrepiece remains something of a let-down. It's the Jack-o'-lanterns from 2013 which are occupying the space with a number of Wall Hedges and Round Hedges around it. It's an underwhelming item considering it's supposed to be a focal point, but I don't have any better options. Not that there aren't any available to me - the Haunted Clock Tower added this week has enticed a lot of players and would do a good job in that spot, but I'm wary of parting with too many gems with Black Friday approaching.

 Halloween 2014

 29/10/14 Re-release update
 13/10/14 Goals content report
 08/10/14 Goals

 08/10/14 Initial update

Back to the positives, and I do love my Haunted Tables and Spiderweb Chairs. Both are old additions and although they weren't paired for release, they do make a superb combination thanks to the common factor of the webs. Notice that I've rotated neighbouring tables so that the webs don't clearly repeat themselves. The devil's in the detail!

Elsewhere my Grand Piano has been subbed out for the Spooky Piano. Considering that this cool looking piano was a coin item, I'm slightly disappointed that it hasn't been re-released this year as it's definitely good value. On the opposite side the Halloween Desserts are sure to be popular, and I've got the Leprechaun Waiter in charge of it. There's no concrete reasoning behind his presence, but the wackier the better for Halloween, and he fits the bill!

The defining element of my main zone is the floor. The Haunted Floorboards again give that rugged feel, and make for a subtle change from the Elegant floor tiles which are installed throughout the rest of the year.

From the main area, you can head on over to the Laboratory section or the Halloween Party section.

Laboratory and Halloween Party sections of The Garlic Tree

I had the lab in mind from very early on in the planning for Halloween renovations. A lot of the stuff utilised featured in last year's goals, including the wonderful Lab Experiment and the Lab Assistant. Having a cat in charge of a lab might not be the wisest of moves, but as I said before, absurdity is the aim! Ultimately I'd have loved to have had the Mad Scientist present, but alas opted against purchasing him in 2013 and he's not made a re-appearance this time around.

The Lunch Box Counters are a surprisingly good choice for the lab, while the Confection Lab is obviously the ideal item. The four standing in my lab are the first case of me using appliances purely as decorations - I've not cooked anything on them and don't plan to either. With no recipe mastery objectives to worry about I can afford to leave four slots dormant.

The Halloween Party area is my least developed. Twelve months ago the Costume Contest was the final goal prize, and is interesting enough that I really wanted to squeeze it in somewhere. Unfortunately there's not exactly a large spread of stuff to go with it, so I've elected for the Birthday Party Table, Birthday Party Chair and the Love Counter. They don't really work too well together but I'm satisfied enough to keep the section anyway.

The Ruby Red Mosaic flooring from Valentine's Day is the saving grace, with its multiple shades providing a bit of dynamism to go with the Costume Contest. The Red Curtains are also a blessing since I can't seem to find a wallpaper which goes with the rest of the content in the section.

Exhausted from all those costume changes? Then take five minutes outside. Heck, if you're really knackered then you might find yourself in the graveyard!

Graveyard section of The Garlic Tree

Added this week, the graveyard is pretty self-explanatory. I was really hoping to see the Tombstone Table and Tombstone Chair return after I inexplicably didn't go for them last year, so would like to thank TeamLava once again for making this area possible. And there's an extra bonus from the Tombstone Table - it gives 403 XP for each one bought! I doubt this is deliberate, but nevertheless enjoyed the little XP boost on offer! The alternating Astro Turf tiles and Fall Leaves Tiles help hide the fact that the majority of the floor space in this part of my restaurant is actually empty, and the Wall Hedges are perfect for separating the graveyard from the interior.

The only quibble I have here is with the Cemetery Archway. Originally I had hedging on both sides to close off the graveyard, but since the bots can't walk under it that prevented them getting in! That's a problem for me as without these tables and chairs there are a fair few customers who strut out in a hissy fit because there are no available seats. The solution is to scrap the hedges on one side of the archway, which looks less than impressive. But at least the coins are flowing in...

Staying in the outdoor sector, my Pièce de résistance is the Haunted House and Trick-or-Treaters.

Haunted House section of The Garlic Tree

I've craved the Haunted House for so long, and made a very poor decision (not the first one evidently!) to turn it down in 2012 and 2013. At last it's taking pride of place and is all the better for having the Trick-or Treaters in front of it. Together they are the perfect Restaurant Story marriage, with the Stepping Stone flooring helping to merge the two into what genuinely appears to be one giant floor decoration. Some Pumpkin Stools down each side of the main attraction provide a neat finish to proceedings.

Before I end the journey, there's one titbit which I've not touched upon - did you spot all of the spiders? There are six Spider Tables hiding out around my place, with one of them in the kitchen (not shown in this post due to the risk of disciplining by the food hygiene authorities). The other five and their venomous red eyes are all lurking somewhere. Have you captured them all?