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Tim Burton Themed bar takes on 6th Street

With Webs dangling from the ceiling, caged chandeliers dimmed lighting and props projecting from all angles, It feels as if I had been walking the aisle with the corpse bride herself. Tim Burton inspired bar, The Beetle house, is one of roughly fourteen bars located in lower Manhattan, 6thstreet region. Entering the bar, you see the narrow, elongated path that grazes past the bar, leading towards a small, dimly lit, dining area. If not focused on the woman sitting at the bar dressed like a cat, all in black, with eyes glistening yellow and narrowed opal shaped pupils; When first walking through the entrance door it's difficult to fixate your eyes on just one object. Still, Burton movie art sat on the shelves behind the bar. Framed Wall art danced the walls from the entrance to the dining area. Apart from beetle juice, the bar was unusually shy of black and white stripes.

Unusual for a Tim Burton bar anyways. Instead, the walls were painted black through the bar area creating a cozy, old hallows eve feel. The walls in the dining area were white brick giving a more modern Italian dinner type of feel. The Led lights contrasted in shades of purple and green given the atmosphere more of a vampire Queen of the damned, Hot topic sort of feel. It wasn’t until beetle juice hopped on the bar table and gave the guest an erotic show that you realize “this is so beetle juice.”

"It’s very idyllic. But in a good way." Says Crystal Kilensel; dressed casually as first-timer at the house about the bars décor.  

The Beetle House is a Tim Burton film transferred into a tipsy nightlife scene. It has plenty to offer from Drinks to live entertainment. Unfadingly unusual, customers may begin to feel dizziness from either the alcohol, the lighting or the claustrophobia. Never the less, a weekend spent at the bar is sure to make you say ‘’Beetle house’’ ‘’Beetle House’’ ‘’Beetle house’’ for another return.  

The live entertainment from A flamboyant, untameably queer, Beetle Juice and a silently melancholy Edward Scissorhands, one is sure to cut the edges off an awkward situation. Beetle juice was perfectly portrayed down to his natural fowl mouth, creepster, ostentatious demeanor. Scissorhands too was very much in character; pretending to cut the hair of customers who had been enjoying their time at the bar. At times when glancing at Scissorhands, the actor had the beautifully portrayed appearance of the Hugo Award-winning, pale, troubled or pained facial expression that captured the screen in 1990.      

‘’I’m looking forward to getting drunk with beetle juice’’ Said David Mendez; a Navy sailor on deployment vacation. ‘’This guy is totally in character and its awesome. This is going to be a great night.’’  

The bars décor was the least of the strange. Entrees too were brought to life with props adding an interesting spin to fine dining. The appearance of the food was definitely better than the taste. Not to say that it was terrible, but it definitely calls upon some deception and was a low point for the Beetle house.

The unique drinks definitely saved the bar and the Closter phobia one might get from being crammed into such a small area. Drinks were served with dry ice creating a smoked or bubbling effect to each drink. Spooked yet? The most ordered drink seemed to be what is known as the Fish Bowl; which cost twenty-five dollars. It was a blue drink filled with multiple mixtures of alcohol and was infused with candy goldfish and other types of candy pebbles. It’s Cash only at this Burton Booth where most drinks were mixtures of either Gin, tequila, coconut rum, and vodka. The drinks ranged anywhere between thirteen and twenty-five dollars per drink. No worries if the inner New Yorker only carries plastic in their Prada, the ATM located at the front of the bar makes for a convenient experience for the city nocturnal.  

People seemed to be really enjoying their time with the classic characters and the bizarreness’ of it all. Fascinated expressions and chatter of the décor filled the bar.  

“I definitely enjoyed my whole experience here whenever I come.” Says Amber Vasquez, eyes powdered in beautiful glitter eye shadow and grade A winged eyeliner “It is a lot smaller than you would think it is, but I think you forget how small it is when you’re having a lot of fun.”   

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Wiccan Are Raising Funds For NYC Temple

Wicca, an uprising religion, works to become a permanent residence in New York state community.  While in the process of trying to raise the necessary funds to open up a permanent temple, the growing community has undergone quite a bit of backlash, discrimination, and violent attacks.

Starr Ravenhawk, an Elder and a High priestess for the Wiccan Family temple, assures that the nonprofit organization is doing what they can to get their permanent space. She admits that the attacks mainly come from Christian communities that label the Wiccans as “satanic.” This is a misconception among the community. One that Ravenhawk is all too familiar with.  

Ravenhawk claims that on one occasion a ritual had been stopped because an individual wrongfully accused the Wiccans as performing a satanic séance. This was brought to the attention of the head of the parks department and was dealt with accordingly. It is because misconstructions such as this one, that Ravenhawk believes people might be afraid of coming out ‘’broom closet.’’  

Unfortunately for them, being accused of Satanism is the least of their worries. According to Ravenhawk, there had been occasions in which people had thrown garbage at the Wiccans when in the process of performing a ritual. She says, they even came with speakers and spoke over them as they had been chanting and reciting their ritual prayers. This was despite being forbidden for trespassing due to the space having been rented out by the Wiccan Family Temple.

In spite of the dangers that await Wiccans, When asked if the temple would be hiring security, Ravenhawk replied by stating that security will be handled no different than the methods being used currently. That being, reporting to the proper authority in the event of harassment or violent attacks. Ravenhawk also noted that despite not hiring extra security, the temple will have surveillance as a safety precaution.  

Christina Sanchez, an eclectic witch from Philadelphia speaks on the Wiccan’s hardship. Despite not being associated with the Wiccan community directly; still, she relates to the stereotypes that surround the title.  

‘‘There's always going to be a backlash with on what’s different, unknown and mysterious’’ says Sanchez ‘’personally, I even find that calling myself a witch causes steer.’’      

In an attempt to bring down the stigmas and repaint a more positive image about the Wiccan community, the Wiccan Family Temple often organizes food and clothes drives to collect for the unfortunate. But despite their hard efforts, these long hours of dedication often go unnoticed.  

“we take it and give it to the Catholic churches or ministeries that collect and they don’t say it from us. We say “could you let them know its from our temple,” they would never say. They would accept it from us and that’s it. It’s like as if we’re not doing anything. Said Ravenhawk “We’re not doing it to get credit but it would be nice for it to be said so people would stop having this stigma about us.”  

In efforts to try to raise the necessary funds to purchase a building, the Wiccan community has been performing fundraisers and posting donations on the temple’s website. Still, Ravenhawk admits that the Wiccan community doesn’t come close to reaching the goals needed to purchase said building.  

While raising funds, the temple currently rents spaces for classes and services. All in which have come out to be very costly on its own according to Ravenhawk.  

Never the less, even with all the community has undergone to introduce their arrival, Ravenhawk says that the community will continue to come together in rented meeting spots and celebrate who they are as individuals and as a community.