# Freaky Tiki Party



## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I have an idea I need to run by you guys. I live in Florida, many people have pools, so it's inevitable - every summer someone throws a luau party. Tacky they may be, but they're also a lot of fun. I always thought it would be cool to put my twist on it and have a _haunted luau party_. I recently saw some black leis at DT and my daughter's boyfriend just returned from a family trip to Hawaii, so it's been on my mind lately. I just started a collection box with some tikis and other cool looking Hawaiian things found at local thrifts (I'll post some pics later, after hubby has gone to work  ) Which got me thinking......

Why do I have to wait till Halloween to have a haunted luau? I'm doing _dead & breakfast_t this year, I'm dedicated to _carnevi_l next year, which means I wouldn't be able to do the luau till 2015. I have no idea what a Hawaiian luau has to do with Halloween anyway (I just want to creep one out) so why couldn't I do a _ Freaky Tiki Party_ in May or June? Instead of plastic tikis and blow up palm trees I would go more natural, use a lot of brown/blacks/reds/oranges, burlap/fishnets/raffia, a couple of skelly hula dancer/ukelele dude displays, maybe some pygmies with a cannibal pot, a tribal witch....oh yeah, and some tikis too.

I personally see nothing wrong with this idea but when I told my daughter she said, "Mom, no! It's too weird, you're just trying to have a Halloween party in the summer." I wouldn't have to go all out like Halloween, all I would need to do is decorate the patio, set up a buffet table, a tiki bar and a couple of skelly displays.  

Here's my pinterest page http://pinterest.com/tannasgach/haunted-luau/ and some pics from my boards to give you an idea of what I have in mind -

Luau Buffet -














Skulls & Skellies (only scarier looking skellies) -














Pygmies (as if I could do this) & tiki mask -














Now I knoooow everyone here would see nothing wrong with it but what about "normal" people? Am I thinking too far out of the box and being too strange to throw a _ Freaky Tiki Party_ next summer?


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## Wolfbeard (Sep 22, 2008)

If your invited guests know you are having a theme as a haunted luau, it should not be a problem. We did a Haunted Luau party last year for our Annual Boo Bash. We repurposed a lot of props, including putting Hawaiian shirts and straw hats my Gemmy Jason and Michael Meyers

Here are some ideas from our party that you might be able to build upon for your party:


























































Eric


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Oh I know Eric, you're an inspiration, I have a lot of your pictures pinned.  You did a fantastic job with this theme!! 

I would probably send a postcard invite with a creepy tiki on the front and say something about 'evil spirits have awoken' or 'the tiki gods are angered' or some mumbo jumbo.


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## awokennightmare (Jan 17, 2013)

Thats such a fun theme! So many little touches!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Don't know what luaus & tikis have to do with Halloween? Did you see that episode of the Brady Bunch with Vincent Price as Professor Whitehead?!?

Big Lots has tiki stuff late spring/early summer so they're a good place to get cheap stuff. And someone here has links to building tikis outta those cardboard cement forms....bah... this is the only link I can find right now but the link is on this bb somewhere. I have the link at home.

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=23057&forum=7

My husband & I are BIG into tiki stuff but his taste is way more expensive than mine.

One of our fave artists that does tiki is Shag:
http://www.shag.com/

He likes Bosko too:
http://www.tikibosko.com/

Oh there's about a bilion things to do. We've got more links at home. I'll post that tiki mache link if I can find it.


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## offmymeds (May 26, 2010)

I think it's a great take off on the traditional Luau theme and sounds like a blast. 
Love the skellies with the bathing suits. You should have a virgin to throw into a volcano....


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I think it's a great way to get more use out of some of your props!! Doesn't have to be halloweeny at all tell your daughter. How about something like this....

Why not turn your summer luau into a haunted scavenger hunt or something like that? Maybe the premise is that someone took a chunk of island lava rock or a sacred idol from the island. Suddenly the dead spirits are rising from their graves and scaring off the visitors to the island. "Please come to the _your last name_ Island and restore harmony in Paradise. Find the culprit of the theft and locate the item. Sure to be a night of Island adventure fun, chills, thrills, and Good Food."


I liked the postcard idea someone proposed. You could take photos of your props staged to represent clues and print them on the photo side of a post card. You could go two ways with the post card, either as an Invite or a party clue. As an invite, the message part would have the party date and details. As a party clue, the message part would have a written clue and the post card would be hidden in the party space along with the rock/idol.


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## Paint It Black (Sep 15, 2011)

I think you could definitely pull this off. And, I think it would be great fun!


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

I think it would be fun!!!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Found the links!

Foam Tiki Totem Pole

Polystyrene Tikis

The Kona Luanii, Denver, CO


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

So, all of ya'll think it's okay to throw this party next summer?! Gawd, I love this place.  I think if I refer to it as a _Freaky Tiki_ party instead of a_ haunted_ luau it should be all right.

RC, great links! Thank you so much and I kinda do remember that Brady Bunch episode, something about a cursed tiki idol? Oooh, 'cursed', I could use that. The scavenger hunt sounds fun too; I'll have to think about it some more. I really want a laid back party, one I can enjoy too. I always get so stressed over the Halloween parties, I don't mind doing the props ahead of time but come the night of the luau I just want to kick back. I could do an 'Ugliest Hawaiian Shirt' contest and it's always fun watching a bunch of drunks limbo. 

I know I promised you pictures but I can't find my camera right now. Probably my daughter has it or put it somewhere.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Found it and boy do I have pics! Since all of you talked me into having this party  I hit the thrift stores today.

Some serving bowls, I doubt I'll be serving wine but the corkscrew would make a nice stand for a shrunken head and can't you just picture some eyeballs in the napkin ring circles







Musical instruments







Odds & Ends







Hula Girls







and check out this beauty







details on the side







can't forget these guys








whoa, these pics are taking way too long to upload from the forum, I'm going to switch over to photobucket.......

argh.....how do I get that attached image off the bottom, I thought I deleted it cause I needed to rotate it.


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## pumpkinpie (Jul 9, 2011)

I totally agree, actually I tried to turn my sons Graduation Luau (next spring) into a freaki tiki theme...but sadly hubs wasn't going for it  I say do it and have a blast. I have a couple Pinterest boards for luaus (halloween and tacky lol) if you want to check them out...one thing I wanted to do is take this nasty pig mask (I pinned the link) and have him on a platter with an apple in his mouth. You don't even have to go over board, it can be an elegant luau...with just a few hints of darkness...toss in a fire dancer and it would b epic


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

back to more pics -

this bad boy came all the way from Hawaii; my daughter likes manta rays and her boyfriend just returned from a trip there, he also got her the orange flower sarong the items are pictured on and a bunch of jewelry. Can anyone say centerpiece?


all that shopping made me a little bit hungry


My darling daughter (who told me not to have the party) knows me very well. She is heading down to the Keys Monday and bought this dress to wear in Key West. 


It's covered in tiki masks. Hmm....wonder where else she's planning on wearing it?


<edit> Wow! Pictures are much bigger on Photobucket.


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## Jack'sEckstein (Oct 16, 2012)

Don't worry about the normal people, when they hear your doing a haunted luau (fantastic idea by the way!) they can decide if they want to go or not. If they can't handle the awesome idea of a haunted luau then they can stay home and be boring lol


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## Paint It Black (Sep 15, 2011)

Wow, Tanna, you rounded up a lot of goodies. I love the centerpiece from Hawaii. That is a beautiful piece. Your daughter's dress is really cute too.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

ha ha I like your style Jack's E. 

Pumpkin, thanks for the heads up on your luau boards, I just picked up some new pins.  And your right that pig mask is awesome!


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

I think its a great idea and your name "freaky tiki" says it all. It should be obvious to your guests that it won't be your "normal" tiki party.


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## doombuddy (Apr 7, 2013)

I love it. Perfect for Florida.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

matrixmom said:


> I think its a great idea and your name "freaky tiki" says it all. It should be obvious to your guests that it won't be your "normal" tiki party.


That's what I thought matrix! And besides all the guests that are coming are the same one's that attend our Halloween parties, they know me. 

Oooh, I'm going need some modern Hawaiian music, something more upbeat than Don Hoe.  I bet RC would have some suggestions. 

_Yoo-hoo_ RCiag, are you out there?


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

doombuddy said:


> I love it. Perfect for Florida.


That's what I thought doombuddy!


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## amyml (May 21, 2012)

This is what we want to do next year for Halloween. I would certainly have fun at a freaky Tiki party any time of year!


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## offmymeds (May 26, 2010)

Must have some Jimmy Buffett music!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I think you're on the wrong ocean omm.  Not that I have anything against parrotheads but Bob Marley is more my style.  uhm still wrong ocean. Only recent Hawaiian song I know is the guy who sings 'somewhere over the rainbow', I'll have to do a search on him.


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## SciKoDuo (May 4, 2013)

the freaky tiki party sounds like such a fun idea! too hot to do anything outdoors here in the summer (az), since we have no pool, but maybe a spring time/early summer before it's 100 degrees out!


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## Halloween Scream (Sep 29, 2010)

This sounds awesome. I want to come!


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## zombeejosh (Jul 29, 2013)

That sounds awesome i think its a great twist


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## offmymeds (May 26, 2010)

I just couldnt get "the Tiki Bar is Open" "Volcano" and "Natives are Restless" out of my head! 

I just associate JB with anything Tiki! LOL 

I wanna come too!!!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Buffet isn't tiki, but he could work in a pinch.

REAL tiki music is Exotica. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotica

Martin Denny, Augie Colon (we named our cat after him), Esquivel, Les Baxter, all that 50s era space age, lounge music. My husband likes & listens to it more than I do. 

This is one I've listened to, Retro Cocktail Hour
http://www.retrococktail.org/

http://www.tikiroom.com/music/

http://www.last.fm/tag/exotica

Occasionally you can find an album or 2 at Goodwill/Salvation Army. I buy them for the covers because they're pretty cool & they have very pretty, sometimes exotic, sometimes half naked/scantily clad women on them & that's a plus for the husband!!


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## LadySherry (Oct 4, 2011)

I want to come too!!!!. I will even dress in my best dark tiki fashion. 
You need some skellimingos also


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

SciKoDuo said:


> the freaky tiki party sounds like such a fun idea! too hot to do anything outdoors here in the summer (az), since we have no pool, but maybe a spring time/early summer before it's 100 degrees out!


I'm thinking middle of May, before it gets too hot & muggy. 



Halloween Scream said:


> This sounds awesome. I want to come!


You're on the wrong ocean Hallo Scream  but more than welcome.



offmymeds said:


> I just couldnt get "the Tiki Bar is Open" "Volcano" and "Natives are Restless" out of my head!
> I just associate JB with anything Tiki! LOL
> !


If I do a playlist they would be great songs to add.  JB just reminds me of Key West.



RCIAG said:


> Buffet isn't tiki, but he could work in a pinch.
> REAL tiki music is Exotica.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotica
> Martin Denny, Augie Colon (we named our cat after him), Esquivel, Les Baxter, all that 50s era space age, lounge music. My husband likes & listens to it more than I do.


I knew I could count on you RC, Thank You! 



LadySherry said:


> I want to come too!!!!. I will even dress in my best dark tiki fashion.
> You need some skellimingos also


omg how could I forget skellymingos! Dang, I turned all mine into vultures.  Off to DT tomorrow.


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## mysterymaiden (Aug 11, 2008)

I love it. I think it's a great twist on the usual Hawaiian Luau. I was actually toying with a similar idea for a Halloween fundraiser I'm throwing - seeing your ideas, now I'm back on the idea again. Love it.


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## badgirl (May 4, 2008)

This was our theme last year and with the unusually hot weather it worked great. We did a video invite inviting guests to set sail with us to a tropical island, only problem was the previous guests had never made the return trip home due to a horrible tragedy. We had glowing hot lava beds around the patio, shrunken heads on stakes, giant tropical insects.....and our friends really got into the costumes. Zombie Gilligan's island characters, restless natives, shipwrecked sailors, and hubby and i came as the witchdoctor and an twisted evil mermaid. I could see how guests might not understand if it were in the summer, but throw a party if you feel like it!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Go for it _mysterymaiden_ , I don't know if it's just Fl but I've been finding tons of Hawaiian stuff in thrift stores.

Sounds like a great party badgirl!  Any pics? Liking the idea of the giant insects; I've always wanted that giant mosquito - maybe I can pick it up at an after 'ween' sale.


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## mzhalloween (May 9, 2013)

I think that Freaky Tiki is a great idea!. There are a couple cool pumpkin ideas in Extreme Pumpkins by Tom Nardone (I think the second book) cool tiki pumpkins and an idea for a shrunken head type thing with different veggies.


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## precious (Aug 9, 2013)

This is a really cool theme. I'm Hawaiian and from Hawaii so I got some ideas for you.

-Ku was the god of war. His tiki was the one that people use to perform human sacrifices to, so you could always name you're tiki or something
-As morbid as it sounds, when captain cook came to Hawaii his remains were never found. It was assumed that his body was eaten, as a way to gain his mana (power). If its not to grotesque, you could always serve meat and name it after human remains
-you could also serve 'kava". Kava is a traditional drink that basically taste like dirt but makes you numb/drunk, and is drunk out of a coconut shell. But you could always replace it with another drink and just call it "kava". 

Can't wait to see how you're party turns out!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

well Aloha, my new Hawaiian friend, welcome to the forum!  Thanks for the ideas. Mind if I pick your brain, my precious? Is there a difference between Hawaiian salt, pink Hawaiian salt and regular sea salt? The best (and easiest) Kalua pork recipes I'm finding only contain 3 ingredients - pork, salt, liquid smoke. So I'm thinking the flavoring has to be in the Hawaiian salt. Therefore I need the good stuff.  Here's a crockpot recipe http://heymikiheymiki.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/crockpot-kalua-pork/ and I couldn't find pink salt but here's some red salt from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Sea-...UTF8&colid=2SMEEMTVJID6L&coliid=IUGJ61ISCB1A1 Not that I'm obsessive or anything  but I need to know if I can use sea salt or do I have to splurge on the real deal?

--------------------------------------------------
well Hello there mzhalloeen, welcome to the forum!  Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to look into the shrunken heads from vegetables but I don't think pumpkins will be available in May so I'll do a watermelon tiki like this one:


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## precious (Aug 9, 2013)

Tannasgach said:


> well Aloha, my new Hawaiian friend, welcome to the forum!  Thanks for the ideas. Mind if I pick your brain, my precious? Is there a difference between Hawaiian salt, pink Hawaiian salt and regular sea salt?
> View attachment 165782


Yes pick my brain all you want. Hawaiian salt and regular sea salt is basically the same thing, just that one is specifically made here, but it taste the same. Red/Pink Hawaiian salt is just Hawaiian salt mixed with alae'a, techincally a dirt, but its more of a vitamin enriched powder, alae'a taste a bit chalky by itself, and it doesn't really affect the taste. That recipe you have sounds great. You are very correct in the part about the salt, that is where all the taste comes from, and regular sea salt will be just fine.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Thank you for the info precious!  You just saved me some bucks; I have coarse sea salt in my spice cabinet. I'm gonna have to try this recipe soon but I keep wanting to add onions.  I've also been looking at recipes for coconut rice (wondering if it's too sweet?) and Hawaiian potato & macaroni salad. I'm trying to get a general idea of the menu now so I'll know how many and what type of serving platters to look for. Any easy recipes you have to share would be greatly appreciated.

And... since you said it was okay to pick your brain......I have an unpainted wooden statue from Hawaii of_ Kanaloa_. He doesn't always sound like a very nice god and he has a big crack down his side. Is there any kind of legend or taboo about cracked tikis?


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## precious (Aug 9, 2013)

Tannasgach said:


> Thank you for the info precious!  You just saved me some bucks; I have coarse sea salt in my spice cabinet. I'm gonna have to try this recipe soon but I keep wanting to add onions.  I've also been looking at recipes for coconut rice (wondering if it's too sweet?) and Hawaiian potato & macaroni salad. I'm trying to get a general idea of the menu now so I'll know how many and what type of serving platters to look for. Any easy recipes you have to share would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> And... since you said it was okay to pick your brain......I have an unpainted wooden statue from Hawaii of_ Kanaloa_. He doesn't always sound like a very nice god and he has a big crack down his side. Is there any kind of legend or taboo about cracked tikis?


Of course, no problem! To be honest, I have never eaten coconut rice, as its not readily available here. But if that seems to sweet, you could always make haupia. It's a coconut pudding/jello dessert, a main dessert at lua'us, and super tasty. Here's a receipe http://www.food.com/recipe/haupia-125832. As for the menu, you came to the right person, my parents pretty much cook at every family lua'u, lol, so I'll just list some of the things that don't require you flying to Hawaii for ingredients. 
-Lomi Salmon (common side dish) http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=981975
-Chicken Long Rice (this one seems to be very popular amongst visitors) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-long-rice-soup/
-Hawaiian Potato (aka uala) and macaroni salad- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hawaiian-bruddah-potato-mac-macaroni-salad/
Also, any type of seafood would be great also. Because were an island, that's pretty much all we have, haha. Shish kaboob shrimp and steamed fish is also a hit. As well as having fruit platters that include pineapple, mangos, or coconuts. Usually at lua'us we'd just slice open a pineapple, and leave it in the middle of the table for appetizers. 

As for the cracked ki'i, I've never heard of a kapu(taboo) against it. After all, there are many heiaus (temples) here that have cracked tiki's and they are still worshiped at. So you should be fine.


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