Halloween is around the corner, with plenty of parties and events planned for the weekend before October 31. If you're hosting your friends – or your children's friends – at home this year, or looking for something to spice up the office party, here are some spooky snacks to seek out.
Chocolate bats and macabre macarons at Laduree
The French patisserie has two Halloween-themed snacks this season, available from now until Tuesday, and promises these are terrifying yet tasty.
First up is a new recipe: Popcorn tart (from Dh52) has a crusty dough base with corn almond cream, macadamia nuts, roasted corn praline and caramel popcorn. It is garnished with corn-whipped ganache and a chocolate belt studded with edible bats.
Laduree is also retailing its limited-time Halloween macaron box (Dh155), with eight pieces of the confectionery, each printed with an eerie spider's web for you to sink your fangs into.
Zombie eyeballs and pumpkin shortbread at M&S
Marks & Spencer has a collection of spooky candy, ideal for house or office parties and trick-or-treat distribution, available from now until Tuesday.
Menacing Menagerie (Dh13) is on the menu, wherein chocolate shells are packed with caramel slime, as are milk chocolate balls repackaged as the Ghoulish Gang (Dh13). You can also pick up packets of Zombie Eyeballs (Dh19), sour spiders (Dh9) or Halloween-themed Colin the Caterpillar super sours (Dh15).
If you're looking for something savoury, consider the HallowScream munch mix (Dh23), while the light-up pumpkin tin (Dh49) is a suitably spooky gift filled with all-butter shortbread bats, ghosts, and pumpkins
Monster cake and RIP cupcakes at Mister Baker
If you're celebrating a birthday this Halloween, or just fancy some freaky-looking cake, Mister Baker has you covered.
Available in 3kg and 4kg sizes, choose from an eye monster cake (from Dh357) and multi-tiered Halloween castle cake (Dh1,197), complete with a creaky gate, tombstones, flying apparitions and pumpkins.
Pumpkins and RIP gravestones also adorn chocolate cupcakes (Dh35 per piece).
Artisanal bonbons and candy at Sugargram
Best known for its bite-sized cupcakes, Sugargram has released its Boo collection for Halloween, with themed packaging that says as much.
Within you can find mini cupcakes (Dh140 for 25), or choose between artisanal bonbons (Dh40 for five) and limited-time candy (Dh66), each individually wrapped as pumpkins, ghouls, spiders et al. The latter is available until Tuesday.
Each confection is also named based on its flavour – think Blueberry Bat, Cherry Skull and Choc-O-Lantern.
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2019 Audi A7 Sportback
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 335hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
