The plastic skeleton behind the gothic hot dog cart doesn’t say much, but the little card resting on the brass tip jar says enough: HOPE TO URN YOUR TIP.
The massive torso of Frankenstein’s monster balances atop the cart, hovering over the customers who line up each weekend for “vegan haunt dogs” and sandwich specials with such monikers as Swamp Thing, the Scarecrow, the Creepshow and the Necro-Nom-Dog.
“I love a themed place. I happen to just like spooky stuff,” says Alishan, who is 44 . “I think with Halloween, in general, everybody likes that. Most people like to get spooky once in a while, I think.”For Alishan, however, Halloween lasts year-round. Named for Frankenstein’s monster — which subsisted on a vegan diet of berries and acorns in Mary Shelley’s novel — the all-vegan Frankenstand blares Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy from the speakers while incense wafts up around the skeleton.
The fascination began early. A favorite childhood film was “The Dark Crystal,” and seeing his first horror movie, “The Invisible Man,” led the future musician and hot dog vendor down a rabbit hole to Frankenstein and other classic Universal movie monsters, as well as “The Twilight Zone” and the black-and-white horror films of Alfred Hitchcock and William Castle.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I want anyone to come,” he says. “I don’t want to attract a certain person or certain people. I want to be open to everyone and anyone.”
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