Order a drink, solve a murder
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Your average night at the Coffin Club. Photos: Michael Gonzalez, Edward Schmalz, Abbey Higginbotham
A woman named Elena Thorne turned up dead in a candlelit vampire bar beneath a West Bottoms winery, and for $15, you can find out who did it.
The big picture: Coffin Club, the latest Halloween pop-up from Apparition, gives Kansas City a spooky night out for people who'd rather sip than scream in the same neighborhood as haunted houses like The Beast and Edge of Hell.
Flashback: Edward Schmalz, who also co-founded Pawn and Pint, started Apparition as a "spookeasy" above Screenland Armour in North KC.
- Last year, it set up at the same winery with a bar built around haunted KC history.
Zoom in: Thorne, according to the story, came to the bar chasing eternal life and died before last call. Guests who buy into the scavenger hunt work through clues to figure out which of 13 characters did it.
- Set builder Greg Bowman, who makes trick furniture, built most of the physical puzzles, and Delaney Rose designed the ciphers.
- Actors, including some from the troupe Vampire KC, play the vampires and werewolves working the room.
What they're saying: "We just really love playing pretend and entertaining guests," Schmalz, Apparition's self-titled spookmaster general, tells Axios.
- He says some past pop-ups were bigger, but "this is the one that the team and I have poured the most of our heart into."
What to try: The Type O Negative ($18) is vodka, triple sec and cranberry, and yes, it comes in a blood bag if you ask.
- The Séance ($12) is the nonalcoholic option, with black tea and blackberry-clove syrup.
- Groups can split the Monster Squad, a $35 cauldron of applejack, cider and ginger beer.
- Everything else on the cocktail list is $15.
💭 Abbey's thought bubble: The Type O Negative and the Nosferatu were both delicious, if on the sweeter side. We gave the mystery a real shot, but a few drinks in, my friends' and my detective work got sloppy.
If you go: Coffin Club runs through Oct. 31 beneath Fountain City Winery in the West Bottoms. Admission is $10, and an OpenTable reservation holds your spot for an hour and a half.
- It's 21 and up on Fridays and Saturdays and all ages on Thursdays and Sundays, and per the house rules, werewolves are welcome for a limited time.
What's next: The Apparition crew hosts the Black Flame Bash, a witchy party and concert, at Nighthawk on Oct. 30, the night before Coffin Club closes.