Spooky Scary Skeletons, among many other creepies, haunt the year-round Halloween bar Cocktails & Screams. Located in Downtown Orlando, the local haunt is here to put you in spooky season mood any time of the year. With over-the-top themed drinks, classic movie monster décor, and a witchy speakeasy within, we couldn’t pass up featuring the entirety of this local bar for its prized holiday.
Although the main bar itself is not prominently displayed on the street, it is not technically a speakeasy. The outside has a dive-bar atmosphere, but upon entering you feel transported to a haunted house with gothic neon lighting and spooky props strewn around. Because we visited just after it reopened from quarantine (they required masks and had a great list of safety precautions posted everywhere), we had to check in at the bar and decide where we wanted to sit to avoid touching “all the things”. We did ask to walk around and get pictures before settling since the place is homage to many classic Halloween movies. So many fun grammable spots including their Addams’s Family sitting room, murderous bloody back hallway, the Oogie Boogie Man bath tub, and more!
It was difficult to order drinks because everything sounded so fun; either the ingredients sounded delicious or I wanted to fangirl over the title. We finally decided on a Frogs Breath and a Jeckel & Hyde. The Frogs Breath was a peach cognac martini with flavors of ginger and lemon, served bubbling with dry ice for a potions effect: wonderfully delicious. Jeckel & Hyde had bourbon, gin, and blood orange liqueur: a tasty and strange blend of flavors! They also serve tasty sweets and treats; we couldn’t eat that night but want to go back just to try more from both menus.
And finally, the most important part; what could be lurking behind that creepy bayou swamp door? Every night after 8pm you’ll notice a new character appears in the bar, this is the voodoo witch that will let you enter “The Craft” if you solve her riddle. This interior speakeasy hosts a number of spooky concoctions made theatrically by the potions master inside the hut. But you better follow the rules or you might get cursed (aka kicked out)! No photos were allowed and we may have been a little early and upset the voodoo master…but we made it out alive.
If you love Halloween, classic monster movies, gothic noir, or all of the above: this unique bar is the haunt for you. Don’t worry if you think you’re a scaredy cat, it is vintage monster classy not scary; fun for everyone, but especially those in the know with the cult classics. So whether it’s All Hallows Eve or mid-April, zombie walk your way down to Cocktails & Screams to tickle your senses with terrifying libations and treats.
We came for the “boos” and stayed for the nostalgia. Happy Halloween fellow libation hunters!
Your PLIs (visited August 2020)