You cannot coin the event as being descendants of Ichabod crane, but play 80's music and hold the event in a strip mall saying it's the most haunted place in Lakeland as well as other stories that have nothing to do with 17th and 18th century or even Lakeland. The ambiance, setting and stories were wrong for the event as it was coined. If you want to play hip hop or 80's music change the description of the event. I attended a night with Dracula at the Polk theatre in Lakeland... and this event was spot on! I do not know if this is the same company, however I did notice that one of the actors was the same and he was actually the best actor there! P.s.... Give a theme people can dress up too. It creates a more memorable adventure! And... say dress to impress. It might help people that love to fish keep that shirt on the hanger till they take out the boat! read more

Well, the cocktail party/theater event was intended to be an Edgar Allen Poe speakeasy & it fell flat on its face. Breakdown: It was held at a venue that did nothing to invoke speakeasy. I was thinking speakeasy, dark, smokey, tables set with candles, nope. White glossy chairs were set up in a fashion that channeled a wedding, sun streaming in, high vaulted ceiling, room painted white, you get it.. I couldn't get in to it. The first cocktail was a blueberry lemon thing. 0 flavor, 1% booze. Pretty much all the cocktails were anemic. The 3rd was awful. Looked like grape Kool-aid & tasted like lemon juice. I skipped the last one. The "troupe" recited 4 short stories by Poe. The energy was up but there was too much schtick, it was not entertaining. Overall, I would suggest avoiding The Haunted Tavern. It will not be $50 well spent. read more

Absolutely terrible drinks and not an accurate description of the event. None of the stories are local or remotely close to real. It's all theater and you pay way too much for zero alcohol and bad acting. read more

The show was literally people dressed in black taking turns telling a "spooky story". In between stories the stage was empty. The stories weren't told well and weren't entertaining. There were no costumes, special effects or audience participation/interaction. It was very disappointing. read more

The Haunted Tavern - This was the extent of decor/theming. - Cabaret Near Me - Houston, Texas

Absolutely atrocious. Watered down drinks and terrible storytelling. I asked what the alcohol in my drink was for a serious answer and was only told "pineapple spirits". The stories are not actually relevant to the area. One of the actors was apparently trying to be funny physically forcing our table mate to finish her drink with his hand. The YouTube background turned into commercials on 3 occasions during the show. We left early as did others. Voodoo cellars is actually a cool looking bar but will visit when it's being run by its regular staff. Save your money and skip this show. read more

TLDR: If you're expecting freshly-made craft cocktails prepared in an upscale bar setting with a sophisticated parlor or cabaret-style show, save your money; this ain't it. Cloyingly sweet cocktails (pre-mixed out-of-view of attendees) served in a dirty, warehouse setting sans air-conditioning, to patrons seated in movie-theater seats so old they've warped into misalignment, while angry raconteurs alternate between insulting the audience & telling vulgar, expletive-laced ghost stories in a difficult to follow cadence. Not recommended for anyone over the age of twenty-five. The venue: Super-Happy Fun Land is in an old cash-register manufacturing facility. It has since been repurposed as an event facility, whose primary niches appear to be raves, punk, & industrial noise-rock shows. Picture a place where Skinny Puppy would've played in their heyday, & you'll have a pretty good idea of what SHFL is like. Dirty, covered in graffiti, with no AC to speak of, & festooned with an assortment of stuffed toys that one might win for knocking over milk bottles with a baseball at a carnival... The cocktails: ever ordered one of those multi-syrup, ambiguously-named snow cones? E.g. "Tiger Blood" or "Tropical Avalanche"? So sweet, they damn near put you in a diabetes coma? Okay, now imagine how it would taste if you melted it down & drank it with a little Everclear in it. Got it? You now have a pretty good idea of the cocktails served by the Haunted Tavern. The show: people costumed in goth attire climb on stage shortly after each drink is served & speak. The first one insultingly admonished people to turn off their mobile devices (yes, you should turn off your mobile phone if you go to any show & you're a thoughtless boor if you don't. Period. That said, there are better ways to remind people to do so, & none require belittling the audience). The emcee told an expletive-laced ghost story in an odd cadence. It was clear he'd practiced the presentation, as he delivered it without a single filler word (kudos to anyone who can do this without a single "uh" or "umm"), but did so with an odd cadence that left me wondering why he chose to emphasize certain words or why he paused at certain points in his speech, rather than being immersed in the story. He also hammered a nail into his nose, which is always a sure-fire way to get the audience to squirm, even if the accompanying horror story doesn't do the trick. Another of the performers angrily pretended that people had complained about the cocktails in a ruse to browbeat audience members up on stage with her. I won't go into audience management best-practices here, but suffice to say, there are better ways to do this, & given the audience makeup (people who've come to drink craft-cocktails & hear spooky stories) a simple, "I need four volunteers" would likely have yielded a crop of frantically waiving hands. I am no prude, & am a firm believer that coarse language (f-bombs included) can be used to tell a story without being vulgar. However, the performers in this show use it as if they've recently moved out of their oppressively puritanical parents' house, & are using any & all opportunities to squeeze out the pus & venom they've accumulated over the past eighteen years. Not that any of the cast or servers were younger than forty. I'm just underscoring the point that there's a way to use colorful language to give zest to a story or presentation, & then there's being vulgar, slinging f-bombs, MFs, & everything in between just for the sake of... what? Being edgy? "Hey look at me! I used a string of naughty words! Aren't you shocked?" At least, that seems to be the inner dialogue of the average disaffected young adult to which I am comparing the Haunted Tavern's performers. (If the shoe fits...) For someone who's turned twenty-one within the last couple of years, & hasn't yet developed a taste for alcoholic beverages beyond sugary libations like apple-tinis & mudslides, and if you're comfortable in a rough setting better suited for mosh pits, The Haunted Tavern show may be your thing. As for the rest of you, I recommend skipping it. read more