The Press Room - Haunted Editors Magical Cocktail Experience
The Press Room is a speakeasy in downtown Greenville - I had seen a blurb for their “Haunted Editors Magical Cocktail Experience” on the GVL Today newsletter. After some guy followed me out to my car at the grocery store and called me a “house mouse,” I decided to book my reservations and do some exploring in Greenville!
“I’ll show him who the house mouse is,” I thought to myself as I clicked “checkout".
Anyway, this haunted experience was a Press Room special pop-up event. On that note - you’ll always need reservations at The Press Room, so book them in advance.
Since this was an event with an editor, I put on my costume & stuffed a copy of my manuscript into my bag before heading out.
I parked across the street from the Greenville News for $10.
Turns out; The Press Room is actually not at the Greenville News, but rather next door at Camperdown Plaza - in the same building as Juniper Rooftop Bar.
So anyway, once you’re at Juniper - you’ll check-in, and the host will ask for your name the reservation is under.
From there, they’ll give you your super fun speakeasy instructions, including a (super secret) code to enter.
While you’re waiting for the elevator, use it as an opportunity to take a bunch of cute selfies in the pretty mirrored glass.
Next, when the elevator opens - board.
When the elevator stopped at the 2nd floor, the large group of (other) elevator riders (that were headed to another floor) were like, “wait, what’s this” “that looks cool,” “we should have gone there.….” When the elevator door began shut, it was my cue to make my grand exit and state “Oh, this is my stop! Boop” while I dainty pushed through the peasants to exit on the cool floor.
If a mouse were to speak human, it would say “Boop”, (in case you’re wondering).
So turns out the editor was a Skeleton (gasp!) which was simultaneously exciting yet disappointing. I left my manuscript anyway, just in case the editor magically came alive at midnight or something of that nature.
After ogling the super cool haunted room off the elevator, I decided to head into the main bar area behind the coded door.
So the super nice host lady told me the code to enter was today’s date, but I got a little nervous and forgot.
Thoughts began to race through my mind like, “Was it the year? Was it today’s date? Are we using the Mayan calendar now? Are we actually living in a simulation controlled by aliens?” Finally, I remembered the code was today’s date - checked the date on my phone and used that to get in.
Immediately I headed to the bar to get my drink. That was when I realized I was literally the only one wearing costume besides staff - but the bartender gave me my drink before everyone else, which made me feel less self-conscious.
The cocktail was *delicious* not too sweet, but a just sweet enough Halloween-themed concoction.
Speaking of costumes, this year, I decided to be a mouse to shed light on the monstrosities of animal testing.
One guy said, “Nice costume,” and I replied with, “Did you know that 110 million mice and rats are horrifyingly experimented on in laboratories each and every year when we have the modern technology to use in vitro methods and advanced computer modeling to achieve the same results?”.
Surprisingly he worked for PETA and did, in fact, know this.
The Press Room itself is a smallish venue - but has a laid-back - ish vibe to it. It kind of feels like an exclusive space that editors would go to after a full day’s work of editing articles on things such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Black Friday Sales at Macy’s - back in the day.
Next time I’ll probably bring a friend and not dress like a mouse - maybe a cow or factory-farmed chicken. (While still adhering to the dress code, obviously.)
So remember, the ‘Haunted Editors Magical Cocktail Experience’ was a pop-up experience, but make reservations at The Press Room any other night they’re open, and it will still be fun - or stay on the lookout for their other pop up events!
Buy my book 'The Crystal Inn ~ A Southern Haunting' (click this link to go to Amazon page)!
