October is a month dedicated to candy corn, pumpkin spice everything, hayrides and haunted houses. The other side of Halloween, the “adult” side, consists of the same, just with alcohol. This year, I decided to mimic New Orleans’ infamous Haunted Bar Crawls and make my own, a North Shore Haunted Halloween Bar Crawl. The Crow’s Nest, The Howling Wolf, and the cemetery behind my house are just a few of the “haunted” or rather, “scary” places on my DIY (do it yourself) Haunted Bar Crawl. In a series of interesting and unfortunate events, here is my review on The Haunted Bar Projects unofficial bar crawl.
8:00pm:
With a group of friends, a designated driver and a minivan the night started off at The Crow’s Nest in Gloucester. Popular for the cultural reference to the movie, The Perfect Storm, The Crow’s Nest is a bar where townies go to get completely obliterated. The walls are lined with picture frames of dead fisherman and display signs replicated from the movie. Every bar stool was filled and the stench of stale cigarettes and spilled liquor was inescapable. We started with a beer, Sam Adams Octoberfest that was served in a glass with the remnants of someone else’s lipstick. We quickly chugged our beers and ran out of there as fast as we could. Although we didn’t bump into any ghosts or see anything out of the ordinary, we definitely mingled with the living dead.
8:50pm:
As we were on our way to the next “haunted” bar I bribed my friends with a bottle of Fireball if they would let me stop at a liquor store I found that is said to be haunted. Curious and thirsty, they agreed. Bunghole Liquors is just like any other liquor store. Rows and Rows of liquor, beer, and wine all with a thin mask of dust on the labels. The cashier barely looked at me as I looked rather odd trying to look for the ghost of a cat that supposedly haunts the place. After about ten minutes walking the three aisles in the store I grabbed the Fireball and paid the cashier. The only strange thing that occurred in the store was me tripping over my own two feet and shattering the bottle which resulted in a tense discussion with the cashier and a free second bottle.
9:15:
After finally making it to the center of Salem Halloween, it wasn’t until we walked past the Ferris Wheel, drunk teenagers, and a few Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner costumes that we reached the second bar on the list, The Howling Wolf Taqueria. Offering a funky atmosphere and Halloween decor covering every inch of the place, it seemed we finally made it to a fun place to officially start off Halloween in Salem. After consuming a variety of beverages and witnessing two street fights it was time to go to the next bar. Salem Beer Works, Tavern in the Square, and a few other bars whose names I cannot remember, offered an interesting experience to my DIY Haunted Bar Crawl. It wasn’t until we made it to the last bar, In a Pig’s Eye, where things truly got interesting.
11:00? 12:00?
At this point in the night, three street fights were witnessed, multiple beverages shattered, and our inhibitions fleeting with every second that passed. Before we even stepped into the bar, a man dressed as a nun was peeing on the door. Coincidentally, he was thrown out of line by an employee and became just another drunken memory. We ordered another round of drinks of what I think were shots of Jameson and I tried to remember why this was the last place on the list. According to old folklore, the bar used to be a place where illegal activity occurred. Pirate invasions and underground tunnels are apart of the history of In a Pig’s Eye. I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the madness that is Salem Halloween but I swear I saw the strangest puff of smoke coming out of the bathroom floor. It was in that moment I knew it was time to leave. I made my way through the sea of Kylie Jenner’s and Tyga’s and found my Bad Blood posse and left.
2am-ish
The night ended in a weird way. Living next to a cemetery never interested me before but being drunk with my friends on Halloween, we figured one last drink at the scariest bar of all was fitting. After hopping over rocks and falling into bushes we had our last drink of the night surrounded by the dead. We stumbled upon an open grave and it was in that moment that we called it a night. When we woke up the next morning and looked in the mirror we came to the conclusion that the day after Halloween is the scariest holiday of all. As for my DIY Haunted Bar Crawl, I would recommend it to anyone 21 or over. When I came up with the idea to make my own Haunted Halloween Bar Crawl, it was when I discovered that there wasn’t a bar crawl quite like the ones I heard about in New Orleans. I saw an opportunity and a chance to incorporate fun into research for The Haunted Bar Project. As for the weird puff of smoke I saw, it was probably just someone’s e-cigarette.