Friday
October 16
8:00 PMDoors 7:30 PM
For two
A 21+ night in Salem that is not a haunted house.
Most of what Salem offers in October is loud, bright, and for everyone. This is ninety minutes at a small table in the dark, with four drinks each and a story told to you by people who have seen the Count up close.
The shape of the evening
Sit down at 7:30 PM. Walk out at 9:30 with the city still awake.
You are shown to a table when the doors open. The first glass, The First Bite, arrives with the first chapter, and from there the story and the drinks move together: four chapters, four pours, and a cast that works the room rather than a stage. Nobody is dragged into the show; someone may lean in and tell you something. By the last chapter, Dracula's Kiss, you will know why it is called that.
If one of you does not drink, every chapter pours without alcohol in the same glass at the same moment, and nobody at the table will know.
Around it
Dinner first. Essex Street after.
Eat before the 8 PM performances; Essex Street and Derby Square are lined with restaurants and they fill early on October weekends. Afterwards you are on the pedestrian mall at 9:30 with the crowd thinned out, which is the best hour Salem has in October.
Come as you are. Plenty of people dress for the occasion, and you would not be out of place in black.
Where we are
On Essex Street, in the middle of everything.
Cinema Salem is inside Museum Place, the small mall whose doors open straight onto the Essex Street pedestrian mall. When you are standing on Essex Street in October, in the middle of the crowd, you are about a minute from our door.
Walking times are approximate and assume an October crowd. Nothing on this list needs a car.
- 1minEssex Street pedestrian mallThe mall's doors open onto it.
- 2minPeabody Essex MuseumAcross Essex Street.
- 3minOld Town Hall and Derby SquareDown Essex Street toward the water.
- 5minSalem Witch Museum and the CommonUp Essex Street to Washington Square.
- 5minSalem Witch Trials MemorialCharter Street, behind the Peabody Essex Museum.
- 1minMuseum Place GarageAttached to the building, entrance on New Liberty Street.
- 10minSalem station, commuter railUp Washington Street, about half a mile.
- 8minPickering Wharf and the waterfrontDown Derby Street.
- 15minThe House of the Seven GablesAlong Derby Street past the wharf.
The three nights
Questions people ask
Do I have to be 21?
Yes. Every guest is 21 or older and shows a valid government-issued photo ID at the door. That includes the 4 PM matinee.
Are the four drinks included?
Yes. Your seat includes four cocktails, one poured for each chapter of the story: The First Bite, Fresh Blood, The Crypt, and Dracula's Kiss.
How long is it?
Ninety minutes. Doors open thirty minutes before the performance.
Is there parking?
The Museum Place Garage on New Liberty Street is attached to our building, and the MBTA station garage and the South Harbor Garage are the fallbacks. In October the city recommends the commuter rail from North Station, and so do we.
What should I wear?
Come as you are. Plenty of people dress for the occasion, and you would not be out of place in black.
Can I book a table for a group?
Buy as many seats as you need in one Eventbrite order and tell us the occasion through the question form, so the bar knows before you sit down. For a larger party or a private performance, write to us and we will build a night around you.
More on visiting
October 16 & 17, 2026 · Cinema Salem