The Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party puts a free night of costumes and cocktails in the basement of a Wilmington hotel. Simmer Down is the speakeasy on the lower level of The Quoin Hotel, at 519 North Market Street, and on Saturday, October 31, it opens its Halloween Haunt at 6 p.m. Guests who come in costume get a complimentary cocktail or mocktail.

Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party Details

Admission to the Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party is free, and the costume perk is simple. Arrive dressed up, and the first drink, a cocktail or a mocktail, is on the house. The bar describes the night as ghoulish drinks and wicked fun, and reservations run through Resy. No tricks are necessary. The bar asks only for a costume and some Halloween spirit.

Simmer Down is hidden away and intimate, a bar with craft cocktails and the mood of a classic speakeasy with a contemporary menu. Halloween suits a room like that. A holiday built on atmosphere does not need a stage or a cover charge when the room already feels like a secret.

Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party and The Quoin

The Quoin is a Michelin Key boutique hotel in downtown Wilmington, and Simmer Down is its after-dark room. The bar has been on dM’s radar before. In May it hosted a stage at the Ladybug Music Festival, five sets of folk, soul and Americana in a room that became one of the festival’s most intimate listening spots.

Upstairs, the hotel’s restaurant cooks with wood fire, and in September it joined Brandywine Valley Restaurant Week with a $20 lunch and a $55 dinner. A hotel that treats its bar and restaurant as public rooms is the reason the Haunt works. Locals do not need a room key to join in.

Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party as a Night Out

For Philadelphians, Wilmington is a short ride south, and the Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party is a reason to make it on a night when the city’s haunted bars and Halloween parties will be full. Wilmington on Halloween is a smaller crowd and a different pace.

Wilmington has been having a good run of strange evenings. Earlier this month, ConCon turned a movie’s fake conspiracy convention into a real one at the Siegel JCC, with Bigfoot calls and tin foil fashion. A Halloween speakeasy night fits that streak, and it keeps the party downtown.

Start with the costume, because the costume is the ticket to the free drink. A good one earns the perk at a bar small enough to notice the effort. The mocktail option means a designated driver can join the fun without a compromise, and a table of friends in matching outfits will have an easy time finding each other in a room this size.

The Simmer Down Halloween Haunt Party dress code is open. Guests can arrive dressed to impress, dressed to scare or simply dressed for a night out, and the free drink goes to anyone in costume. The only wrong move is skipping the outfit and paying for the first round.

Plan the evening around the 6 p.m. start. Early arrivals get the easiest pick of the room, and a free cocktail is a good reason to be one of them. After that, the bar belongs to whoever shows up with a story about the costume. Six o’clock is an early start for a Halloween party, which suits anyone who wants the speakeasy to themselves for an hour before the room fills.

A speakeasy is built to feel like a secret, and Halloween is the one night a year when a secret wants a crowd.

About Post Author

Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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