This Isn’t a Short Story
Tickets to the Harisburg Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy sounded like a perfect date night with the blog master. We really had no idea what to expect. I was just excited that the Harrisburg area was getting a pop-up experience.
The email confirmation advised us to “dress in your most ravishing cocktail party attire.” I worked all week and we have a 2 year old toddler, you’ll be lucky if I wear pants! But I decided on a nice sweater and some makeup should pass.
On the way to the speakeasy we reminisced about visiting the Edgar Allan Poe Museum on the Viginia Trip (refer VA stuff here) Then we compared the drinks listed on the website so what readings we thought they would be paired with. We guessed The Tell – Tale Heart and The Raven; two of the most famous Poe writings. It was hard to guess 2 more, maybe The Fall of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado.
(See our Instagram Post about the Museum Here: The Beer Thrillers at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum – Instagram Post)
(See our Travelogue Article here: Visiting Richmond Virginia, Seeing the Sights, the Breweries, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum)
A Review of The Edger Allan Poe Speakeasy
We arrived at the Civic Club of Harrisburg off Front Street. I knew parking would be a pain and I circled the block twice hoping to find some street parking. There were cars parked in spots that definitely were going to get ticketed as we saw a meter maid making their rounds. I saw a few folks parking in the small lot and unfortunately had to walk in a bit of mud to get into the mansion.
The setting of the Civic Club building, built in the early 1900s, added to the atmosphere setting up the evening. We waited in the downstairs area with a group of people. We then had our tickets scanned one at a time and ushered up a flight of stairs. One snaffoo, we had bought the 10pm showing tickets and not the 8pm that we showed up for. I was so embarrassed, mom brain was at it’s worst. The 2 cast members scanning tickets were so gracious and insisted they could still accommodate us.
As soon as your ticket was scanned you were handed your first drink on your way up the stairs. The Pale Blue Eye – A classic twist on a Traditional Collins. According to the menu on site is a “citrus and blueberry infused vodka, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and simple syrup. Topped with a pale blueberry eye.
Entering the Grand Ballroom on the second floor we are greeted by a stage and rows of chairs. I quickly felt like I was in entering a high school assembly and quickly took my seat as people kept entering behind us. I checked before we got here and all the tickets were sold out, so this showing had +2 as well because of our timing goof.

The Drinks

The website and the drink menu at the location had 2 different descriptions for the drinks. That was fine since they were all great, but it was just a little confusing. Thankfully a friend took a pic of the menu at the location (see photo to the left of Jesse’s picture of the menu at the venue). The lemon drink with an “eye” in it (it was really an unripe blueberry floating around) really tasted like minute maid lemonade mix to me. When we entered the room it was light enough to see but the lights were a shade of purple.
After everyone was seated the lights turned red and the MC for the evening who did the introductions and the dialog between readings was young, vibrant and playful. She made some funny jokes and some around us were pre – gaming before this event. Which added to the lightheartedness of the evening. Overall providing a greater environment and theme to the proceedings.
There were lots of different interpretations on the attire recommendations. Some folks were playing the part of dressing for the occasion in some “old timey” looking outfits. One gentleman, who was sitting in front us wearing a bowler hat apologized immediately and assured us he wouldn’t be wearing it during the show. As the show started, he put on a beret hat.
(L: Pale Blue Eye, C: The stage built for the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy actors, and R: the host and MC of the show)
After our playful MC introduced herself and set the “stage” for the evening the first actor came out onto the stage. The lights were red, and it created an ambiance about the room. The first reading was an abridged version of the Tell-tale heart. The actor has a sinister laugh about him and seemed to captivate the audience. I couldn’t help myself. I mean the tone of the room was still lighthearted, here to have fun type of crowd. I kept visualizing in my mind the Tell-tale heart episode of The Simpsons
We had our drinks finished before the end of the reading. It was then I was hoping for cocktail like tables in the room. I didn’t feel like sitting there in a seat, school assembly style, holding my drink. The first reading was over, and the actors went up and down the rows of seating with busboys trays and collected the cups. I was at the end of my row, so I was responsible for grabbing and passing everyone’s cups. This first round was easy.
(The Tall Tale Heart)
Shortly after another set of actors were going down the rows with large trays filled with the next drink. The name that was given was different than I remembered from the website. It wasn’t until after I saw my friend Jess post the drink menu did, I realize they were different.
(See Our Instagram post – The Beer Thrillers at the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy – Instagram Post)
The following is the website and event’s pages menu items and showing of the drinks for the event. You can find the website here: Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy Experience.
(Descriptions and pictures courtesy of the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy Experience website.)
Jessica Blouch’s photos in a gallery:
[fusion_gallery order_by=”desc” limit=”” pagination_type=”” load_more_btn_text=”” layout=”” picture_size=”” aspect_ratio=”” custom_aspect_ratio=”100″ aspect_ratio_position=”” gallery_masonry_grid_ratio=”” gallery_masonry_width_double=”” lightbox=”yes” lightbox_content=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” columns_medium=”0″ columns_small=”0″ columns=”3″ column_spacing=”” hover_type=”” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” border_radius=”” load_more_btn_span=”no” button_alignment=”center” load_more_btn_hover_color=”” load_more_btn_color=”” load_more_btn_hover_bg_color=”” load_more_btn_bg_color=”” caption_style=”off” caption_title_tag=”2″ fusion_font_family_caption_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_title_font=”” caption_title_size=”” caption_title_line_height=”” caption_title_letter_spacing=”” caption_title_transform=”” caption_title_color=”” caption_background_color=”” fusion_font_family_caption_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_text_font=”” caption_text_size=”” caption_text_line_height=”” caption_text_letter_spacing=”” caption_text_transform=”” caption_text_color=”” caption_border_color=”” caption_overlay_color=”” caption_align_medium=”none” caption_align_small=”none” caption_align=”none” caption_margin_top=”” caption_margin_right=”” caption_margin_bottom=”” caption_margin_left=”” parent_dynamic_content=””][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-11.jpg” image_id=”16028″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-10.jpg” image_id=”16029″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-9.jpg” image_id=”16030″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-8.jpg” image_id=”16031″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-7.jpg” image_id=”16032″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-6.jpg” image_id=”16033″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-5.jpg” image_id=”16034″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-4.jpg” image_id=”16035″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-3.jpg” image_id=”16036″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-2-1.jpg” image_id=”16037″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][fusion_gallery_image image=”https://thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Edgar-Allen-Poe-Speakeasy-Jesse-1.jpg” image_id=”16038″ aspect_ratio_position=”” masonry_image_position=”” image_title=”” image_caption=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” /][/fusion_gallery]
The Show Goes On
They were handing out “The Cat’s Meow” – A twisted version of Poe’s favorite brandy milk punch. The menu describes it as “Aged bourbon meets with fruity brandy, accompanied by vanilla cinnamon milk, sweet cream and maple syrup.” This one was delicious.

We should have figured this one might be a reading. There were two black cats at the Poe Museum when we visited (in Richmond, Virginia – see our Instagram Post here) as well as many references in the museum about The Black cat.
(See our Instagram post: The Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, VA)
(See our Travelogue: Visiting Richmond Virginia, Seeing the Sights, the Breweries, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum)
The friendly MC came out to introduce the next reading but without giving any hints away, I think we already knew it would be the black cat because of the drink’s name. The lights in the room changed to blue and a different actor came out and gave an abridged version. He also gave a great reading. He moved up and down the aisles, feeling a bit more interactive with the crowd.
We were finishing our drink, we both enjoyed it very much, as the reading was ending. Before I knew it I had all the empty cups and I was ready for the busboy tray to collect our used cups.
The next drink was the Nevermore -Quoth the Raven, Drink-some-more! It is described as Fresh lime juice, peach and orange blossom infused vodka, simple syrup, and crushed charcoal. Topped with a dehydrated lime. We knew this reading would happen. Our top 2 guesses were Tell-tale heart and The Raven.

The actress for this abridged version of the Raven was portrayed by our cocktail waitress. By this 3rd reading you are feeling like you are hanging out with a bunch of friends; you have just passed drinks back and collected empty cups and you are being entertained. Every single person the took on multiple roles in the staffing of the Edgar Allan Poe speakeasy pop up were friendly, joyful and entertaining.
This reading was done before we were done with our drinks, and the busboy trays were coming down the aisle. Like I said about not wanting to be stuck holding my cup, I quickly downed what I had left of my drink. Not everyone in my row was as daring to swish it down and then you are stuck with cups under seats.
The next drink was Cocktail of Red Death – Our Spirited Nightcap is to Die For. It is described as Fresh squeezed seasonal fruits, raspberry infused vodka, cranberry juice, 100 proof vodka and fresh lime juice. This was tasty but I was unsure about the dried flower looking thing floating in it.

This masque of the red death happens to be one of our guesses. A different actor comes out onto the stage wearing a mask and you guessed it, the lights turned red. This actor did another excellent portrayal while wearing a large mask. The MC wrapped us up for the evening, encouraged tipping and escorted us out and down the stairs. Thank goodness you dropped off your empty cup on your way out the door and I didn’t have any other responsibilities for the evening.

We ran into some friends outside, and we quickly departed as attendees of the last show of the evening were starting to pile in.
At first, I thought this would be a once and done type of experience but now that we are about a month out, I’d attend another Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy Pop Up.
- Drink More Beer (….or cocktails at a Pop Up Speakeasy)
- Amy
(Editor’s Notes: This article is long overdue to come out. Every time we tried to get it posted, things went awry. First, us getting terribly sick at the beginning of February, then life being busy with me getting a new job, Scarlet starting daycare, and then our trip to the Kennett Brewfest. But here it is, and yes, it is a large article, coming in at nearly 3000 words all told — I think with my editor’s note it will hit over 3000. We debated about splitting it up into two articles, but decided it was best just to leave it as is. We can always change it in the future if people think that would be best. I will add my two cents that we both really enjoyed the show. The readings were interesting, they were new and ‘updated’ versions of the stories, shortened and changed to fit more of our time than anything else. The drinks were good, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Milk Brandy Punch, especially because I don’t like milk. It was full and sold out for every showing, and we ran into several people we knew, like Gabe and his wife, Amy’s friend Jesse and their friends, and several others. Everyone seemed to have a good time coming out of the show and afterwards, as well as during it. They are touring and doing lots of shows. It was funny how it popped up on our Facebook feeds right as the time we suggested it to each other, so it made for a great date night and escape from work and stress. The night was dreary and rainy and fit the mood and vibe perfectly, and along the riverfront it added all to the atmosphere. If you are able to see them out, I would highly recommend it.)
Amy’s Column Series
- Brewfests with Anxiety (Amy’s original weekly column start)
- I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)
- Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
- Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
- Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
- Amy’s Day Off
- It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brewing)
- Just Another Weekend (A Hike at Saint Pete’s Trail and Hares Hill Brewing)
- I’m Pretty Darn Lucky (Happy Mother’s Day)
- Ready to Kick of the Summer
- Beer Review: Beer Devil IPA (Niagara Brewing Company)
- World MS Day
- Have you ever picked a beer based on the can art?
- Happy Father’s Day
- What is Your Summer Time Go To Beer?
- Holiday Weekend and Bomber Bottles
- Baby’s First Ffej
- We Can’t Always Be a Glutton Right? – Perfect Portions and Allusion Brewing Company
- Beer Review: Pocono Punch (Barley Creek Brewing Company)
- Getting Sworn In: A Sneak Preview of Sworn Brewing
- Beer Review: Tropical Stout (Troegs Independent Brewing and Windy Bridges Brewing LLC)
- RAR Brewing Brings the Nostalgia with Muppets Out of Order Series
- Happy Birthday to Ben
- Brewery Review: Cold Spring Inn and Brewery
- Hummelstown Doesn’t Deserve Maritza
- Enchilada Stuffed Peppers and Sunshine Pilsner
- Master of Pumpkins, Cupcakes, Cookies, and Bacon Cheeseburgers
- A Beer Review by Grandma SueAnn (Beer Review: Braaaiins! by Spring House Brewing Company)
- Grandma SueAnn and More Beer: Beer Reviews of: Zoktoberfest (KCBC – Kings County Brewers Collective) and Devious Imperial Pumpkin (Fegley Brew Works)
- Oh Ever Grain: 7 Years, 7 Beers
- Pumpkin Beer Review with Grandma SueAnn – Abomination Brewing: Forbidden Pumpkin, Greater Good Brewing: Giant Pumpkin, and Pizza Boy Brewing: Sunny Side Up Double Coffee Pumpkin
- Grandma SueAnn Helps Review More Pumpkin Beers: 2 out of 3 Ain’t So Bad
- Halloween Candy and Beer Pairings
- Brewery Review: Otto’s Pub and Brewery
- Munching on some Thanksgiving leftovers?
- The Holidays Always Bring On Waves of Nostalgia For Me
- YAH Brew and Desserts Pairing
- Christmas Cookies and Beer Styles Pairing (Pairing Christmas Cookies with Beer)
- New Years Day
- Winter Beers
- Two Years Later: Brewfests with Anxiety
- It’s Been a Long Year Already, Wait Its Only April?
- Did you miss me as much as I missed you? (A Look at Lindgren Craft Brewery)
- These Summer Beers Are Slapping… Again
- Benefit for CJ (at YAH Brew Hershey)
- There is Something About Those Back Patio Beers
- Grilling and Beer’ing
- Sworn Brewing a Year Later – A Sit Down with Jesse and Amanda
- Happy Birthday to Amy
- A YAH Brew and a Schmidt’s Sausage (with Kraut) at the Fuzzy Few Festival
- It’s Pumpkin Time! (Grandma SueAnn and Amy Review Zombies and Double Zombies are People Too and Braaaiins!)
- Sweet ‘n’ Savory
- Fall Beers
- This Isn’t a Short Story (Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy Review)
- You can find all of Amy’s articles here: Amy’s Archive of Articles.
Thank You For Reading
If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!
Cheers.
Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.
As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com
Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.
We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:
We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.
You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.
Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We are also now on BlueSky as well, so make sure to check us out there also. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!
You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.
The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.
We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.
The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!
You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!
If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.
(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)