Was it aliens or hypnosis? Ghosts or hallucination? Demons or delusion? Join the Midnight Society as they examine the science behind scary stories, focusing this month on the ghosts of New York City. At this story telling show hosted by Kevin Townley at the Lower East Side speakeasy Caveat, storytellers will dive into the scary stories that haunt us, and the psychology behind them. Guests will uncover the unexplained and realize that the reasons we invent supernatural stories are often more terrifying than the stories themselves.

DATE: Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 Doors open at 9:00pm, Show: 9:30pm-11:00pm.

PRICE: FREE for Untapped Cities Insiders! ($15 in advance, $20 at the door for the general public)

CAPACITY: 10 guests. Spots allocated on a first come, first served basis.

THINGS TO KNOW: This event is mixed seated and standing room. Seats are first-come first-served. Must be 21+ to attend.

REGISTRATION: Wednesday, April 17th at 12 PM EST

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At this special Caveat event, one of the ghosts you will hear about its the Gay Street Phantom. The little side street in Greenwich Village started as an alley of stables (named after the owner Mr. Gay). It was right next to the city morgue and when it eventually became a proper street it housed black servants of wealthy families in the area. In the 1920s, Gay Street was the location of an infamous speakeasy called the Pirate’s Den, owned and operated by Mayor Jimmy Walker. Nowadays the street is haunted with ghosts of the old bar. People claim to see men in silk top hats as well as moldering corpses in tattered rags vanishing around corners.

Photograph by Dennis Cahlo, Courtesy of Caveat 

About host Kevin Townley: Townley has performed in Hollywood blockbusters, elementary school cafeterias and everywhere in between. With Waterwell Theatre Company: developed ‘Blueprint Specials’ (Intrepid Museum), GOODBAR (Public Theater Under the Radar). Other NYC: Shockheaded Peter (Little Shubert), My Deah (Abingdon). Film: Men In Black 3, The Sitter, My Super Ex-Girlfriend. TV: The Last OG, The Detour, The Following, All three Law & Orders, Sherri. The Associated Press has called him “Magnetic” and “Fabulous”, and in The New Yorker Hilton Als wrote that he was a star, but spelled his name wrong, so who knows

If you haven’t yet been to Caveat, it’s a beautiful underground speakeasy for intelligent nightlife serving up drinks and high-grade nerdery from experts in a wide variety of fields including storytellers, historians, comedians, scientists and science communicators, musicians, artists, and authors. You’ll leave each show a little smarter, and a little drunker.

See our full list of Untapped Cities Insiders Tours and our upcoming Public Tours.