What they do in the dark: Transforming Fountain City Winery into Coffin Club, a vampire murder mystery bar
“We have an incredible team of artists who love creating ephemeral art pieces for people,” Schmalz said.
Coffin Bar // Photo by Edward Schmalz
If you’re looking for a typical bar experience this Halloween season, a few creepy and sugary cocktails among dim lights, Coffin Club may not be the place for you.
Tucked inside Fountain City Winery, the temporary pop-up turns the space into a vampire bar complete with werewolves, witches, cocktails, live characters, and, of course, a murder mystery.
Coffin Club was created by Apparition, which has a long history with vampire-themed events around Kansas City.
Apparition owner Edward Schmalz has helped coordinate events including Vampire KC’s The Embrace, the first Kansas City Vampire Prom, Apparition: Dracula, Vampire Valentine’s Day, and the annual Masquerades des Vampires.
Coffin Bar // Photo by Slightly Feral Media
This year, the idea came from Fountain City owners Jay and Melissa Pietkiewicz. They wanted to create a vampire-versus-werewolf experience — more than a bar with vampire decorations.
Schmalz’s friends Katerina Elaine and Dan Symes, who run the immersive vampire acting troupe Vampire KC, are also part of Coffin Club. Elaine plays the Vampire Proprietor and Singer Miss Millie, while Symes plays Donovan “the Stray” Fenris, a wolf at the literal gate.
“I don’t want guests to feel like they are visiting a bar about vampires; I want them to feel like they are visiting a literal vampire bar, complete with the mischief and intrigue that comes with that proposition,” Schmalz said.
That idea became the foundation for Coffin Club’s murder mystery scavenger hunt.
Guests can explore the space, interact with tactile clues, and follow a storyline surrounding the death of Elena Thorne. Greg Bowman of Hidden Tricks and Delaney Rose of Alibi helped Schmalz create the puzzle, which is connected to the characters guests encounter throughout the evening.
The goal is to figure out who killed Elena Thorne, and why.
The murder also sets the stage for plenty of tension between the vampires, werewolves, and witches. Elena’s death has caused problems between her father, Alistair Thorne, and the club, while the growing tensions between the different supernatural groups threaten to cause even more trouble.
“If you think you have drama, wait until you piss off a wizard,” Schmalz said.
Coffin Bar // Photo by Slightly Feral Media
For guests, much of the work that goes into creating Coffin Club happens behind the scenes. Apparition’s team has to transform an operating business into an entirely different world, usually in about a week.
Lead designer Greg Bowman, Russel Moran, who handles lighting and AV, and Fish Tank, who works on many of the operational challenges, are part of the team behind the transformation.
“We have an incredible team of artists who love creating ephemeral art pieces for people,” Schmalz said.
The team also has to coordinate bartenders, servers, and actors while turning a basement into a secret vampire bar — all while making sure Fountain City can continue operating as a business.
And working at Coffin Club comes with its own set of challenges.
“The biggest thing, though, is that the patrons are wandering around investigating a lot of the time, so it can be tricky to keep track of where people are sitting when seating new arrivals,” Schmalz said.
There’s also the fact that the bar opens at dusk.
“The vampires are just waking up, so they can be drowsy at the beginning of operations,” Schmalz said. “Fortunately, the relationship with the werewolves helps keep everything operational, but in light of the recent murder, that is on the rocks…”
Most of the bartenders, performers and staff members have full-time jobs outside of Coffin Club. For them, the pop-up is a chance to take on something creative for the season. Many of the performers also work with Schmalz on VikingFest, which is scheduled for November 13-14.
Coffin Club // Photo by Michael Gonzalez
And the cast has already had to deal with some unexpected guest participation.
One guest began using an invisible ink pen to add their own red-herring clues to the murder mystery.
“Now, we will be giving the guests flashlights without pens,” Schmalz joked.
For Schmalz, that kind of interaction is part of what makes these experiences worthwhile. The goal is to give adults an opportunity to step away from their everyday routines and become part of something a little more unusual.
“My goal with all of my projects is to give adults a moment away from the mundane doldrums of reality,” Schmalz said. “I want people to have a truly immersive experience that they can look back at and laugh about.”
There’s just one thing he hopes guests do before Coffin Club disappears: solve the murder.
“Mostly, I’m just hoping they solve the mystery, because we really have no idea who killed Elena Thorne!”
