House of Spirits: Volkov Manor — Live event review

With Halloween right around the corner, residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth area are in for a special treat with The House of Spirits: Volkov Manor – A Haunted Cocktail Soiree. Held in the stunning Alexander Mansion at 4607 Ross Ave, Dallas until October 31st 2022, guests can experience a one of a kind spooky adventure, complete with signature cocktails, chocolates, and chilling events.

When I was asked if I’d like to attend I jumped at the chance, and grabbed my best friend and fellow GT Editor Laura Burke to come along with me. We never miss a chance to do spooky stuff, and since the event encourages you to dress up, particularly in period clothing, I donned some vampire makeup and fangs. If you like having an excuse to dress up, this event is certainly it. Though most guests just had on nicer clothes, I did spot some period clothing, but nobody went quite as hard as I did with the makeup, I even got asked questions about the event because I was mistaken to work there!

Arriving was easy, there is a parking lot behind the mansion, though the only complaint we had is that it’s pretty dark out there and it’s on grass and rocks. So be careful if you attend, especially if you’re wearing heels as it’s a recipe for a twisted ankle. After a quick security check, which I very much appreciate, they queue you up in lines outside the mansion, once again on the grass…so watch your step. The lawn is decorated with plenty of photo ops, and the mansion itself is breathtaking.

Depending on which ticket option you choose you will have either 4 or 5 mini cocktails, and if you choose the Premier ticket you also get a chocolate pairing. Your tickets for your drinks are attached to your entry bracelet, and there is also a cash bar outside on the lawn before you enter the mansion. They pace entry into the mansion by having groups line up on the steps for a short little story about the events that took place, and give you a neat card that has instructions for how to best experience the night. I’d have loved to have kept the card, but alas they took it back and we were escorted in after a short wait.

Once we were through the doors, there wasn’t much room to move around. We went on a Friday night, and I was actually already not feeling well before we left for the event, and have some fairly decent anxiety about being in large crowds. The mansion was packed to the brim with guests and entertainers, the main room and every side room were elbow to elbow, and it only got worse when there was a short show or performance. Disclaimer right up front, if you don’t like crowds of people then this event might not be the best for you. We were able to see a cool ballet performance and a short musical performance while we grabbed a cocktail. Don’t get me wrong, the vibe inside was very awesome, the performers were amazing, and the décor was spot on. There just wasn’t much room to move around.

All of the rooms are themed, and have drinks and chocolates that go along with said theme. It was very well done, but again I wish it wasn’t so packed so we could actually stop to see things and fully enjoy it. The event manager, Graham, was super helpful and suggested we go down to the basement for the séance event. Again, a little lighting would go a long way here, as you walk outside the mansion in the dark, down steep steps with no railing and no lighting.

When we got to the basement, we were happy to find that we were the only ones in line. It was quite dark, and the host waiting to let us into the séance was super sweet and chatty. She told us something about the mansion that freaked us out a bit, a House of Spirits worker won’t work in the basement anymore because she kept seeing and hearing things that were not part of the event. She said back in the day the mansion owner’s young daughter was playing in the basement and got trapped and died down there. Whether this is true or not is unknown, but it sure did put us on edge!

After hearing that lovely news, Laura and I were ushered into a pitch black room. I won’t spoil the actual séance event, but it was really scary and I ended up kicking one of the actors out of a fear reaction. I feel super bad about it, but I am sure I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to fight or flight in there! It was really spooky and well done, but also easy to miss because you have to go outside and downstairs to find it, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Back upstairs with the living, we tried some more cocktails and chocolates, all of which were fantastic. Unfortunately by this point I was feeling pretty bad and was also starting to get a gnarly blister (that still hasn’t healed!) on my heel from some stupidly uncomfortable shoes I wore. We chatted a bit with some actors, and were invited to come back on a less crowded night by Graham. Again, can’t brag him up enough, he is a fantastic host and manager.

At the time of writing this, we plan on going back on a Sunday which he assured us would be much less crowded, so I will update the review to add all the other events we didn’t get to experience.

I can say this was incredibly fun, and a good excuse to don makeup and dress fancy. It’s nice to have new and different options for Halloween besides haunted houses. This is an upscale event with a super cool story with a haunted twist. The Alexander Mansion itself is a gem of a building, and I’d love to go back for a tour after the event is over to explore its history.

You can buy tickets and find more information on The House of Spirits: Volkov Manor website.

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