Every city has its ghost stories. Minneapolis keeps some of its best ones inside a Gilded Age mansion at 100 East 22nd Street — and unlike most haunted houses, this one will pour you a drink while you listen. If you’re hunting for a night out that’s a little different (and a little darker), here’s how an evening at the Pillsbury Club unfolds after the sun goes down.

Start with a drink in the speakeasy-style bar

The mansion’s bar leans into the atmosphere: low light, dark wood, and a menu of themed and seasonal cocktails that feel right at home in a house where the floorboards have opinions. Arrive 30 to 45 minutes before your scheduled experience — the Club recommends it, and honestly, the pre-tour drink is half the fun. Settle in, study the carved oak, and decide for yourself whether that flicker in the corner was the candlelight.

Board the Candlelight Ghost Tour — it leaves from the mansion

The Candlelight Ghost Trolley Tour boards right at the Club, aboard a vintage trolley that is — of course — said to be haunted itself. Expert guides (not actors) lead you through the city’s most haunted locations with real stories and live narration, from a toddler said to still play in a famous mansion’s ballroom to a lady in white who never left her neighborhood. With over 1,500 five-star reviews, it’s earned its reputation as one of the best things to do in Minneapolis at night.

Go deeper: psychic readings and a paranormal hunt

Prefer your chills up close? The Club’s Experiences & Tours lineup includes an evening of group psychic readings with medium Elizabeth — messages, insight, and the occasional goosebump — and a Paranormal Ghost Hunt for guests who’d rather hold the equipment themselves. Both take place inside the mansion, which seems only fair: if you’re going to look for ghosts, look where they’d actually want to live.

Why this mansion earns its reputation

We’ll keep the history short — that’s what our History Journal is for — but know this: the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places, its lounge is paneled in centuries-old English oak, and some of its rooms crossed an ocean before they ever heard a Minnesota winter. The Minnesota Historical Society could tell you about a hundred remarkable buildings in this state; very few of them let you sip a cocktail where the Gilded Age actually happened. Curious whether royalty really climbed the staircase? The History Journal has that story too.

Make a full evening of it

The Club sits in the Whittier neighborhood, directly across from the Minneapolis Institute of Art — an easy afternoon stop before an evening reservation. Browse Meet Minneapolis for more nearby ideas, then book dinner in the mansion’s historic dining room before your tour. Planning a spooky date? We’ve mapped out a whole Gilded Age date night. And if you want the haunted-mansion evening to become a haunted-mansion weekend, 300 Clifton — a historic mansion B&B minutes away in Loring Park — has its own speakeasy and haunted video lounge, while Oakland’s on 9th offers comfortable furnished stays downtown.

Plan your haunted night

The Club is open to guests with a reservation — evenings Monday and Tuesday from 5 PM, and from midday onward the rest of the week, with complimentary parking across the street. Whether you come for the cocktails, the ghosts, or the stories in between, one visit and you’ll understand why people keep coming back after dark. Plan your visit or book an experience — the mansion is waiting, and it’s very good company.

Keep reading: What was Minneapolis like in 1916, the year the Pillsbury Mansion was finished?

Keep reading: the mansion’s reach stretched far beyond Minneapolis — meet Winston Lord, the Pillsbury grandson on Kissinger’s secret flight to China.