Tricks or it didn’t happen. … Creep it real with our festive quiz on local horror movies, spooky seasonal specials and other Oak City Halloween tidbits. So if ya got the knowledge, now’s the time to haunt it.
1. While Cape Fear, a tantalizing thriller about a convicted criminal seeking revenge, wasn’t actually filmed on location in NC (boo!), it’s still set in a popular local destination. Where was most of the 1991 version of the film shot instead?
a. Savannah
b. Charleston
c. Wilmington
d. Hilton Head
2. Calling all nerds! Nerd Escape Room on Glenwood South offers up perplexing puzzles perfect for escape room novices or seasoned experts. How many escape room options are there to choose from?
a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. 7
3. By day, Dorothea Dix Park is a pleasant place for rest and play. … By night, some say the cemetery on the grounds near Dorothea Dix Hospital is haunted by the spirits of patients long passed. What year did the hospital cease operations?
a. 2000
b. 2012
c. 2015
d. 2018
4. Time to up the fear factor. … Filmed in Shelby, NC, Final Exam is your classic Halloween slasher film feat. college students getting picked off by a nameless killer (how fun!). What year was this hair-raising horror film released?
a. 1981
b. 1990
c. 1995
d. 2002
5. Happy haunting! The Raleigh Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour combines local ghost stories, folklore and history during visits to four different ghost and paranormal sites. At which historic home might you find a peg-legged ghost?
a. The Yarborough House
b. Heck-Andrews House
c. The White-Holman House
d. The Oberlin House
6. If you think being a Wolfpack fan is easy, you’re dead wrong. NC State’s supposed curse of athletic hardship has haunted our beloved football team for decades. When was the last time the Pack secured an ACC championship?
a. 1979
b. 1980
c. 1983
d. 1995
7. Sir Walter Coffee has scary good coffee and cocktails, NTM rotating seasonal specials that are to die for, including all the classic autumn drinks. What is the name of Sir Walter Coffee’s pumpkin spiced latte?
a. Witch’s Brew
b. Pumpkin Potion
c. Pumpkin King
d. Spice Up Your Life
8. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Which classic Halloween flick will be showing at Raleigh Little Theatre this month?
a. Scream
b. Halloweentown
c. The Addams Family
d. Hocus Pocus
9. Trick or treat yo’ self to a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme by showing up in your costume on Halloween (um, doughnut mind if we do!). In what NC city did the first Krispy Kreme open its doors in 1937?
Traditional and crafty coffee concoctions await at Raleigh’s new Fiction Coffee shop.
This isn’t a piece of fiction… Raleigh’s newest coffee shop, Fiction Kitchen, has landed in Northwest Raleigh (!) at Crabtree Terrace. (Pause for OTB-ers to applause.) And if you haven’t bean yet, you’re gonna wanna put down that Starbucks and head over for a hot cuppa joe stat.
Bathed in natural light and adorned with soft green and blue accents, Fiction’s atmosphere is attractive for everyone from the java junkie seekin’ their next fix to the WFH-er looking for a place to land to the corporate clientele seeking a space to energize and chat business.
“We aren’t just shooting for one general dynamic group of people,” says Fiction Coffee Director of Food & Beverage Spencer Fox. “We want to be a coffee shop that’s welcoming to anyone and everyone and all types, and with that, stripping pretentiousness away from coffee.”
To avoid this sort of haughty, exclusive vibe, Fiction prides itself in hiring people who care about others while maintaining a welcoming, friendly atmosphere—and making each customer’s experience a conversation, rather than a transaction (or as Fox describes it, “kind of like that cocktail experience,” where the bartender helps you choose a drink after you’ve had time to chat). “That is, at our heart, what we always try to capture, which is genuine conversation and experience when you walk into Fiction,” adds Fox.
And furthering its mission to “develop a Southern charm for the coffee palette,” Fiction Coffee offers a selection of traditional espresso drinks (made with Counter Culture Coffee beans), fan favorites (see: the vanilla latte), and must-try bevs off the “fictional” (aka seasonal) section of the menu. Using syrups made in-house, baristas serve up brew-tiful concoctions like the Szechuan honey mocha and the Junie B (cold brew, oat milk and juniper syrup chilled into a slush, which will appear on the menu when the weather warms up)—and we cannot espresso our excitement enough.
And since you’re bound to become a regular, we’ll let you in on a little secret. If you frequent the place, you’ll get a nickname. “We like to call some of our regulars ‘escape artists,’” says Fox. “That’s kind of the fun internal word we use, and basically, an escape artist is anyone who comes more than five times a week.” Challenge accepted. fictioncoffee.com
They say not to go chasing waterfalls… but you’re definitely gonna wanna book it to Zebulon to chill at downtown’s newest neighborhood watering hole, The Fall Line, named after the elevation inland at which waterfalls begin to appear in creeks and rivers (Zebulon is located where the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions meet). Opened by local entrepreneurs Cyrus Stacey and Mike Lombardo (the latter owns DTR go-to Lucky B’s), the lowkey sip spot keeps things simple with a standard wine and beer list—plus mixed drinks and slushees—and rotating food trucks in a humble indoor/outdoor space. Cheers! thefalllineznc.com
Experience the Chapel Thrill in the best way possible—with a good cuppa joe. Located right on Franklin Street, this pop-up shop founded by a trio of UNC students is focused on uniting the Chapel Hill community via craveworthy cups (think coffee, espresso, tea) to a backdrop of local artist displays, plus tunes during its live music hours. The perfect blend, if you will. bluehousecafech.square.site
Hey there, hot stuff. This new java joint at RTP’s Alexandria Campus is “unlocking the DNA of coffee” by meeting all your coffee needs—from lattes to cold brews (made with Counter Culture beans). And if coffee just isn’t your cup of tea, there’s also hot, iced and chai tea opps to boost your spirits and gratify your taste buds. Morning bevs meet their match with breakfast pastries and egg bites, while lunch is made easy (and tasty!) with wraps, salads and bistro boxes (think of it like an adult Lunchable that’s totes acceptable to bring back to the office)—all served with a whole latte love. growcoffeenc.com
Live life on the sweet side at The Sweetest Thing’s new shop at MacGregor Square, where owner Melanie Brown is devoted to “baking” the world a better place one pastry at a time—everything from cakes and cupcakes to cookies and brownies. Not to be left out, gluten-free foodies can have their cake and eat it too thanks to the one or two GF ops on offer in the dessert case on the daily. So when you need a pick-me-up, stop by anytime from 10–6 Tuesday through Saturday and get chip-faced—no judgment! thesweetestthingsnc.com
“Uncork the culture” and decomplicate wine with Melanated Wine and Spirits, the first Black- and woman-owned wine brand in the Bull City. Founder Lashonda Fort-Modest knows you shouldn’t wine while drinking vino, so she’s upping the fine-wine fun factor by making it easier to sip and shop for varietals. Don’t know what you dig? Book a tasting to see which wines entice your taste buds. Need a sipping buddy? Check Melanated’s event calendar (think poetry nights, and paint and sips…) for opps to meet fellow wine lovers. Glasses up for #MelaNation! melanatedwine.com
WEB EXCLUSIVE Need a caffeine fix and want to support a good cause at the same time? Enter 321 Coffee at Bloc[83].
3… 2… 1… 321 Coffee is opening a new location within the courtyard of the Bloc[83] development at the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Glenwood Avenue on Aug. 20—the second new 321 location to percolate, if you will (the first, on the 19th floor of the Raleigh Crossing building in partnership with Pendo.)
321 Coffee Team Outside the Bloc[83] Location
For those who may not be familiar, beyond brewing up beans, 321 Coffee’s mission is to employ individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the community—with its two new “hot” spots locations further answering the call.
Keeping you sated and caffeinated seven days a week with the trademark upbeat vibe fans dig about the OG State Farmers Market spot, the new 500-square-foot Bloc[83] benevolent bean spot will also feature a full coffee menu with rotating specials, as well as pastries from A Place at the Table (!)—plus an accessible standing bar and ample outdoor seating (a stone’s throw from the defunct Helios that may finally give those displaced Java fans another Glenwood South patio to park it on).
321 Coffee Bloc[83] Renderings
“When we announced [the location], we had so many people reach out to us and say ‘this is walking distance from my condo’…and that just makes me really happy,” says 321 Coffee CEO Lindsay Wrege. “I’m very excited to have it a little bit more cemented in Downtown Raleigh with all that Raleigh stands for with inclusion.”
And given the ample outdoor space and amphitheater in Bloc[83]’s courtyard, there’s plenty of room for community entertainment.
“One idea I’d love to flesh out once we get there would be looking at different programming that we can do,” says Wrege. “One barista, for example, he’s a great guitar player—it would just be so fun to let him play guitar outside, or have a vendor or pop-up market or a talent show. I think there’s just so much opportunity to build community there.”
So clearly, it’s heating up to be a brew-tiful thing, indeed.
Like a hug in a mug, this one will perk you up. Whether or not you know the backstory of famed feel-good Gabi’s Grounds (nee 2017), it’s worth a re-brew. After being met with “no” in her relentless job search, namesake Gabi Angelini started her eponymous coffee company. A Raleigh resident with Down syndrome, Gabi had always aspired to own her own concept—so, with a “just brew it” attitude, she partnered with local coffee roaster Larry’s Coffee—and the rest, as they say, is history.
Ever since, Gabi’s Grounds has skyrocketed—not only as favorite buys online and at pop-up events—but Gabi has also spoken at several countrywide special-needs conferences, and was even a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show (!).
Thus, the brand has served as not just a passion project, but a platform, allowing Gabi and her mom, Mary Angelini, to fulfill their mission to employ as many individuals with special abilities in the Raleigh area as possible. “Our operations are focused on providing meaningful employment and workplace training for these individuals so they can become self-reliant and self-supporting,” says Mary. “I am so thankful for our 30 employees—they are amazing! They are truly the hardest working people I have ever met.”
And since a cup full of coffee is a cup full of happiness, gifting Gabi’s Grounds this holiday season is akin to spreading euphoria. This season, the brand is brewing up several gift box sets, including the Morning, Noon & Night Gift Box (a dark roast, medium roast and decaf) and the Coffee & Chocolate Gift Box (your choice of coffee, coffee raspberry chocolate and a koozie). Or, spread the love a latte by snagging your loved ones a monthly Gabi’s Coffee Subscription. So you can spread holiday cheer, keep your loved ones caffeinated and support a great cause. Clearly, today’s good mood is sponsored by coffee. gabisgrounds.com
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