Merchant's House Kicks Off 'Spirited' October 2013 Lineup

Each October, the Museum opens its doors for a series of "spirited" events thematically built around its unusual reputation.

Since work first began in 1933 to convert the untouched 1832 rowhouse on East Fourth Street in New York's then-forlorn Bowery District into the jewel of an historic house now called the Merchant's House Museum, stories of unexplainable and downright eerie occurrences have been rampant.

A few years ago, The New York Times christened the Merchant's House "Manhattan's Most Haunted House" and the Museum (or perhaps, its permanent residents) have had no trouble living up to that moniker. Filled with the possessions of the Tredwell Family - the home's occupants of nearly a century - the Museum certainly looks like it could be haunted. And apparently, it IS.

This year's events include five nights of the renowned Candlelight Ghost Tours; a re-enactment of an at-home funeral followed by a funeral procession down The Bowery to The New York City Marble Cemetery; an annual concert of 19th Century art song around the themes of magic and mourning performed by the Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society; and readings of selected 19th Century gothic and horror literature on Halloween night.

Reservations are required for all events; purchase tickets at www.merchantshouse.org/calendar.

Exhibition: A 19th Century House in Mourning

Date: Today, October 3, through Monday, November 4

Time: Thursday - Monday, 12-5 p.m. (closed Tuesday and Wednesday)

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Step back in time to 1865, when family patriarch Seabury Tredwell died at home in his bed. Poignant scenes of death and grief recreated in the House will explore mid-19th century mourning customs. Included with regular admission; reservations not required.

Lecture: Ghosts of Manhattan

Date: Wednesday, October 9

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Author and actress Elise Gainer shares historical images and tales of local haunts from her new book, Ghosts and Murders of Manhattan, from Arcadia Publishing. See the faces of the dead that still cling to Broadway theaters, stately hotels, picturesque homes, and cozy taverns. Hear about apparitions, footsteps, phantom smells, and mysterious fires, and the events that still echo today. $15, MHM Members Free.

Chant Macabre: Songs from the Crypt

Date: Friday, October 18

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins haunt the music of the 19th century. Come be spooked by these harrowing tales as the Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society bewitches your imagination and sings shivers down your spine, echoing sumptuous, rarely-performed songs in an authentic Victorian parlor. Singers Anthony Bellov, Jane Elizabeth Rady, and Dayle Vander Sande. Music by Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Loewe, Mussorgsky, and others. $25, $15 MHM Members.

Lecture: Grizzly Crimes and Unsolved Murders of 19th Century New York

Date: Tuesday, October 22

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Ike Iikiw, licensed private investigator, retired NYC Police Detective, and founder/owner of NYC Adventure Tours shares "just the facts" of the most macabre, gruesome, and some unsolved crimes of 19th century Gotham. $15, MHM Members Free.

Reading the Rooms: A Psychic Talks with the Tredwells

Date: Thursday, October 24

Time: 60-minute tours at 6:30, 8, and 9:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: A rare opportunity to walk the dark and hallowed halls of "Manhattan's Most Haunted House" (The New York Times)with Certified Psychic Medium and Paranormal Researcher Cathy Towle. Ms. Towle will relate happenings and unexplainable occurrences from her several years of on-going paranormal investigations at the House - and deliver any messages from the beyond she might receive on the spot. Bring your questions. $60, MHM Members $30.

Candlelight Ghost Tours of 'Manhattan's Most Haunted House'

Updated with the latest eerie happenings!

Dates: Friday & Saturday, October 25 & 26;

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, October 28, 29 & 30

Time: 50-minute tours begin every half hour from 6 to 9:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Doors slam, floorboards creak, voices call into the night. Restoration work always 'stirs things up' at the Museum so we've had lots of new reports of especially strange experiences this year. We invite you to venture into The Shadows of history to see the house where eight family members died and hear the newest tales of inexplicable occurrences from the people who actually experienced them. And the creepiest of past ones.

6 p.m. (includes 4th floor Servants' Quarters) $40;

6:30, 7, 7:30 p.m. $25; 8, 8:30, 9 p.m. $30;

9:30 p.m. (includes 4th floor Servants' Quarters) $40;

MHM Members $15 all times.

From Parlor to Grave: 1865 Funeral Reenactment and Graveyard Procession

Date: Sunday, October 27

Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: In the 19th century, death and funerals took place at home. Join us in the Museum's double parlors as we recreate the 1865 funeral service of Seabury Tredwell and discuss the funerary customs of 19th century New York City. After the service, mourners follow the coffin to the nearby New York City Marble Cemetery - rarely open to the public - for the graveside service and cemetery talk. 19th century mourning attire encouraged. VIP tickets include front-row seating, black crape armbands, and the opportunity to lead the graveyard procession as a pallbearer. $50, $65 VIP Seats, $25 MHM Members; $10 Graveside Service & Cemetery Talk only. Mourners attending the Graveside Service and Cemetery Talk only should arrive at the Merchant's House at 4:30 p.m.

Tales of the Supernatural: Horror on Hallowe'en

Date: Thursday, October 31

Time: Performances at 7 & 8:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Dramatic readings from 19th century Gothic literature and true ghost stories as reported by visitors of the Merchant's House through the years told in the Museum's parlors set for a Victorian funeral. $25, $15 MHM Members.

About the Merchant's House Museum: The Merchant's House Museum is New York City's only family home preserved intact - inside and out - from the mid-19th century. Home to a prosperous merchant-class family and their staff of four Irish servants for almost 100 years, it is complete with the family's original furnishings and personal possessions, offering a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life from 1835-1865.

On the web: www.merchantshouse.org.

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