🎄✨ Local Lowdown: A Very Scary Merry Sneak Peek at Miracle® at The Haymaker ✨🎄

If Jack Skellington and Buddy the Elf opened a cocktail bar together, I’m pretty sure it would look exactly like this.

Rick and I made our way to downtown Raleigh on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, for a sneak preview of Miracle® at The Haymaker with friends—and y’all…consider me officially transported into a “Nightmare Before Christmas” alternate universe where holiday magic meets spooky whimsy and the cocktails sleigh. 😉

This year’s theme is full of Tim Burton vibes—a Very Scary Merry Christmas with twisted tinsel, eerie ornaments, photo ops with Jack and Sally, and enough twinkling lights to make Clark Griswold nod in approval. It’s over-the-top in the best way—like someone dared The Haymaker to combine Halloween Town and Whoville, and they said, “Why not?”

What’s the Deal With Miracle®?

Miracle® is the beloved Christmas pop-up bar that launched in NYC back in 2014, and Raleigh is one of the cities that gets to experience it each year. Starting now and running through New Year’s Eve, Sippin’ Santa and his spirited friends return with seasonally themed cocktails that will have you saying things like “Oh wow, this tastes like Christmas in a cup.”

We Tried the Cocktails… For Research Purposes

Along with friends, we sampled a lot of the festive offerings—strictly for journalism, obviously—and our favorites were:

• The Christmapolitan—cranberry sparkle in a glass.
• The Snowball Old-Fashioned—classic, cozy, and slightly dangerous in that “just one more” way.
• The Miracle Mouse—served in an actual Christmas mouse mug that might be the star of the season.
• Candy Cane Lane—presented in a unicorn cup because…why not? It’s the holidays.

We don’t want to give everything away, but trust us…you’re going to want to check it out this holiday season.

Pro Tips from Annie

• There’s a $5 general admission fee on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays this year.
• Hate waiting in the cold? Same. They’ll be selling a limited number of fast passes for $20 at the door only.
• Runs Thursday, Nov. 20, to Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. Plenty of time…but also, not enough time, because you’ll want to go twice.

If you’re looking for something that feels both nostalgic and a little wicked—in that “Is Jack about to pop out and offer me a peppermint cocktail?” type of way—Miracle® at The Haymaker is hands-down one of downtown Raleigh’s most delightful holiday traditions.

Consider this your official invite to step through the portal into Scary Merry Wonderland. I’ll probably be back again before Santa even leaves the North Pole.