Cocktails & Screams to close after 6 years downtown

Popular horror-themed bar cites changing downtown nightlife and rising city fees as reasons for closure

Published on Mar. 11, 2026

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Cocktails & Screams, a popular horror-themed bar in downtown Orlando, announced it will be closing permanently later this month after 6 years in business. The bar cited changes in downtown nightlife traffic and increasing fees and regulatory costs imposed by the city of Orlando as the reasons behind the closure.

Why it matters

The closure of Cocktails & Screams is the latest in a string of downtown Orlando nightlife venues that have shut down in recent years, raising concerns about the city's efforts to regulate and tax the local bar and club scene. This trend has impacted the unique character and creative spirit that many felt defined downtown Orlando's nightlife.

The details

Cocktails & Screams, which opened in 2019 as the area's only completely Halloween-themed nightspot, will close its doors on March 20. The bar says it won't go out quietly, and will be open most nights from March 11-20, except for March 15-16. The closure comes amid new city policies that require downtown venues with late-night alcohol permits to pay policing fees in a lump sum, in advance, which some owners say is an attempt to 'squeeze people out'.

  • Cocktails & Screams opened at 39 W. Pine St. in 2019.
  • The bar will close permanently on March 20, 2026.
  • Cocktails & Screams will be open 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. most nights from March 11-20, 2026, except for March 15-16.

The players

Cocktails & Screams

A popular horror-themed bar in downtown Orlando that is closing permanently after 6 years in business.

City of Orlando

The local government that has imposed increasing fees and regulatory costs that the bar owners say have made it impossible for small, independent venues like Cocktails & Screams to survive.

Eric Fuller

The owner of the nightclub Celine on Magnolia Avenue, who previously criticized the city's new policing fee policies as an attempt to 'squeeze people out'.

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What they’re saying

“Downtown Orlando has changed. Nightlife traffic has faded, and the increasing fees and regulatory costs imposed by the city of Orlando have become impossible for small, independent venues like ours to survive.”

— Cocktails & Screams (Cocktails & Screams social media)

“They are doing anything and everything they can to squeeze people out. If this was rooted in common sense, every bar or establishment would be paying into this, not just some. But even that is illegal. We already have a mechanism for this. It's called taxes.”

— Eric Fuller, Owner, Celine nightclub (Orlando Weekly)

What’s next

The owners of Cocktails & Screams have not indicated any plans to reopen the bar in a new location. The closure is part of a broader trend of downtown Orlando nightlife venues shutting down, which has raised concerns about the city's policies towards the bar and club scene.

The takeaway

The closure of Cocktails & Screams highlights the challenges facing small, independent businesses in downtown Orlando as the city imposes new fees and regulations that make it difficult for unique, creative venues to survive. This trend threatens to erode the character and vibrancy of the downtown nightlife that many residents have cherished.