Entry No. 13 — the New York City file — filed under: haunted
House of Wax Bar
Tucked past the ticket booth of the Alamo Drafthouse, this dim bar is built around more than 100 antique anatomical, pathological and ethnographic wax models, plus around two dozen wax death masks, rescued from Berlin's Castan's Panopticum which closed in 1922. Glass cases hold graphic wax depictions of disease, birth and body parts, including a wall of genitals, all assembled by oddities dealer Ryan Matthew Cohn. Drinks are grouped as Anatomicals, Pathologicals and Geographicals.
The story
In 1922, Castan's Panopticum—a legendary Berlin panopticon museum and anatomical cabinet—shut its doors after more than fifty years of showing the public things they weren't supposed to see. Its collection of delicate wax medical models sat out of sight for decades until oddities dealer Ryan Matthew Cohn helped rescue and assemble them: more than a hundred authentic 19th-century wax models and around two dozen death masks, installed inside a dim Brooklyn cocktail bar.
Before color photography or modern medical textbooks existed, sculptors cast skin lesions, organ cross-sections, and anatomical anomalies directly from cadavers to instruct physicians and startle curious Victorians. The lit vitrines set into the bar's dark wood paneling house graphic depictions of disease, childbirth, and an infamous wall of medical genital cross-sections. Death masks—plaster and wax impressions taken directly from the newly deceased—stare out from shadowboxes along the room.
Rather than treat the collection as a background gimmick, the bar frames its entire menu around the display. Drinks are grouped into Anatomicals, Pathologicals, and Geographicals, letting you drink a cocktail named after a medical condition while standing inches from a century-old wax specimen.
What it's like
Head into the Alamo Drafthouse inside the City Point complex in Downtown Brooklyn and bypass the box office—you do not need a movie ticket to enter the bar. Inside, dark wood paneling, low lighting, and glowing glass cases keep the vibe strictly macabre. The space gets congested in the 30 minutes before film showtimes, so drop in on a weeknight if you want to inspect the pathology cases without jostling drinks. Be warned that the collection is entirely un-sanitised and graphic; it is not a place for the squeamish.
The move: Order a cocktail off the Pathologicals menu and slowly tour the glass cases of 19th-century wax death masks and disease models together, no movie ticket required.
📍 Before you go You do not need a movie ticket to enter the bar. 21+ in the evenings; the wax content is graphic and not for the squeamish.
- 📍 Downtown Brooklyn
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (inside Alamo Drafthouse)
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- UrbanGlass — Walk ten minutes east to trade 19th-century medical waxcraft for live glassblowing and studio art.
- Susan Gardner's Mosaic House — Head half a mile south into Boerum Hill to contrast dark anatomical displays with an exterior Brownstone covered in thousands of bright mosaics.
- The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club — Take a short ride down to Gowanus to swap Victorian death masks for vintage Florida kitsch and indoor shuffleboard.
Good to know
Do I need a movie ticket to go to House of Wax?
No. The bar operates independently past the ticket counter, so you can walk right in for drinks without buying a cinema ticket.
Is House of Wax suitable for kids?
No. The bar is 21+ in the evenings, and the wax displays feature graphic 19th-century medical depictions of disease, genital cross-sections, and anatomical displays.
Where did the wax figures come from?
They were rescued from Castan's Panopticum, a famous Berlin wax museum that operated from 1869 to 1922, and curated for the bar by collector Ryan Matthew Cohn.
What kind of drinks do they serve?
The menu features house cocktails categorized into Anatomicals, Pathologicals, and Geographicals, alongside draft beers and spirits.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · gothamist.com · Official site · nursingclio.org · The New York Times · Reddit
last checked: 2026-06-23