Millvale’s beloved haunted they-bar, Harold’s Haunt, is calling on the queer community and our rich aunties, bosses, and neighbors to help them survive the financial graveyard that has swallowed too many radical third spaces.
They’ve just launched a GoFundMe campaign with the ambitious but necessary goal of raising $30,000 to keep their doors open, the heat on, and the wolves of capitalism at bay.
“The last thing we want to do is close our doors when we know this third space has meant so much to so many people,” they write on the fundraiser page.
And if you’ve ever walked through those creaky doors into a drag show, a Stitch & Witch craft night, or a Found Family sober event with QRC Millvale, you already know that Harold’s Haunt is a community heartbeat.
Harold’s Haunt has become the queer hub for folks who don’t always fit neatly into the boxes of typical LGBTQ+ nightlife. It’s a space for artists, witches, drag creatures, sober queers, musicians, and everyone else on the fringe of the fringe. It’s where community gets conjured up every week, through ritual, performance, and radically inclusive care.
Harold’s is proudly queer-run, fiercely independent, and radically welcoming and that’s never been easy in a world where queer spaces are still underfunded and often short-lived. They’re asking for help now not out of failure, but from a fierce commitment to stay for us.
Harold’s is, on paper, a for-profit business but don’t get it twisted. This place hasn’t been turning a profit. Like many queer spaces, they operate from love, not luxury. The GoFundMe lays out exactly where the funds would go. $2,000 to pay off music license fees, $4,000 to settle 2022 debt that won’t go away, $6,000 to turn the heat back on, $5,000 for new windows, $9,000 to knock out their highest-interest loan, and $4,000 to fund marketing and outreach for the main bar and their traveling bar.
“We absolutely hate asking for help, especially seeing as so many individuals, particularly those in our queer community, are also financially struggling right now,” they share. “But this will keep the wolves from the door for a little bit longer.”
Thanks to a very generous anonymous donor, the first $3,000 in donations will be matched so if you’ve got it to give, now’s the moment.
And for folks who need a tax-deductible option? They suggest giving to QRC Millvale, a nonprofit that directly supports programming at Harold’s.
If you’re broke like many of us are, you can still help. Share the fundraiser. Tell your chosen fam. Tell your rich friends. Send it to your weird cousin who just got into crystals and wants to support queer magic.
This place matters. It’s one of the rare third spaces where queerness is celebrated, protected, and centered.
Let’s keep the ghost light burning. Let’s make sure this haunted home stays open for all of us.