Frankenstein Edinburgh

Frankenstein Edinburgh is a themed bar and restaurant at 26 George IV Bridge in Edinburgh’s Old Town. The venue is based around Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and uses Gothic and laboratory-inspired decoration throughout the former church building. Frankenstein’s monster, electrical equipment, laboratory props and other horror imagery are incorporated into the interior, while classic black-and-white Frankenstein films are regularly shown on screens above the main bar.

One of the venue’s best-known features is an animatronic Frankenstein monster suspended above the main bar. During the monster show, lighting, music and sound effects accompany the creature as it descends from the ceiling on a laboratory-style platform and is brought to life. The building also contains several levels and bars, including the Frankenstein Bier Keller in the lower part of the property, which follows a German beer-hall theme with long tables and steins.

The building itself predates the bar by more than a century. It was designed by architect Charles Leadbetter and constructed in 1859 as Martyrs’ Free Church for a Reformed Presbyterian congregation. It was subsequently used by the United Free Church and later by the Elim Pentecostal Church. Religious use ended during the late 20th century, and the building had been converted into a public house by 2000.

The former church is a Category B listed building and retains several elements of its original ecclesiastical architecture despite its conversion. These include the ribbed ceiling, Gothic windows, a U-shaped gallery supported by cast-iron columns and the original pulpit with its canopy. The combination of the preserved Victorian church interior and the Frankenstein laboratory decoration forms the basis of the bar’s distinctive appearance.

Frankenstein operates as a conventional bar and restaurant as well as a themed attraction, serving food, cocktails, beer and other drinks. Its location close to the Royal Mile places it within the historic centre of Edinburgh and among several other sites in the Old Town associated with horror, ghosts and macabre history.