During a visit to Birmingham this week we happened to stumble across Merlins horror bar and felt compelled to bring you a review of this spooky and quirky cafe and bar in Birmingham City Centre.
Sean Evans • JANUARY 15, 2025
Link to article: https://secretbirmingham.com/merlin-s-horror-venue/
During a visit to Birmingham this week we happened to stumble across Merlins horror bar and felt compelled to bring you a review of this spooky and quirky cafe and bar in Birmingham City Centre.
Merlins is a two-floored building based at Martineau Place, Corporation Street and certainly isn’t your typical cafe as there are props and figures aplenty that make up the entire decor of this cool little venue.
Visiting at night we certainly got the best first impression of the building as the red ambient lighting certainly lent a hand to its eerie and spooky ambience and that’s without the numerous figures and props that were seen from the window that welcomes all horror aficionados and curious souls in with open arms.
Downstairs you will find a café that during the day serves a whole range of chicken and burger items that have a spooky (and spicy twist). If your spice tolerance is low you may be limited to a few options on the menu but for a spice nut like me, I was disappointed that the kitchen was shut when we arrived late in the evening as the menu looked mouth-wateringly good!
Upstairs was the bar area where you can grab yourself a normal beer or cider but it’s the themed cocktails of Merlins that entices all those who enter.
Priced between £9.50 and £11 for a cocktail I thought they were reasonable prices for a city centre bar such as this and only a slight increase on the robot bartender cocktail we had received (£7.50) at SandboxVR a mere few hours earlier.
The attraction also on occasion has live actors roaming around the bar and interacting with guests which I’m sure is a great experience but whilst walking around the incredible decor there was one thing that I felt was somewhat missing. Movie props.
The figures, animatronics and horror sets that make up this bar aren’t cheap whatsoever so they certainly have the cash to invest in a few props from real films to bring the whole horror feeling full circle.
One of the biggest spaces that didn’t have anything on them was the walls. A few things on display in boxes (similar to Hard Rock Cafe / Planet Hollywood) would be a great addition to this place without breaking the bank and maybe some old-school horror films playing on a screen in a corner of the bar somewhere should people want to indulge in a frightfully good film.
You only need to look at the photos within this article to see what a wonderful space they have created and the effort to make it spooky not only starts and ends in the bar and cafe but stretches into the toilets too!
Whilst it’s not too in your face when you get into the lavatories there are some creepy-themed panels and even some old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes style light fixtures above the urinals. For a theming nut like me, many people often overlook the bathrooms when creating themed spaces so even this little attention to detail was appreciated.
Downstairs in Merlins there’s a strange cross between fantasy and horror and I feel as though leaning more into horror entirely would certainly go towards giving the entire venue the same feeling as downstairs the decor feels very different in genre to that of what is featured upstairs.
I love the idea of a themed food menu and would love to come back when that part of the venue is open to sample some of the spicy dishes on offer and soak up more of the atmosphere.
When we arrived it wasn’t entirely busy but we got chatting with the owners who gave us a tour around, they were so friendly and so welcoming and we even spoke to the chef who was discussing the variety of meals he prepares for the customers.
There was a lovely togetherness about the staff and it was a great space to just sit in and enjoy.
