The idea for this article began when actor JOE ZAZO (DEMON RESURRECTION, Feature Resources, dir WILLIAM HOPKINS,2008) posted a photo on Facebook. The photo was of a small Greenwich village pub that had closed , and an ad of its availability was posted.
The place in question was the Slaughtered Lamb Pub in Greenwich Village.
For those who don’t know, the pub at 182 West 4th Street Greenwich Village • New York 100145. was the first of the horror themed restaurants in NYC.
Taking its name from the pub in the classic AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (Universal,1981). It opened in the 1990s, and proved to be quite popular with both locals and tourists.
The owner, realizing that he was onto a good thing, sought out and opened the Jekyll & Hyde Pub a few blocks away on 91 Seventh Avenue South. This location had a more horror funhouse themes as well as interactive performers. It even included a Frankenstein creation scene where the creature, in an elaborate electrical display, was brought back to life, only to be destroyed by a wrathful Hyde. The Pub opened in 1991 & closed in June ,2022 .
There was a third larger location
Jekyll and Hyde Club on the Avenue of the Americas in Midtown between 57th and 58th street. This branch was four floors tall, and much larger than the original Greenwich Village locations combined. It had a lot more interactive performers as well as audio animatronics. The creation scene was also far more elaborate, with the creature rising 4 stories to receive its electrical jolts, before the (animatronic) monster sat up. Once again ,Hyde destroyed the creature.
There was also an elaborate two story tall Statue of Zeus that spun around and spoke to audiences, as well as a cranky gargoyle sitting upon an elevator that Dr Jekyll would drop in to greet his guests and change before his audiences. There was a goofy duo of skeletons playing an organ while they cracked bad jokes, and skeletons behind bars that would pop out of their coffins and scare/chat with visitors. Of course, creepy paintings were everywhere.
To gain entrance to the club, you went into the front door into a near black room. There, you were greeted by your ghoul guide. Then , the door behind swung shut ,and spikes popped out from the ceiling and descended. The guide told the group that the only way to survive was to scream. When they did, the ceiling rose once more and the inner door allowed guests to enter.
It was quite an elaborate set up, with some run on timers, but most by performers in a small hot fifth floor control room.
Actress Missi Pyle (GALAXY QUEST ,1999,Dreamworks) was a performer there, among the many multi talents who earned a check performing in the joint.
It was visited by many big name celebrities like PAUL NASCHY ,CHEVY CHASE,ANNA NICOLE SMITH, BEBE NEUWIRTH, and ICE- T. Due to the ICE-T connection, one suspects that is why the club was used in an episode of LAW & ORDER:SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT.
In March 2012, this branch closed and moved to 216 W 44th Street, near Times Square. This reboot closed in March 2015. The 44th Street location seemed to be better organized and the food seemed much better than what the Avenue of the Americas address had descended to. Historical note: the address was world famous as the home of the American Theatre Wing’s Stage Door Canteen.
Poor maintenance and complaints about food , as well as high rents, made the closing of the Avenue of the Americas local almost inevitable. That the newer location, which was all new ,with better food quality, failed after only two years showed that the theme restaurants had lost their appeal to the majority of people, who had grown tired of the PLANET HOLLYWOODS and the like.
One of the performers from the W 44th Street address bemoans the closing on her blog :
http://newyorkcliche.com/2015/04/23/jekyll-and-hyde-club/
There was another club by the same company called the NIGHT GALLERY *, which tried for a more sophisticated crowd as well as supernatural themes. Located at 117 7th Ave S (west 10th st) NY,10014 , this Greenwich Village club mix which opened January 24,1996 , didn’t last long and soon shuttered.
By the way, the designers for The Jekyll & Hyde Club as well as Night Gallery was
Rosenberg/Kolb / Architects
http://www.rosenbergkolb.com/cgi-bin/projects.cgi?commercial,5,90
http://www.rosenbergkolb.com/cgi-bin/projects.cgi?commercial,5,91
They have designed some of the nicer and more upscale restaurants in the city, but they seemed to truly get the fun nature of the J&H Clubs , as well as making them functional for service.
Another company tried to cash in with a science fiction themed restaurant called MARS 2112 , but it was owned and operated by a company with no connection to the Eerie chain.
MARS 2112 was more laid back , though it lasted from November 1998 to November 2012. Located at Paramount Plaza 1633 Broadway,NY , at 33.000 square feet , it was the largest such themed restaurant when it opened.
Another competitor not affiliated with the Eerie Entertainment group was TIMES SCARE NYC. Time Scare NYC was unique, in that it had the only year round haunted house located on its second floor , as well The Kill Bar and The Crypt Cafe in other areas. Certain times there would be visiting entertainers and magic acts , as well as the regular performers who greeted and gave the guests a regular scare.`Time Scare NYC opened October, 2011 at 669 8th Ave. New York, NY 10036, in the area known as Hell’s Kitchen, naturally.
The location had been the former home of the infamous SHOW WORLD CENTER , a 4 story porn emporium, where live sex acts occured as well as meet and greets with some of the biggest names of the adult film industry. It even appeared in the film NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (MGM, 1980).
Rudy GuilianI , long before he sweated off hair dye, made it his duty to close adult book shops all over NYC. Show World mostly shuttered , although a smaller section selling adult material sits adjacent to the performance area. The performance space rented itself out for non adult shows like THAT PHYSICS SHOW , DRUNK SHAKESPEARE ,and even some children’s shows(!), before transforming into TIME SCARE NYC.
Time Scare NYC passed away on December 6, 2015 , due to declining patronage. It is now the site of pricey hamburgers. *
Eerie Entertainment tried to open clubs across the country ,and for a brief time they were successful, but again ,the saturation of theme eateries, an economic decline, and the events of September 11,2001 affected the whole world.
Odd bit of trivia: John Landis was in NY on September 11,2001 to publicize the DVD release of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON at one of the J&H locations , but of course the event was canceled after the horrific occurances of that infamous day.
The two remaining downtown pub/clubs continued on with its usual drop ins as well as sightseers.
Ownership had gone from Eerie Entertainment to other entities over the years but the pubs kept going.
However , after battling recessions, terrorists attacks, high real estate costs, different owners, and of course, daily monster mayhem, it seems COVID was the killer of JEKYLL & HYDE along with debts of over $ 7 million .
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-23/jekyll-hyde-manhattan-eatery-for-tourists-files-bankruptcy
Oddly , The websites for both the Slaughtered Lamb and the Jekyll and Hyde Club are both still up as of this writing on August 28,2022.
NYC , it seemed, was now sans spooky eateries. However , like Dracula, you can’t keep a good meal down…. Er ..good theme down.
The hit musical BEETLEJUICE has sprung back to theatrical life on Broadway , but another Tim Burton inspired entity is quietly settled over at 308 E 6th St New York, NY 10003. The name of this establishment is BEETLE HOUSE. https://beetlehousenyc.com/ The small bistro, which seats about 45 , began as a pop up restaurant in April, 2016, but due to it’s popularity, it became permanent as of 2019. A much larger venue seating 500 opened Hollywood California.
The menu seems to be prix fixe at $55 a person, with drinks, appetizers and extras being charged for separately. They offer vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options. There are also interactive props and costumed performers.
The Slaughtered Lamb and The Jekyll & Hyde Pub offspring have been staked serving their last steaks, but like most horror films, there are always spin offs ,sequels, and reboots to come.
-Kevin G Shinnick
*Thank you Jeffrey Whitty for giving me the correct name of NIGHT GALLERY, which I had misremembered as “Twilight Zone”! That correction allowed me to get some better research on the club.
** Big thanks to Teel James Glenn for some of the background on TIMES SCARE NYC.
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