There have always been stories of magical taverns and inns, of establishments that exist in all places or all times, that travel the multiverse, or appear at some mysterious crossroads or fantastical nexus.
The first such tavern to appear in speculative fiction is believed to be The Inn Outside the World (PDF link from SFaudio.com) from Edmond Hamilton, appearing in Weird Tales in July, 1945. Others followed, from diverse authors such as Michael Moorcock, Poul Anderson, Spider Robinson, Steven Brust, Larry Niven, and more.
In honor of the upcoming publication of our latest anthology, The Forever Inn, about an inn that appears in different places throughout the multiverse, here’s a list of some of the unusual and seemingly magical inns (and a few other oddities) that have been featured in books and stories across the field of speculative fiction over the years…
Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon: An SF riff on the theme of a bar where weird things happen, featured in the books, Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon, Time Travellers Strictly Cash, Callahan’s Secret and others. Technically, the bar doesn’t move in space or time, but it does attract some unusual visitors. The books are by Spider Robinson; the first story in the series was published in 1972.
Captain’s Table: From the Star Trek books. A strange bar that can only be entered by starship captains, where the time and place that the captains enter the bar is fluid. There were six books published in 1998, followed by an anthology called Tales from the Captain’s Table, in 2005.
Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grille: Featured in the 1990 book of the same name by Steven Brust. This bar appears only in cities that will imminently be destroyed in nuclear attacks, which inevitably has a wearing effect on the staff of the bar. It’s also a good impetus to never venture too far from the bar’s environs.
Dark Ship: Not a bar, but a ship that sails the seas of the multiverse, stopping at ports in different realities. Led by a blind captain. Featured in The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock, in1976.
Draco Tavern: A bar in a spaceport built in Siberia and often frequented by aliens. Featured in a number of short stories and vignettes by Larry Niven. An interesting set of bar stories with a loose theme and a bit of an overall arc but not, strictly speaking, a magical bar. Niven has been publishing stories set in the Draco Tavern beginning in 1977 and running until the present. Many, but not all, of the stories were collected in The Draco Tavern in 2006.
Floating Vagabond: A bar from the genre-hopping roleplaying game, Tales from the Floating Vagabond, published by Avalon Hill in 1991. Modeled loosely after Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.
Forever Inn: An inn that exists outside of the normal confines of time and space. Clearly a magical artifact of ancient and unknown origin, the tavern can appear at any time or location in the multiverse. Wherever it settles, it stays for anywhere from a day to a week and then moves on seemingly randomly to another time and place. Guests may visit either physically or in their dreams.
Inn Outside the World: From the story, The Inn Outside the World, by Edmond Hamilton, published in the July 1945 issue of Weird Tales. Generally believed to be the first example of this trope.
Munden’s Bar: A seedy bar located in the Pit, a bad area of Cynosure (from First Comics), the “pandimensional city where all dimensions eventually meet.” The bar featured prominently in the Grimjack comic book series created in 1983 by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman.
Old Phoenix Tavern: A magical inn featured in A Midsummer Tempest (1974), written by Poul Anderson. Also featured in some of his short stories, including “Loser’s Night” in the collection, All One World.
Ur-Bar: A magic bar that appears in different times and places throughout history, with the legendary Gilgamesh as the bartender, where ancient gods and supernatural beings may rub shoulders with the mundane world. First appeared in the 2011 anthology, After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar and in 2018 in the sequel anthology, Second Round: A Return to the Ur-Bar. Both anthologies were edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray.
Note: David Keener’s story, The Whispering Voice, was published in the second anthology and is now available in a solo edition with an afterward that details the the true life crime that inspired the story.
World’s End Tavern: Featured in the Sandman graphic novel series from Neil Gaiman, in Volume Eight: World’s End, 1994.
In a similar vein, there are a number of publications that have featured cities outside of the normal realms of space and time. A few of these cities are listed below:
Cinnabar: The city at the center of time. Created by Edward Bryant in his 1976 book of the same name.
Cynosure: The pandimensional city created by First Comics in 1983 to support interactions between their various comic series. Used most prominently by the Grimjack series, which was set primarily in Cynosure. Also the site of Munden’s Bar, which was owned by Grimjack.
Sigil: The “City of Doors,” touching all planes of reality at once. Featured in the AD&D Planescape setting released in 1994. Appears in numerous AD&D adventures and supplements.
Tanelorn: A city that exists in all times and places, but is typically difficult to reach and often the subject of quests. From Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion sequence, which includes such heroes as Elric, Erekose, Corum, Hawkmoon and others. First mention in a story seems to be 1961. The city features in Elric novels such as To Rescue Tanelorn, The Singing Citadel, and The Stealer of Souls, as well as The Eternal Champion (Erekose) and The Quest for Tanelorn (Hawkmoon and Count Brass).
We hope you’ve enjoyed this guide. And if you come across other such pan-dimensional taverns and cities, be sure to let us know!