Books – Worlds Enough

Your Guide to Magical Inns

worldsenough Books December 6, 2025December 10, 2025magical inn 0 Comment

The Inn Outside the World - Weird Tales, July 1945

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…

Cover for The Forever Inn

worldsenough Books November 22, 2025November 22, 2025 0 Comment

Our next anthology, The Forever Inn, now has a lovely cover thanks to the talents of our cover artist, Susan Gerardi. The anthology will be published in February 2026, after a variety of delays.

The mysterious Forever Inn appears in different times and places throughout the multiverse, generally staying for a few days or sometimes a week before moving on. The inn allows all sorts of people to meet, share drinks, sample the inn’s eclectic cross-time menu, experience adventures, and sometimes change each other’s lives.

The titular Forever Inn is a shared setting, allowing characters, particularly the staff and inn regulars, to interact across multiple stories. While stories don’t have to be set in the inn, every story must leverage the magical establishment in a meaningful way.