Horror lovers will soon lose one of the most famous Aberdeen pubs on Belmont Street. It is rebranding but Aberdonians are not giving up.
Horror lovers will soon lose one of the most famous Aberdeen pubs on Belmont Street. It is rebranding but Aberdonians are not giving up.
Slains Castle, part of the Stonegate Pub Company, is to be turned into a Slug and Lettuce brand. The plans were presented yesterday night and today the lovers of the classic spooky aesthetic have launched a petition.
They think that turning Slains Castle into a Slug and Lettuce bar would be too drastic a change.
The new bar website describes it as a place for “boozy brunches, ladies launches and wilder weekends with friends”. Very different from what the Slain Castle is known for amongst Aberdeen with its blood-splattered walls and secret passage bookcases. The club’s own name comes from the Cruden Bay ruins, the inspiration for Bran Stoker’s classic horror, Dracula.
Stonegate Pub Company wants to leave its Halloween themed history in the past in favour of a cosmopolitan rebranding.
The company has already proposed to Aberdeen City Council to change the exterior signs and add two menu boxes.
The City centre improvement district, Aberdeen Inspired, backed the plans. The economy manager Nicola Johnston said this constitutes a “significant investment” and “will help to bring additional traffic to Belmont Street and hopefully make it an even nicer thoroughfare for people to enjoy”.
While petitioners argue that Slain’s business is failing only because Stonegate started playing chart music, defeating the point of having a creepy aesthetic, the owners seem determined for change.
The petition has just reached 100 signatures, halfway to its target of 200.