Mangled Mermaid

 

Mangled Mermaid
Location	London
First appearance	Chapter 2
Series	Alice: Madness Returns
Location on map [?]
Image gallery (5)

The Mangled Mermaid was a pub and whorehouse located in Billingsgate, London, lying on the north bank of the River Thames owned by Alice Liddell's former nanny, Nan Sharpe.

In a fit of anger and after beating up Nan, Jack Splatter knocked the lamp off the table and let the fire spread. It swallowed the whole establishment and it had been burned to the ground.

History

Alice: Madness Returns

Alice waking up at the docks.

Alice found herself on the docks of Billingsgate after being saved from the river by two labormen. They expressed their desire to take her to the Mangled Mermaid and have sex with her in a rented room. Before they can go through with their plan, Alice quickly took her leave and went on her way. She resumed with following the white cat she had seen previously and it led her to the whorehouse before promptly vanishing again.

She was unable to enter the front door as two men were blocking her way. They tried to goad her into sleeping with them, but she rebuffed their sexual advances by using her quick mind to create reasons why they should not advance on her.

Alice made her way to the side of the establishment and found Nan Sharpe in a heated argument with a pimp named Jack Splatter. After the verbal exchange, Nan invited her to come upstairs and told her to use the back door. When she went to the back, Alice saw that Jack had stabbed the guard and was making his way upstairs.

Jack looming over Nan.

Alice went to her nanny's room and found Jack threatening Nan. Although Alice tried to help her by confronting him, Jack ignored her words and knocked the lamp off the table before making her unconscious, sending Alice to Tundraful in Wonderland. He let the fire spread which set the whorehouse on fire. Alice and Nan managed to escape, although the Mangled Mermaid was burned to the ground.

Appearance

The sign outside the establishment.

The Mangled Mermaid was a two-story black-and-white building which faces the docks, with a courtyard in the back. Over the front door, there was a wooden swing sign bearing the establishment's name, and a statue of a corpse-like mermaid. Long Tim worked the back door.

Inside, there was a bar where men had a drink, gamble, or had the prostitutes entertain them; fights also broke out often. It had the appearance of a traditional British pub and was fairly crowded. Upstairs was a series of bedrooms for customers to have private encounters with the girls without disturbance.

Trivia

• The Mangled Mermaid is named after a mythological aquatic creature with an upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. In some versions of mermaid folklore, like sirens, they would sing to sailors on nearby ships, distracting them from their work and causing them to crash or sink. Hence, mermaids were seen by sailors as unlucky omens – both foretelling disaster and provoking it. However, in most cases, they are often pictured as beautiful and are a symbol of feminine sexuality. This could be a strong link to the prostitutes that work there.