October is the third annual Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delicious features, chef profiles, unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2009."  

With Halloween just around the corner, we figured it was time to check in with what is arguably Milwaukee's creepiest dining establishment, House of Frank N Stein, 726 E. Center St., a unique beer and hot dog joint.

With its glowing sign piercing through the darkness of the night and illuminating the large building like a full moon, the exterior more than looks the part. But it's nothing compared to what awaits you inside.

Once inside Frank N Stein's lair, the iconic monster who inspired its name is everywhere, from framed vintage prints to modern masks made of rubber. They seem to watch you from their perch behind the bar.

Though fitting, the litany of props are not placed there in preparation for the upcoming All Hallow's Eve; it's  just everyday décor for a restaurant housed within a former funeral parlor.

"I don't even decorate for Halloween," laughs owner Ismail Ozcan . "It's just a natural draw. I always get a huge crowd for my Halloween parties." This year's event is on Saturday, Oct. 31.

The location's mystique is unavoidable, but while the idea of dining in a defunct dormitory for the dead does arouse a certain amount of morbid curiosity for some, the only surviving relics of its former life are the dimly glowing brass light fixtures that look as though they might be appropriate to light the path down to Dracula's dungeon and an old organ that sits in the back room behind the red velvet pool table.

Everything else just fell into place four years ago when Ozcan saw an opportunity to do something he'd always wanted to do: open a beer and hot dog joint. He appreciates the simplicity of it all.

"Every aspect of it is just one thing -- only beer (no wine or liquor), only hot dogs (though nachos and chili are available as sides) and only karaoke (as opposed to daily specials or live music)."

All franks and sausages are available in vegetarian versions and come with your choice of toppings; everything from cheese to kraut to tomatoes to celery salt. A bottle of ketchup and two types of mustard arrive at your table with your order.

The prices here are reasonable and the only main menu item over $5 is the "It's Your Funeral," a giant spicy Andouille sausage, funeral sauce (it's hot), giardiniera, jalapenos and sport peppers. And even that only tops out at $5.50. The monster nachos, presumably for sharing, are $7.

But for all its flavor, Ozcan considers House of Frank N Stein as much of a bar as a restaurant -- a bar that has become famous for its Friday night "Karaoke from Hell." But you don't need to wait until the week's end to sing in public. Frank 'n Stein is one of precious few places in this city where you can belt it out any night of the week beginning at 8 p.m. Cap off your crooning with a frank at bar time, and you've got a spookily satisfying night on your hands.

Still, the question remains: Is the House of Frank N Stein really haunted by the ghosts of its former tenants?

"I like to make up stories and have fun with it," says Ozcan. "I tell people we keep the beer in the coolers downstairs and watch their reactions. We've ended up listed on some Web sites about haunted spots in Milwaukee, so I think people believe my stories!"

In reality, he says, nothing all that creepy has happened to him since he's owned the building. But maybe you should grab a dog and decide for yourself. Frank N Stein is open from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. daily.