Stanley Hotel is located near the Rocky Mountain nation park in Estes Park, Colorado.
In the fall of 1974, writer Stephen King and his wife stopped for the night at an old hotel overlooking the city. Once among the grande dames of the west, The Stanley had fallen on hard times and was a ghost of its former, Edwardian-era self.
Upon arriving, the Kings learned the hotel was closing for the winter and only a skeleton crew remained. Nonetheless, the couple was checked into Room 217, the Presidential Suite, as the only paying guests.
That night, the author had a nightmare in which he saw his young son being chased down the hotel’s long, empty corridors by a predatory, possessed fire hose. He woke drenched in sweat and stepped to the balcony to smoke a cigarette. By the time he stubbed it out, he’d worked out the “bones” of what would become his third novel, and first best-seller, “The Shining.”
The Stanley Hotel has been called “Disneyland for ghosts.” It has hosted countless paranormal investigations, including by teams from Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and SyFy’s Ghost Hunters. Guests can get in on the action with the Stanley’s “Ghost Adventure Package,” where they are assigned a room on the fourth floor, complete with ghost hunting equipment a mug with the famous message “REDRUM.”
Ghostly occurrences are reported in almost every room of this vast hotel. From shadowy figures, eerie laughter, flickering lights to items moving on their own, the Stanley Hotel has all your favorite phenomena. If you get too spooked, just fined a member of the cleaning staff. Apparently, the ghosts hate vacuum cleaners. Every time someone vacuums, the machines go haywire and turn off, or the plugs come flying out of the wall!
ROOM 217
Though the Overlook Hotel from The Shining is fictional, as are the characters within, Room 217, the one that the King’s stayed in and is prominent in the novel, remains the Stanley’s most requested accommodation. I can assure you, there is no woman in the bathtub, but that doesn’t mean that the room isn’t haunted.
In 1911, during a large storm, the head housekeepers, Mrs. Wilson, was lighting the lanterns in Room 217 when there was an explosion. Elizabeth was blasted through the floor into the MacGregor Dining Room below. Believe it or not, she survived with only broken ankles. Now she spends most of her afterlife, still taking care of the room. Guests have reported items moved, luggage unpacked, and lights being turned on and off. Mrs. Wilson is very old-fashioned. She isn’t a fan of unmarried guests sleeping in the same bed, so some couples have reported feeling a cold force come between them. When they wale up, they often find that the man’s things have been packed with his luggage by the door.
Actor, Jim Carrey stayed in Room 217 when The Stanley Hotel was used for filming in his film Dumb and Dumber. He reportedly got so spooked, that he ran from the room, half-naked, in the middle of the night! Some of the films crew also got the creeps in this room.
Read more here: https://nightlyspirits.com/stanley-hotel-ghost-stories/
Book a tour here: https://nightlyspirits.com/stanley-hotel-ghost-stories/
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/and-thats-why-we-drink/e/51774267
