The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is known to be one of the most haunted hotels in the United States that also inspired Stephen King to write one of his best-selling horror novels till date, The Shining, which was later adapted into a movie with the same title.
Since then, the stories of blood-filled lifts and bone-chilling history of butchered children have been terrifying audiences and visitors for centuries. Curious to know more about this haunted hotel and how Stephen King was inspired to write a novel?
In case you are wondering what the novel is about, it focuses on Jack Torrance, an alcoholic who moves with his family to the deserted hotel to be its caretaker through winter when it’s closed. But the Torrance family soon discover the hotel is haunted with people murdered in its blood-drenched walls. The stories attached to the real hotel that inspired the film are equally terrifying as King’s imaginary resort.
This huge hotel is believed to be haunted by a whole bunch of ghostly characters and this is exactly what attracts more visitors every year. One room here costs about $275 per night.
Guests have often complained about children running or laughing in the early hours of the morning but when they checked, all they saw were empty corridors.
A spirit child named Matthew is known for pulling covers off guests in their beds but the most terrifying ghost of them all is that of a woman named Elizabeth Wilson who was one of the hotel’s first maids and was seriously burned when a lantern exploded during a storm in 1911 in room 217.
Yes, she apparently died the same room where Stephen King stayed 70 years later. Elizabeth’s spirit is known for climbing into unmarried couples beds in the night for punishing them for premarital sex, so you could call her the mood killer of the hotel.
This hotel is a Disneyland for evil spirits where countless number of ghostly sightings have been reported. The hotel also has their own “paranormal concierge” named Lisa Nyhart, who works as a resident ghost investigator and shows other ghost hunters around the 142-room accommodation.
Apparitions and shadows have been reported in almost all parts of the property. Some guests have even claimed to have captured ghosts on photos creeping up and down the lobby’s grand staircase.
Stephen King got the idea of The Shining after staying in this hotel with his wife Tabitha. One night, when King went off to bed he was troubled by a horrific dream where he could see his three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, screaming with his eyes wide-open. Spooky!
Room no. 217 still remains the hotel’s most requested room by the guests. Till date, thousands flock to this haunted hotel to feel the terror for themselves.
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