The Stanley Hotel

As the location that inspired the famous horror novel The Shining by Stephen King, the Stanley Hotel is famous for bizarre and unexplained paranormal activity. Each of its 140 rooms holds a secret, each of its walls tells a story. But is this hotel in Estes Park, Colorado really haunted by the ghosts of its past guests?

On April 18, 2016, CNN shared an Instagram image posted by tourist Henry Yau. He’d taken a photo of a staircase, only to find what looked like two figures at the top of the stairs. The figures have been described as a woman in old-fashioned clothing with a child standing next to her. The hotel’s history is very strange, to tell the truth. The owner, Freelan O. Stanley and his wife visited Colorado in 1903 with the hope that the clean air would cure his tuberculosis. It did and the Stanleys chose to open their hotel here. They opened the doors in 1909 and had everything their guests would want. There was electricity, running water and telephones.

Many guests report seeing both F.O. Stanley and his wife since they died. Mr. Stanley stands at the bar and Mrs. Stanley can sometimes be heard playing the piano. Reports also say that ghostly children haunt Room 418. People have heard their laughter and running in the room and throughout the hotel’s hallways. Strangest of all are the indentations in the bed even though nobody was in the room.