Submitted by SpectreCollector on
By Sgerbic - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14509054
One snowy night in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Stephen King and his family drove the winding roads up to Estes Park, stumbling upon the Stanley Hotel as they tried to escape the frigid weather. Without proper heat for the winter, the hotel was only a day short of closing for the season — the Kings checked in for the night as the only guests with a limited staff. With the eerie loneliness of the hotel and the paranormal history, King was inspired to create his third and arguably most popular novel, “The Shining.”
The popularity of the novel, as well as the lore of the hauntings over the past century, have created a huge tourism industry for the Stanley Hotel. Without Stanley Kubrick’s movie adaptation of The Shining, it is questionable whether the Stanley would still be standing today. The hotel plays the film on a continuous loop in the guest room and a collection of King’s novels are displayed in the ghost tour room. Despite the hotel gaining its popularity from the novel and subsequently the film, it has a mysterious and haunted history that predates its macabre fame.
Freelan Oscar Stanley was a person of many talents, trades and interests. Freelan and his identical twin brother, Francis Edgar, were young inventors, creating all sorts of things from violins to maple syrup. This penchant for experimentation lead them to the design of the Stanley Steamer automobile. Unfortunately, a life-threatening case of tuberculosis sent Freelan Stanley and his wife, Flora, to the curative Rocky Mountains in Colorado. As a result, the couple found their way to Estes Park and began their new lives.
In 1909 Stanley built the infamous Stanley Hotel, beginning a century of mysteries and eerie happenings. Just two years after the hotel opened, Ms. Elizabeth Wilson was tending the rooms when a thunderstorm rolled through the mountains of Estes Park, wiping out all of the power in the Stanley Hotel. Going from room to room, the housekeepers carried lit candles to ignite the acetylene gas lamps.
Wilson approached a room that unknowingly would become the focal point of mysterious activity for more than a century to come: Room 217. As she made her way in, the odorless gas connected with the flame of the candle, immediately igniting into a fiery eruption and blasting Elizabeth through the floor into the MacGregor Dining Room. Despite the intense explosion, Elizabeth survived, only suffering two broken ankles.
Reportedly, the injured employees and guests were sent to a hospital in Longmont, although not much documentation of the patients exists. Even though Elizabeth walked away from her injuries in 1911, her ghost is said to still reside in the hotel. More specifically, in room 217. It has been rumored that in that room clothes are mysteriously folded or put away. It is said that Elizabeth was old-fashioned and proper, so when an unmarried couple comes to visit her, she will climb in bed between them throughout the night. Elizabeth Wilson’s life is just as mysterious as her afterlife. Despite the years working at the hotel and the documentation of the explosion and hospital records, not one photo can be found of Ms. Elizabeth Wilson.
The explosion sent the hotel spiraling into an era of spiritual activity. A majority of the haunts are known to occur on the fourth floor. From self-opening closets to the giggling and running children, this phantasmal floor of the hotel exhibits a lot of activity.
The most notable by far is room 428, where a ‘friendly’ cowboy often sits on the corner of the bed waiting to greet you. The grand stairway in the lobby has also been a huge site for seeing the apparitions of the hotel — a sort of vortex for the spirits to move from the main lobby all through the halls.
One guest reported taking pictures of this brilliant staircase only to find a strange womanly figure standing at the top in the photos.
Alyssa Branch
https://cuindependent.com/2018/10/30/creepy-colorado-the-haunting-history-of-the-stanley-hotel/
ALSO ...
The Stanley Hotel has hosted many “famous” guests including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, John Philip Sousa, Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and a variety of Hollywood personalities. And, of course, the Stanley Hotel hosted Stephen King.
In addition to its regular guests, the hotel is also said to play host to a number of otherworldly visitors. The most notable is F.O. Stanley himself who is most often seen in the lobby and the Billiard Room, which was his favorite room when he was still alive. On one such occasion, he was said to have appeared during a tour group’s visit to the Billiard Room, materializing behind a member of the tour. Bartenders at the old hotel also report having seen F.O. stroll through the bar, disappearing when they try to cut him off at the kitchen.
Not to be left out, Flora Stanley also haunts the hotel, continuing to entertain guests with her piano playing in the ballroom. Employees and guests have reported hearing music coming from the room, and when they take a peek in there, they can see the piano keys moving. However, as soon as someone walks across the thresh-hold to investigate further, the music stops and no more movement can be seen upon the keys of the piano.
There are several rooms in the hotel that seem to be particularly haunted. One is Room 407, which is said to sometimes be occupied by Lord Dunraven, who owned the land prior to F.O. Stanley. Reportedly, he likes to stand in the corner of the room near the bathroom door. On one such account, witnesses reported that a light in that corner kept turning on and off. While the light was off, they told the ghost that they knew that he was there, they would only be staying two nights, and would he please turn the light back on. The light turned back on. However, later when the lights were turned off and they were trying to sleep, noises were constantly heard from the nearby elevator during a time when the elevator was not in use. At other times, a ghostly face has been reported to be looking out the window of Room 407, when the room is not booked.
Room 418 gets the most reports of haunting activity apparently from children’s’ spirits. Cleaning crews report having heard many strange noises from the room, as well as seeing impressions on the bed when the room has been empty. When guests stay in the room, they often report that they hear children playing in the hallway at night. One couple reportedly checked out of the hotel very early in the morning, complaining that the children in the hallway kept them up all night. However, there were no children booked in the hotel at the time.
There have also been many reports by guests of haunting activities in Rooms 217 and 401. Tour guides tell a story of the ghost of a small child who has been seen by many of the staff in various areas of the old hotel. Reportedly, Stephen King also saw the child, who was calling out to his nanny on the second floor. Other past employees report footsteps and apparitions seen throughout the building.
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