A couple weeks ago, I spent the night at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

The Stanley Hotel opened in 1907 and in its heyday hosted Presidents, royalty, and the toast of Hollywood. Throughout the decades, eyewitness accounts of ghosts and paranormal creepiness accumulated. When a young Stephen King stayed there one winter weekend in 1974, he was inspired to write the classic novel The Shining. The book would forever connect the Stanley Hotel with the spirits that supposedly haunt it.
Although Stanley Kubrick's 1980 cinematic adaptation of The Shining wasn't filmed at the hotel, any fan of the movie will have it at the forefront of their mind when staying there. In fact, the hotel has embraced its legacy; the movie runs on a continuous loop on a channel of every TV in the hotel.
At midnight, I creeped around the empty halls and rooms of the Stanley trying to capture a ghost on camera. Since I came up empty-handed, I decided to "enhance" the results with Photoshop. Enjoy!

The Stanley looks pleasant enough from the outside. But there is a darkness within,

The Stanley looks pleasant enough from the outside. But there is a darkness within,
The Stanley looks pleasant enough from the outside. But there is a darkness within,
Welcome to The Stanley.


Here it is.. Room 217.

The room in which Stephen King stayed and then used for the most haunted room in the fictionalized Overlook Hotel. In the movie version of The Shining, Kubrick changed it to Room 237 (supposedly at the request of the Stanley Hotel's management.)

The room in which Stephen King stayed and then used for the most haunted room in the fictionalized Overlook Hotel. In the movie version of The Shining, Kubrick changed it to Room 237 (supposedly at the request of the Stanley Hotel's management.)
The room in which Stephen King stayed and then used for the most haunted room in the fictionalized Overlook Hotel. In the movie version of The Shining, Kubrick changed it to Room 237 (supposedly at the request of the Stanley Hotel's management.)
It's impossible to walk the halls without expecting to see this:

Come play with us... forever... and ever...

Come play with us... forever... and ever...
Come play with us... forever... and ever...
Or other madness-inducing spirits.


The veranda is great in the daytime, but at night....


This piano is known to play by itself...

Some say its at the hands of Flora Stanley, the widow of the hotel's original owner. She's been dead for over 60 years.

Some say its at the hands of Flora Stanley, the widow of the hotel's original owner. She's been dead for over 60 years.
Some say its at the hands of Flora Stanley, the widow of the hotel's original owner. She's been dead for over 60 years.
Weird stuff must have gone down in The Stanley.


Or maybe not.

Maybe ghosts are just, as Dick Hollarann tells Danny in The Shining, "...like pictures in a book."
But even seeing a mundane image of the past is pretty creepy.

Maybe ghosts are just, as Dick Hollarann tells Danny in The Shining, "...like pictures in a book."
But even seeing a mundane image of the past is pretty creepy.
Maybe ghosts are just, as Dick Hollarann tells Danny in The Shining, "...like pictures in a book."
But even seeing a mundane image of the past is pretty creepy.
* Ok, so while we didn't actually see a ghost...
I should mention that we came back to our hotel room and found the bathroom sink faucet running. Other guests have also claimed this happened.
All night long, we heard strange footsteps, objects dropping, tapping on the walls, and even a child calling for its mother... at 3 in the morning?
The Stanley Hotel...

It's scary if you want it to be.

It's scary if you want it to be.
It's scary if you want it to be.