The Stanley Hotel

Hauntings

Many believe the Stanley Hotel is haunted, having reported a number of cases of ghostly activity, primarily in the ballroom. Kitchen staff have reported to have heard a party going on in the ballroom, only to find it empty. People in the lobby have allegedly heard someone playing the ballroom's piano; employees investigating the music supposedly find nobody sitting at the piano. Employees believe that particular ghost is of Freelan O. Stanley's wife, who used to be a piano player. In one guest room, people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed before running into the closet. This same apparition is allegedly responsible for stealing guests' jewelry, watches, and luggage. Others reported to have seen ghosts in their rooms in the middle of the night, simply standing in their room before disappearing.

The Syfy television show Ghost Hunters was invited to investigate the hotel. The manager showed them the various places where these alleged ghost activity has occurred. Ghost Hunters discovered some rational reasons for the various phenomena, such as wind and pipes. However, they could not decipher incidents in the ballroom. Ghost Hunters also claimed to experience other paranormal occurrences, such as seeing people in hallways then hiding and hearing children running and playing on the floor above them. The biggest alleged occurrence was that during changing of the film in the camera, a table jumped two feet in the air. Ghost Hunter Jason stayed the night in the room with the "ghost thief"—he stated that the bed moved, the closet doors unlocked and opened and his thick glass by the bed cracked open on the inside. The Stanley Hotel was also the lockdown site for the TV show Ghost Adventures on October 15, 2010.

Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society conducted an investigation into the various claims made about the property. They found nothing paranormal but many natural reasons for the claims: a raccoon climbed in a upper window during the night and loose window panes as well as many amateur "ghost-hunters" prowling around the property looking in windows during the wee hours of the morning. Page 23 of RMPRS's investigation into the Stanley Hotel shows the lightweight, unstable table that the Ghost Hunters claim "jumped two feet in the air" during their investigation.

After hearing claims that paranormal activity at the hotel are due to the geological makeup of the property, Rocky Mountain Paranormal contacted the USDA for information on the site. The scientists' conclusion, based on a satellite survey of Colorado, showed "nothing unusual about the aeromagnetic data in the area of Estes Park as compared to that general area of the Rockies". After this request for geological information, the government sent soil scientists to do a thorough soil survey on the property. The results showed the soil is mainly "crumbled schist" containing nothing radioactive. No large deposits of quartz, limestone or magnetite were evident.[5]

Stephen King got the idea for The Shining after staying in room 217 in the almost empty hotel on the night before it closed for an extended period.

In Skeptical Inquirer's “Naked Skeptic” column by Karen Stollznow she discusses RMPRS's investigation of The Stanley Hotel, “During the investigation, The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society researched popular beliefs and claims; they solved some mysteries, they performed valuable outreach, and they maintained the historical integrity of the Stanley Hotel. However, they didn’t discover any anomalous phenomena. They found a leak in the ceiling but no ghosts. But this is no reason to give up the ghost (investigations). “[6]