Ep. 66 - The Haunted History of The Stanley Hotel

Summary

My Victorian Nightmare – Ep. 66: The Haunted History of The Stanley Hotel

Host: Genevieve Mannion
Date: October 27, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this Halloween special, Genevieve Mannion delves into the haunted past and spectral lore of the iconic Stanley Hotel, the inspiration behind Stephen King’s "The Shining." She digs into the true and apocryphal stories swirling around the hotel, separating history from myth, while giving listeners a journey through Victorian ghost stories, spiritualist traditions, and some personal Halloween musings. The overall tone is warm, witty, and steeped in her characteristic affection for the eerie.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Victorian Halloween Vibes (00:50–06:38)

• Genevieve opens with cozy autumn stories: apple cider donuts, pumpkin patches, and Halloween parties, blending humor with nostalgia.
• She notes Victorian era customs, like spelling Hallowe’en with an apostrophe:

  "The Victorians often spelled it with a dainty little apostrophe nestled in between the two E's…" (01:37)

• Shares her personal Halloween playlist and top 13 spooky movies for Halloween, blending gothic and classic horror themes with fun commentary.
• The list includes "The Conjuring 2," "Hell House LLC," "Smile 2," "The Lost Boys," "Dark City," "Freddy vs. Jason," "Queen of the Damned," "The Others," "The Ring," "The Woman in Black," "Silent Hill," "13 Ghosts," and "Bram Stoker’s Dracula."
• Notable quote:

  "These are not the best spooky movies. No, they're just really great Halloween spooky movies. And I will tell you why." (06:56)

• She celebrates the Victorian love of ghost stories and macabre ambiance, setting up a playful yet chilling mood for the episode.

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2. With Their Own Eyes: Real Victorian Ghost Stories (14:24–20:53)

• Genevieve reads from an 1871 newspaper article, “Ghosts. Ghosts. A Haunted House: Mysterious Manifestations in Sevastopol,” capturing the poetic, melancholic ghost lore of the era.
• She marvels at the atmospheric writing:

  "We all live in haunted houses. The invisible presence of those with whom we once held familiar and friendly seems to linger in the silent halls and lonely rooms…" (15:13)

• Story details ghostly footsteps, unearthly cries, and a haunting backstory (possibly inspired by a mysterious woman’s death on a stairway).
• Genevieve highlights the scarcity of hard evidence behind such stories but treasures their evocative beauty, naming this her dream eulogy reading:

  "If you could boil down every single thing that I love about the Victorian era into one article, this would be the one." (20:13)

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3. The Victorian Seance Room: Spiritualism & Grief (21:21–25:12)

• Shares an 1869 spiritualist newspaper story about a man and his wife communicating with their deceased child through mediums.
• The story touches on Victorian fascination with the afterlife, the omnipresence of grief, and the social need for spiritual comfort:

  "In this time, the 1860s, 43% of children did not live to be 5 years old…" (24:14) "It really is astounding to think… the profundity of grief that people lived with in this time. And I think it very much explains why spiritualism was not only so popular, but…a means of survival for some people…" (24:42)

• Concludes this segment reflecting on laughter through tears, and the cultural ubiquity of ghostly experiences in the Victorian psyche.

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4. The Real History of The Stanley Hotel (25:12–33:52)

• Genevieve details the hotel's construction in 1907 by Freelin Oscar Stanley—straddling the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
  • Built as a luxurious tuberculosis health retreat and one of the first all-electric hotels.
  • Stanley himself survived tuberculosis thanks, he believed, to Colorado’s fresh air.
• The infamous 1911 gas explosion in Room 217 that (miraculously) killed no one:

  "Elizabeth [Wilson, head chambermaid] went into the room, she lit a candle and 10 percent of the hotel was blown to smithereens. But miraculously…she will survive." (29:33)

• Segues into Stanley Hotel myths vs. facts:
  • Debunks tales of ghosts stemming from suicides or murder cover-ups at the hotel:

    “There’s not one, not one record of a death happening in the hotel its over 100 year history.” (32:10)

  • Warns that many legends are copied from other hotels, like the Crescent Hotel.
• Explores the real tragedies in the area surrounding the hotel:
  • High child mortality due to epidemics, mining accidents, and environmental dangers in the Rocky Mountains.
  • Tells the tragic, well-documented story of Carrie Welton’s death on Long’s Peak, illustrating the perilous nature of the region in the late 1800s:

    “I came in sight of the tragic spot where Carrie J. Welton lay at rest, having died alone amid the wind's mad revelry…” (35:48)

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5. The Shining: Stephen King’s Night & the Hotel’s Haunted Reputation (37:09–38:48)

• The hotel’s transformation into a haunted legend after Stephen King stayed there in 1974, inspiring "The Shining."
  • King’s legendary nightmare involving the hotel’s fire hoses chasing his son down the hallway.
  • Room number changes between the novel (217) and the film (237) due to hotel management’s request.
• Notable moment:

  “By the time he finished the cigarette, he already had the rough outline of The Shining in his mind.” (38:11)

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6. Modern Hauntings and Guest Experiences (39:01–42:51)

• Enumerates ghostly phenomenon reported at the Stanley:
  • Room 217/Lizzie the Maid: Pushing apart unmarried couples, moving guests’ luggage.
  • Concert Hall/Lucy: Former squatter’s death by freezing and subsequent haunting—disembodied voices, flickering flashlights.
  • Paul & Edward: Handymen ghosts allegedly causing noises and shouting.
  • Flora Stanley: The founder’s wife, playing piano for guests from beyond.

    "The piano cover has also reportedly slammed down on the fingers of people trying to play it, as if Flora is saying she does not." (42:02)

  • Fourth Floor/Children’s Spirits: Mysterious child ghosts move candy and objects left for them.
  • Freeman Oscar Stanley: His apparition seen in lobby mirrors, following Victorian Halloween scrying traditions:

    "You may have a new dead 91 year old boyfriend. Congratulations and Happy Halloween." (42:51)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Victorian Ghost Stories:

  "My goodness, I want to stay. Over and over again by a disembodied voice in your home in the middle of the night." (19:57)

• Reflecting on Grief and Spiritualism:

  "It clearly helped people cope. And like in this article, it helped them to laugh as well." (25:12)

• On the Hotel’s Explosive History:

  "Elizabeth went into the room, she lit a candle and 10 per cent of the hotel was blown to smithereens. But miraculously…she will survive." (29:33)

• On the Spread of Haunting Myths:

  "This is an imported hotel myth. There's nothing to substantiate this." (31:09)

• On the Stanley Suddenly Becoming a Haunted Destination:

  "Not until the book and the movie was it known for any particularly spooky happenings aside from the horrific explosion." (38:56)

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Important Sections & Timestamps

• Chitchat, Autumn Musings, and Movie List: 00:50-14:24
• Victorian-Era Ghost Story Reading: 14:36–20:53
• Victorian Spiritualism, Child Mortality, and Coping with Grief: 21:21–25:12
• History and Myths of the Stanley Hotel: 25:12–33:52
• Local Tragedies and the Real Dangers of the Era: 33:52–37:09
• Stephen King’s Stay and "The Shining": 37:09–38:48
• Reported Hauntings and Modern Ghost Legends at Stanley: 39:01–42:51

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Tone & Style

Genevieve’s narration blends historical research, dark humor, and a deeply personal love for Victorian eeriness. She moves seamlessly between factual reporting, ghostly folklore, and witty asides, making the episode both informative and highly entertaining for fans of spooky history.

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For Listeners

Whether you’re a horror aficionado, a lover of Victorian history, or simply curious about the real story behind The Stanley Hotel’s spectral reputation, this episode offers both solid facts and lingering chills—perfect Halloween listening.

Transcript

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[Genevieve Mannion]

Hello and welcome to My Victorian Nightmare. I'm your host Genevieve Mannion, and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era. Because to me there's just something especially.

[Co-host or Guest]

Intriguing, creepy, and oddly comforting about horror.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And mayhem from the 19th century. So listener discretion is adv. Hello friends and welcome to this my 66th episode. My Halloween episode or Halloween episode.

[Co-host or Guest]

The Victorians often spelled it with a.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Dainty little apostrophe nestled in between the two E's at the end there. I hope that you have had an apple cider donut or two that you.

[Co-host or Guest]

Have moseyed through a pumpkin patch. I took Toby upstate to run through a nature preserve last weekend.

[Genevieve Mannion]

We had a lovely, lovely little picnic with friends.

[Co-host or Guest]

Breathed in the crispy air, I sneezed out a tick. I screamed and scared poor Toby.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Such big fright in such a tiny little body.

[Co-host or Guest]

At least I got it. There is nothing like a good blood.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Curdling scream during Halloween season, wouldn't you say? And now for a little Haunted Housekeeping. As always, thank you so much for rating my show on Spotify and Apple podcasts.

[Co-host or Guest]

If you haven't already.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Please do I remain as grateful for every single one as I have been since the beginning. Thank you everyone who has joined the fan coven. Those of you who receive the show ad free a day early, who receive a whole audiobook on eclectic witchcraft in addition to weekly witchy content and extra murdery Victorian true crime extras every single week while doing my New Moon ritual.

[Co-host or Guest]

Last last Tuesday, I broke down completely.

[Genevieve Mannion]

While offering gratitude to you guys, you are directly contributing to ensuring that I can continue creating this show and having.

[Co-host or Guest]

A roof over my head and toys for Toby. He too is eternally grateful.

[Genevieve Mannion]

So thank you. You too can Join this lovely community.

[Co-host or Guest]

By going to myvictorianightmare.com where you will.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Also find a link to some ever so tasteful merch.

[Co-host or Guest]

As I get older, wiser and less.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Able to function as a human being unless I get a full eight to.

[Co-host or Guest]

Nine hours of sleep, I have discovered that unless I take something, I'm not going to get those precious hours and I will not function as a human being.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And lately I have been choosing Lumi Gummies to help me with my brutal insomnia.

[Co-host or Guest]

They do not make you high. I don't want to get high. I don't want to party. I want to become unconscious peacefully for a full night. And I would also like there to.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Be a lovely tasty treat involved if possible. Lumi Gummies taste so yummy and they're not just for sleep. You can also use them to simply de stress, relax.

[Co-host or Guest]

Also have gummies to do the opposite.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Put some pepper in your step and boost your mood.

[Co-host or Guest]

The hybrid strawberry cookies one it'll chill you right out.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The Sativa Orange cream cookies one that will help you stay focused.

[Co-host or Guest]

And if you've got to organize the garage, clean out the closets, they'll likely.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Make that experience a delightful one. Some folks even find that the mellow.

[Co-host or Guest]

THC of the Indica gummies really help.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Them with anxiety during the day.

[Co-host or Guest]

And what's really important to me is that they have like a consistent dose unlike some other brands. You know what to expect every time with every gummy. Again, I do not want to party. I want to pass out. No surprises.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Lumi Gummies are available nationwide. Go to lumigummies.com that's L U M I Gummies and use code Victorian for 30% off your order. Again, that's L U M I gummies.com code victorian lumigummies.com code victorian okay, today for you dear listener, I will be concluding Haunted Halloween Hotel Month with the dark haunted history of the infamous Stanley Hotel. Yes, that Stanley Hotel. The one that inspired Stephen King's the Shining.

[Co-host or Guest]

I will be sharing the true end untrue tragedies that folks claim to be.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The origins of the spectral guests that inhabit the hotel to this day.

[Co-host or Guest]

So I will be debunking as well as bunking some of that history. But frankly, unlike a lot of hotels who only have myths and legends to explain their ghosts, the Stanley does indeed have some pretty legit ghost causing history. We will separate the facts from the.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Fiction and discuss the ghostly experiences of guests and employees alike. But before we get to our regularly scheduled spooky segments I wanted to share a few things. First, my Halloween party playlist. If you're looking for one, you can.

[Co-host or Guest]

Find the link in the show notes. I like my Halloween parties to sound like sexy goth clubs in the 80s.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And 90s with a few creepy, random Halloweeny songs sprinkled in. It also has a few recent tracks as well, but it's just the perfect.

[Co-host or Guest]

Goth mostly new wave vibe for your Halloween party. Also, I wanted to share my top 13 spooky movies for Halloween. I couldn't do just 10. I'm sorry. This was not an easy list to make. It's almost impossible for me to pick even only 13 favorite horror movies. I haven't given a spooky movie review in a while, so I thought today.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Might just be the perfect time to.

[Co-host or Guest]

Dust off those somewhat unhelpful movie reviews. What I lack in convincing cohesive thoughts and opinions I make up for in passion, truer words were never, etc. Etc. Now these are not the best spooky movies. No, they're just really great Halloween spooky movies.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And I will tell you why.

[Co-host or Guest]

Obviously the Conjuring 2 like I've mentioned 900 times, it's one of my favorite comfort movies. It has English pubs decorated for Christmas.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Which are so cozy looking.

[Co-host or Guest]

It has kids tying themselves to beds so they don't sleepwalk while possessed by old dead demon men. It has a banishing back to hell, which is always my favorite moment in a horror movie. And this particular banishing does not disappoint. Okay, number 12 Hell House LLC. Another comfort movie that I have mentioned a million times. This is my favorite horror movie to be on my phone to. Like, not much happens for a bit, so you can be on your phone, but you'll look up and be like, did that clown mannequin just turn his head? You'll look up and think, this is the ugliest hotel I've ever seen. Like, did they find the WAL wallpaper in the bathroom of a dentist's office in the 90s? Like it's perfect.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Number 11 Smile 2.

[Co-host or Guest]

Smile 1 is also pretty good, but it felt like it could have been about a half hour shorter. To me, Smile 2 is packed with holy crap moments. Like, I'd say this is the most accurate interpretation of what a demon would really do if it got into your head.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Current favorite demon movie number 10 the.

[Co-host or Guest]

Lost boys for when you want sexy 8 vampires with real bad attitudes vibes, but you also want to see a guy oiled up in spandex honking on A saxophone.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Another great comfort movie.

[Co-host or Guest]

Great soundtrack.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Number nine, Dark City.

[Co-host or Guest]

Hidden gem. I'm surprised how many folks haven't seen this. If you, like me, had always wanted to see Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Richard o' Brien play a creepy goth alien in a human skin suit, you're in luck. This is the movie.

[Genevieve Mannion]

It's awesome for many more reasons.

[Co-host or Guest]

Next number. Freddy versus Jason. The first time that I saw this, it was on hbo and I had to cancel plans because I started watching it when it was just on, like, in the background. And I got so sucked in, I had to cancel dinner. The premise is a horror movie made in heaven. Freddy can't come back because nobody remembers him, so he resurrects Jason to come run amok. So people start talking again about, like, the murderous history of the town and get, like, his name circ again. So Freddy gets to come back, but by the time he does, Jason's killing everybody. So Freddy's incensed and he's got to take him out. But Freddy is Jason. He's a professional. He's been to space, he's been to Manhattan. He moves at a snail's pace, but he is a worthy adversary, to say the very least. It is a classic. I could watch that anytime.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Number seven.

[Co-host or Guest]

Only because it is my cringiest favorite horror movie. Don't yell at me. Queen of the Damned. This movie is awful. Oh, God. It is not good. It has its moments, but they're mostly the worst. I remember forcing my friend Jill to watch it because it was so bad and I needed her to see how bad it was. And there's a scene where rock and roll Lestat is showing Marguerite Moreau what it's like to really be a vampire. And Jill just. Jill just kept saying, are they gonna go flying? Let me guess. They're gonna go flying. And then they go flying. And he almost drops her, but she's okay, unfortunately.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Another fabulous phone.

[Co-host or Guest]

I'd say number six. Genuinely good. Like, top tier horror movie. The others.

[Genevieve Mannion]

I mentioned it last week.

[Co-host or Guest]

It does not take place in the Victorian era, but it touches on the era Memento Mori found in the attic.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Spiritualism, creepy mediums.

[Co-host or Guest]

There are moments in that movie that still make me cry. Sometimes I bleed.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Oof.

[Co-host or Guest]

Top tier, not a phone movie. Number five. The Ring. Guys, this really holds up. It's wild that all of the technology in the movie is utterly obsolete now. VHS tapes, wired phones. That's the real horror story to me. How it feels, at least to me, that that movie was made, like, yesterday. And nobody born within the last 20 years would have any idea what the guy's talking about when he's talking about like VHS tapes and control tracks.

[Genevieve Mannion]

That's terrifying to me. It's still my favorite for its tone. The vibe is.

[Co-host or Guest]

Is just so eerie. I could live in that movie forever.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Okay, number four, the Woman in Black.

[Co-host or Guest]

A Victorian era horror movie starring Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, and it's all about dark Victorian vibes. Simple premise. A woman in black kills children nearby.

[Genevieve Mannion]

If anyone sees her in her creepy eepy eel marsh house.

[Co-host or Guest]

And someone sees her. Harry Potter, no less. It's got creepy old rotten Victorian mansions.

[Genevieve Mannion]

It has foggy eel marshes.

[Co-host or Guest]

It's got got dead kids crawling up out of the muck to come haunt you. And very helpful tiny dogs. I love this one.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Number three, Silent Hill, 2006.

[Co-host or Guest]

A genuinely messed up movie, but also a comfort movie for me. Inexplicably. Even I can't figure that one out. We've got kids dancing in blood rain. We have Sean Bean exasperated. We've got the scariest monsters. Like I'd go out on a limb and say, top 10 most, they stay with you. Monsters of all cinema history. The creepy razor happy nurses. The dude with the triangle metal head. The dude with his legs all tied up over his head with barbed wire. They stay with you.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Not for the faint of heart, this.

[Co-host or Guest]

One, but so, so good. Number two, 13 ghosts, 2001. I was watching it the other night and it's. It's so much fun. The editing is genuinely cool. I was an editor for 15 years and it's still so, so fun and impressive to me. We've got ghost dudes with spikes in their heads. We have Matthew Lillard bananas chewing up the scenery. We have a really high budget that.

[Genevieve Mannion]

They really put to good use.

[Co-host or Guest]

Like the set is just really fun.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To watch in itself.

[Co-host or Guest]

The script is not great, but there are also prosthetic ghost boobs. It's a romp. And lastly, number one, you already know what I'm gonna say.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Bram Stoker's Dracula.

[Co-host or Guest]

My very favorite movie of all, not just my favorite horror movie. Between the costumes, which are charact in and of themselves, Oldman's old man geisha buns wig. Between the pacing of stuff that just happens, I counted 16 super cool things that happen in the first 10 minutes. Wynonna Ryder falls out a window. Gary Oldman stabs a cross that spouts blood. A bunch of people get impaled. Between Keanu Reeves's simply precious English accent and the way he says Moldavia in Bukovina and just knowing that Sir Anthony Hopkins, an English man, had a sit across from Keanu and likely endured at least 50 takes of him saying, I know where the bastard sleeps. Carfax Abbey. Oh, and just when I think I'm finally getting over this movie, like maybe for the 600th time of watching it.

[Genevieve Mannion]

I swoon when I see Lucy's red chiffon cape flowing in the thunder and lightningy wind.

[Co-host or Guest]

And I think it's on Netflix now. So if you have yet to see this legit masterpiece, may this Halloween season.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Be the time you treat yourself to this classic. And now it is time for our weekly segment with Their Own Eyes.

[Co-host or Guest]

Where.

[Genevieve Mannion]

I share with you the personal haunting accounts of petrified Victorians. And I have a few fabulously Halloweeny one for you today.

[Co-host or Guest]

It's literally called Ghosts. Exclamation point. Ghosts. Exclamation point. It's filled with buttery, chocolatey, dark Victorian poetry. Honestly, some of the most beautiful writing that I have ever read in a newspaper article. It literally starts with a little poem and it comes to us from the.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Richmond independent telegram from 1871.

[Co-host or Guest]

Again, it is called Ghosts.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Ghosts, A haunted house. Mysterious manifestations in Sevastopol. And it reads black spirits and white, red spirits in gray. Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle. May. We all live in haunted houses. The invisible presence of those with whom we once held familiar and friendly seems to linger in the silent halls and and lonely rooms. And we sometimes seem to hear the music of voices long since hushed, and to see, as in a glass darkly, the features of those who have been hid away from our sight for years. In ancient times, the idea of ghosts was associated with old deserted graveyards, churches and buildings falling to ruin, and castles ivy crowned and hoary. But in this enlightened age age, these dim and misty specters bring their unreal presence into almost any convenient place or locality. And their influence is felt in public halls and social gatherings. Evidently our modern ghost is disposed to be more social than were those of the past. It is not, however, of ghosts and haunted houses in general we set out to write, but the particular ghosts which Knightley and and daily disturb the occupants of a certain house in the quiet village of Sevastopol, a suburb of this city. The haunted house alluded to is no deserted tumble down ruin with surroundings bleak and desolate, but a cozy white cottage embowered in trees with singing birds and blooming flowers and ripening fruits, with the glad voices of happy children echoing through the church cheerful, airy rooms. And with the evidences of a cheerful, happy home within it and about it. And yet sights and sounds, strange and unaccountable, not to be explained by any man's philosophy. Are daily and nightly seen in and about this pleasant suburban home. Ascending the stairway, footsteps follow you. And a heavy tread will be heard in the rooms above. As if someone in great agitation was pacing back and forth. Another feature of this mystery is the unaccountable opening of doors. Every door of room, hall or closet may be securely closed. When they will suddenly fly open one after another. And you search in vain for the hidden cause of the annoyance. Entering a room suddenly, you will hear a confusion, confused rustling noise. As if someone were trying to escape from the room unobserved. The most startling and noticeable feature of this mystery, however, Is the unearthly cry that is heard almost every night as soon as the family have retired and everything is still. A low, sad, complaining voice is heard as of some woman in Ernst prayer. Or in the moment most passionate agonizing entreaty. And the rising and falling inflections of the voice can be detected distinctly. But the articulation is so imperfect, running in a sort of muffled monotone, that it is only occasionally that a sentence can be made out, such as I want to stay, which will be repeated over and over for hours with some weird and sorrowful earnestness, but quite frequently interrupted by the harsh, gruff tones of a man's voice. And sometimes the shrill cry of a baby ringing out sufficiently loud to awaken persons from the soundest slumber. In cases of this kind, the first inquiry generally. Is what unusual event occurs, occurred in this house. Was any crime ever committed, any great sin or wrong enacted in this locality? It is said by persons familiar with the history of the premises. That some years since a woman employed about the house was found dead on the stairway. And it has never been satisfactorily ascertained how or why she died. She was a strange, reserved, cross creature. No one ever knew whence she came. And her death was as much a mystery as her life. And it is believed that it is her perturbed ghost that utters this sad, wild cry. Such is the history of the haunted house at Richmond. End quote. My goodness, I want to stay. Over and over again by a disembodied voice in your home in the middle of the night.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, my goosebumps have goosebumps. That makes me actually kind of want to cry. Oh, what a sparkly black gem that that article was. And, you know, I dug into papers to search for every single death that occurred in Sevastopol between the years 1840.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And the year of this publication, 1871.

[Co-host or Guest]

I did not find an example of a woman dying or being found dead on a stairway. But my goodness, if you could boil down every single thing that I love about the Victorian era into one article, this would be the one. You know what this is now the article I want read at my funeral. This is the eulogy. No other speech is necessary. Someone read this and you won't have to explain why this beautifully written article.

[Genevieve Mannion]

About a Haunted House in 1871 is the one and only reading at my funeral.

[Co-host or Guest]

Everybody who knows me will understand.

[PNC Bank Advertiser]

Well, I was down on my last dollar than I started saving because the bank said fiscal restraint is what you're craving. So I put my earnings in a high yield account, let the savings compound and the interest mount. I'm optimizing cash flow, putting debt in check. Now time is my friend and not a pain in the neck and we've got a little cash to rebuild the old deck. Boring money moves make kind of lame songs but they sound pretty sweet to your wallet.

[Co-host or Guest]

PNC bank brilliantly boring since 1865.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Okay, now won't you follow me into the seance room where I share with you the goings on in the Spiritualist society of the 1800s. We have another deposition of a man's experience with a trance medium as written in the spiritualist newspaper from 1869. And it reads, Mr. Avery, an American, said that in the August of 1861 he was told through a trance medium that his little daughter, who was very ill, was suffering from a bad rupture and would soon enter the spirit world, although a short time before the change, she would appear to be much better. In October, he received through a drawing medium an accurate likeness of his grandfather, who had then been in the spirit world for 60 years. The medium was a stranger to him and lived 500 miles from the locality where his grandfather spent his life While on earth. About this time, his daughter got worse again. She was very sick and she told him that she would come back to him sometimes from the spirit world if she could. Through his own mediumship, he was told several days in advance that she would pass away. On one particular regular Sunday, a little after 12 o', clock, everything took place as predicted. In the following December, he went to New York, and while in his sister's house, a woman, a medium, entered into the trance state. And he heard his child's voice saying, where's pa? She added, I'm Lavinia Pa. Didn't I tell you I'd come back again? She chatted with him for some some time, told him that, quote, he was going crazy about spiritualism, end quote. And that in a short time she would find out a way of convincing her mother through a medium. She finished by saying, oh, I'm so sick, I can't stay longer. She then left and the medium appeared to be very unwell, though other spirits soon brought her round again. The following summer his wife went went to Philadelphia and she was going to see some clairvoyant because, quote, unquote, that's not spiritualism, you know.

[Co-host or Guest]

And side note, in brackets it says laughter. This was read to a room full of spiritualists who found that joke very funny.

[Genevieve Mannion]

I continue. She went and received more than she expected. When she entered the room, the clairvoyant walked up to her and said, mother, Mother. And the spirit of her child forth with told her the story of her life as well as many things which occurred before she was born and which were known to nobody but the listener.

[Co-host or Guest]

From that time forth, his wife never said another word about the foolishness of spiritualism. Again, laughter in brackets. I have a very sad fact for you.

[Genevieve Mannion]

In this time the 1860s, 43% of children did not live to be 5 years old. If they did live to be 5.

[Co-host or Guest]

Years old, they had only a 60% chance of surviving to childhood and living into adulthood. I think I've mentioned it before, but I certainly would not have made it to age 5. I was always in and out of hospitals when I was little. It really is astounding to think of.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The profundity of grief that people lived with in this time. And I think it very much explains why spiritualism was not only so popular, but in a number of ways it may have even been a means of survival for some people holding onto a.

[Co-host or Guest]

Belief that their darling children and family.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Members were not lost. They will be seen again and can be spoken to right now if they wish. At the very least, it clearly helped people cope.

[Co-host or Guest]

And like in this article, it helped.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Them to laugh as well. Okay, let's now discuss the history and hauntings of the Stanley Hotel. My main references are in a USGhostAdventures.com article and an uncovered Colorado.com article. All of my other references can be found in the show notes. The Stanley Hotel was not officially built in the Victorian era. It straddles the Victorian era in the Edwardian era. In 1907, its construction began, but its original design was in the neoclassical Georgian style that was so popular in the 1800s. It was also built in a similar style to many tuberculosis hospitals. Hospitals of the 1800s for a good reason. It was built as a tuberculosis health retreat for those suffering from consumption. The founder of the Hotel Freelin, Oscar Stanley himself was stricken with tuberculosis, and while visiting the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, he miraculously recovered from the disease. Only 20% of people who developed tuberculosis in the 1800s and early 1900s recovered at all. It was virtually unheard of.

[Co-host or Guest]

He also lived to be 91 years old, bless him.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The dry, cool, fresh Colorado air actually contributed to his recovery. So he decided to build the Stanley hotel as a health retreat for others like him and the well to do.

[Co-host or Guest]

It was a rather upscale hotel.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Incidentally. Stanley also credited the sunshine of the wide open skies of Colorado for his recovery.

[Co-host or Guest]

And indeed, that may have been a.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Contributing factor to his recovery. Vitamin D can be very helpful in.

[Co-host or Guest]

Fighting the disease, of course, along with antimicrobial treatments.

[Genevieve Mannion]

But in his case, it certainly likely did help. As mentioned, the hotel was quite luxurious. It had a palatial structure. It was surrounded by beautiful wilderness. It had electricity, modern bathrooms, and even telephones. There were even steam powered vehicles Stanley called mountain wagons that would take guests from the train depot in the foothills of Lyons, Colorado, up to the hotel and back. When it opened, it was one of only a few hotels in the whole world powered entirely by electricity. And it was doing well until a flood knocked out the power one day in 1911. So an auxiliary gas lighting system was installed in June of that year. Every room had a gas lamp installed. One in particular, installed in room 217, was not installed properly. And if you would follow me into the dining hall of this perfectly stunning Stanley hotel with the cherry beamed ceilings, we have a table reserved over here by the window a ways from that very large entryway and snugly beside this grand fireplace.

[Co-host or Guest]

Even though it's June, it still gets.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Pretty chilly in the evenings.

[Co-host or Guest]

So this fire is exactly what I've been looking forward to all day.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And luckily for us, it's on this side of the hotel.

[Co-host or Guest]

Would you care to order some drinks?

[Genevieve Mannion]

Yes, we'll have an advocate, please.

[Co-host or Guest]

I know it's more of a dessert.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Drink, but it's what Mr. Grady spills.

[Co-host or Guest]

On Jack Nicholson's jacket in the ballroom in the Shining before that incredibly upsetting bathroom scene. Not that upsetting bathroom scene. The one where Mr. Grady tells him.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To kill his family advocate is a.

[Co-host or Guest]

Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar.

[Genevieve Mannion]

And brandy, Similar to like eggnog Rather popular at the moment.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, that was fast.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Cheers, darling. Mmm. That's good. You may want to cover your ears.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, my God. Oh. Oh, I should have seen that coming. I spilled it all down, down the front of me.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Did you get any on you?

[Co-host or Guest]

Good.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Oh. Where's Mr. Grady when you need him? There was just a very serious accident in the hotel. Here, come with me. An explosion.

[Co-host or Guest]

And the woman you saw flying into the dining room from the second floor.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Oh, darling.

[Co-host or Guest]

Is the head chambermaid, Elizabeth Wilson. This way. Out the back of the hotel.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Good God. And I will tell you what just happened.

[Co-host or Guest]

Remember those gas lamps I was just talking about?

[Genevieve Mannion]

The one in room 217 was not installed properly and has been leaking for the last 24 hours. Elizabeth went into the room, she lit a candle and 10 per cent of the hotel was blown to smithereens.

[Co-host or Guest]

But miraculously, even though Elizabeth was indeed catapulted into the dining room from the.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Second floor, the she will survive. She will be in a coma, but she will live. Not only will she live, but she.

[Co-host or Guest]

Will return to work in the hotel in just two years time and stay.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Employed here until her death in 1950. Allegedly. It is said in many sources that she stayed until her death, but I.

[Co-host or Guest]

Couldn'T find her death records or obituary. And apart from her miraculous recovery, there.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Were also no fatalities in that explosion. Thanks. Thank goodness.

[Co-host or Guest]

A guest staying at the hotel, however, said they saw a bathtub blasted into the air during the explosion and no one died. It is an absolute miracle. And all of that was true, by the way. This is not a myth, not a legend.

[Genevieve Mannion]

But let's quickly discuss a few unsubstantiated deaths and myths about the hotel. There's one that a young bride, abandoned and betrayed, threw herself from an upper balcony and her body was quietly removed from the premises.

[Co-host or Guest]

Interestingly, when this myth is told, it has some of the exact markings of.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The myth of the woman falling from the balcony in the Crescent Hotel, which.

[Co-host or Guest]

I discussed just two episodes ago. This is an imported hotel myth. There's nothing to substantiate this. There's a story you may hear on a tour about a heartbroken lover who died by suicide by either poisoning or hanging. That depends on the tour guide. Sometimes this is presented as a lover's pact gone wrong.

[Genevieve Mannion]

There's no evidence for this.

[Co-host or Guest]

The probably most famous myth is that.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The hotel was built on a native burial ground.

[Co-host or Guest]

This has been entirely debunked.

[Genevieve Mannion]

No archaeological or even tribal records confirm this.

[Co-host or Guest]

There's a murder cover up story Specifically that a woman or sometimes chambermaid was.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Murdered in the hotel a long time ago and the Stanley family covered it up to protect the hotel's reputation.

[Co-host or Guest]

There are even more details that her.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Body was hidden before police arrived and her death was erased from the records.

[Co-host or Guest]

There is no evidence to substantiate any of this whatsoever. And fascinatingly, unlike almost every hotel everywhere.

[Genevieve Mannion]

There is not one, not one record of a death happening in the hotel its over 100 year history. However, there were many, many tragic Deaths.

[Co-host or Guest]

In the 1800s and the early 1900s.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Right around where the hotel was built.

[Co-host or Guest]

Especially child deaths and from a myriad of causes. It's bewildering.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The Rocky Mountains in general were a.

[Co-host or Guest]

Very dangerous place for anybody, but especially.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Children in the mid to late 1800s for a number of reasons. Very harsh weather, epidemics, train and stagecoach deaths, limited medical care, mining explosions where.

[Co-host or Guest]

Children were actually working in the mines and killed in the disasters. Graveyards from the time that still even.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Exist today are full of children that barely made it to age 5.

[Co-host or Guest]

The area suffered serious outbreaks of measles.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Scarlet fever, diphtheria and cholera in the late 1800s. So like I said, it wasn't just.

[Co-host or Guest]

Children who were dying in great numbers in the area. Adults did too.

[Genevieve Mannion]

But those diseases were especially fatal for children. Children were often struck by trains during.

[Co-host or Guest]

The railroad expansion in the area. They were poisoned by water wells that were often contaminated by leaking outhouses. Rain and snowmelt also carried sewage down.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Into the same water used for tapping.

[Co-host or Guest]

This quickly spread typhoid and dysentery. Nearby mining would also contaminate wells where with arsenic, lead, mercury and even cyanide.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Which was used for gold extraction.

[Co-host or Guest]

The area was just a living nightmare. It sounds in the late 1800s, not.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Long before the Stanley was built.

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[Co-host or Guest]

Your package couldn't be delivered. You owe thousands in unpaid tolls.

[Genevieve Mannion]

You won a free gift.

[McAfee Advertiser]

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[Genevieve Mannion]

There was also a tragic death in the mountains just behind the Stanley of an amateur mountaineer named Carrie Welton, who was a fairly well known socialite at the time.

[Co-host or Guest]

In 1884, she made a very ill.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Advised autumn ascent of Long's Peak. She employed a man named Carlisle Lamb to aid her in her climbing the very dangerous peak. The day was a beautiful one when they started out, but they were hit by a snowstorm as they approached the peak.

[Co-host or Guest]

The guide pleaded with her to turn.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Back, but she refused. She made it to the summit, but by the time they got there it was 3pm Folks who had made it to the summit in the past, like her guide, had warned her that they needed to reach the summit before noon. Otherwise the way down would be too dangerous in the dark. The steep descent was more difficult than the ascent over the next few hours. It took them two hours to barely cover a mile. It was an eight mile ascent. Carrie was becoming numb and unable to move. Soon she couldn't stand. It was now 10pm and they still had at least five more miles to go. Carlisle had more strength and decided the only thing he could do was leave her and go for help. She agreed. Luckily the storm stopped on his way down and he was able to speed up his ascent.

[Co-host or Guest]

He found others to come help, but by the time they reached her, this.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Is what he said. I came in sight of the tragic spot where Carrie J. Welton lay at rest, having died alone amid the wind's mad revelry and dismal dirge and which was holding high carnival over her body by blowing every section of her garments in its unrelenting fury, seemingly supporting with its victim on demoniacal triumph. I remember with clear distinctness my involuntary expression as I approached the body. I fear, young lady, that you are past saving.

[Co-host or Guest]

End quote. Wow.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Damn it.

[Co-host or Guest]

She had struggled to stand and was.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Found not far from where Carlisle had left her. Fallen over a rock. She had badly bruised her head and wrist. She was lying in a snowbank still wearing a silk snow mask.

[Co-host or Guest]

There were a number of other mountain.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Related deaths just beyond the hotel. So again, there may not have been.

[Co-host or Guest]

Many deaths and tragedies inside the hotel.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To inspire its ghostly reputation. But plenty in and around not long before it opened. By the 1970s, the hotel was a shadow of its original luxurious self. It had fallen into disrepair due to years of neglect.

[Co-host or Guest]

That was until a certain guest decided.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To spend the night. Stephen King stopped in while working on the stand. Stephen said that the hotel was just about to be closed for the the season.

[Co-host or Guest]

It was in fact the very last day of the season that it was open. And by the looks of it, he figured it was probably going to close for good.

[Genevieve Mannion]

All of this gave him an eerie chill about the place.

[Co-host or Guest]

Steven, his wife and his son were.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The only guests staying in the hotel. And they stayed in the infamous room 217. He recalled hearing wind whistling outside his room room in the hallways at night.

[Co-host or Guest]

And he had a very weird nightmare.

[Genevieve Mannion]

He dreamt that one of the old fire hoses in the place uncoiled itself.

[Co-host or Guest]

Came to life and chased his son screaming down the halls of the hotel. He woke up in a cold sweat. He lit a cigarette, stared out the window and by the time he finished the cigarette, he already had the rough.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Outline of the Shining in his his mind.

[Co-host or Guest]

Important note. In the book the Shining, the creepiest room is 217 where he stayed. But in the film, you may recall.

[Genevieve Mannion]

It is room two three seven.

[Co-host or Guest]

This was changed for the film because the hotel management. Now this is strange. Asked that it be changed to prevent people from being too scared to stay in room 217. But I'm sure folks were just too scared to stay in room 237.

[Genevieve Mannion]

It's a rocky explanation to me, but.

[Co-host or Guest]

That'S, that's the one given for the change in room number between the book and the movie. It was primarily after the success of.

[Genevieve Mannion]

The Shining that the hotel not only bounced back again, but became known for its hauntings. Not until the book and the movie.

[Co-host or Guest]

Was it known for any particularly spooky happenings aside from the horrific explosion.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Now does that mean the presumed hauntings are all just in the imaginations of.

[Co-host or Guest]

The guests, guests and employees?

[Genevieve Mannion]

No.

[Co-host or Guest]

I read a funny fact about the.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Crescent Hotel that I talked about two weeks ago.

[Co-host or Guest]

The hotel desperately tried to make excuses.

[Genevieve Mannion]

When ghostly events would occur until they.

[Co-host or Guest]

Realized that folks were actually becoming attracted.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To the hotel after hearing spooky stories.

[Co-host or Guest]

About hauntings from their friends and family. Maybe like the Crescent management didn't really play up the hotel's hauntings until they realized they could probably make some money off of them.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Who can say? So let's discuss the spooky experiences that guests have had in the Stanley Hotel.

[Co-host or Guest]

Stephen King wasn't the only one to.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Experience the creepiness of room 217.

[Co-host or Guest]

It is said that the tortured spirit.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Of a maid resides in the room. Unmarried couples especially wake to a feeling of being pushed apart while they sleep. Sleep. They call this Ghost Lizzie.

[Co-host or Guest]

Unmarried men have claimed to find their luggage outside the door and express a.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Feeling like they are not welcome.

[Co-host or Guest]

Some guests have claimed to see this made in a 30s or 40s style.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Maid uniform walking the halls. The concert hall of the building is believed to be the most haunted location in the building. It is said that in 1995 this part of the hotel was was so run down that the concert hall had a huge hole in the side of it that a woman named Lucy crawled into and used the rundown concert hall as a home until the hotel was bought and sold and then renovations began. In 1996, she was forced out of the concert hall and some say she froze to death outside of the building and haunts it to this day. The door to the hall has been seen to open and close on its own. Whispers of a woman can be heard in the air during paranormal investigations. It's Lucy's ghost that is believed to be messing with the flashlights which flicker when they enter the hall. There are two other ghosts folks say that they've encountered named Paul and Edward.

[Co-host or Guest]

These were, as the story goes, both.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Handymen in the hotel. One is believed to have suffered a heart attack and died on his way to the hospital. It's unclear how the other was believed to have died, but it's believed that Edward's voice can be heard yelling in the concert hall when no one is there and Paul is even less courteous.

[Co-host or Guest]

He makes loud, aggressive banging sounds and tour guides say that he wasn't a.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Fan of people in life and nothing's changed. Stanley's wife Flora is thought to also haunt the hotel she saw suffered a stroke in the Stanley Hotel but didn't die there. She died 10 days later at home. Flora used to play the piano in the hotel. She was very passionate about music and guests and employees have claimed to hear the piano playing when no one is there, especially at night.

[Co-host or Guest]

The piano cover has also reportedly slammed down on the fingers of people trying.

[Genevieve Mannion]

To play it, as if Flora is saying she does not.

[Co-host or Guest]

Now the fourth floor to me is the creepiest one of all because that's.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Where the small children ghosts have been seen. Perhaps some of the many children who died in the area before the hotel was built. Guests leave lollipops for them in their rooms only to find them moved around and placed in hard to reach locations. And Mr. Stanley himself is also thought thought to haunt the hotel, although he did not die there. Guests claim to see his face behind them in mirror reflections in the lobby.

[Co-host or Guest]

And you know what that means if Victorian Halloween mirror scrying rules still apply and you see the disembodied head of.

[Genevieve Mannion]

Freeman Oscar Stanley floating in the air behind you on Halloween night.

[Co-host or Guest]

You may have a new dead 91 year old boyfriend. Congratulations and Happy Halloween.

[Genevieve Mannion]

If you enjoyed this podcast and you would like to hear more, please remember to rate the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Leave me comments because you know I love them so much and join the fan [e-mail] to directly support my show. Listen. Ad free. And for even more creepy and witchy content. Until next time, be kind to yourselves. Happy Halloween and I will see you in your nightmares.