3. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, was the inspiration for The Shining
Stephen King’s The Shining was inspired by a stay at the Stanley Hotel, located in Estes Park, Colorado. The Stanley was opened in 1909 by a husband and wife of that name. The husband was Freelan Oscar Stanley, who went by the initials FO and was wealthy as a result of his development and sale of an early automobile, known as the Stanley Steamer. The hotel was built with the expressed purpose of attracting upper class clientele, and no expense was spared in providing luxury and opulence in both the private rooms and the hotel’s public rooms. FO and his wife are both credited, if that is the word, with haunting the more than a century old hotel, a reputation the site acquired after it inspired The Shining, but which was non-existent before the novel and film.
Nonetheless, ghost hunters, paranormal specialists, and simple guests have reported extensive ghostly activities on the premises, including hearing a piano being played (reportedly by Mrs. Stanley), apparitions in public and private rooms, sounds of crying, sounds of laughter, and other unexplained activities. The Stanley Hotel capitalizes on its reputation as a haunted site through press releases and on its website, and there are countless residents of the hotel who have reported strange and eerie encounters within its halls and rooms. Unlike the fictional hotel of The Shining, the Stanley remains open year round and in the twenty-first century offers condominiums for permanent residents who aren’t afraid of meeting Mr. Stanley, who reportedly appears in photographs from time to time.