Mick Jacobs

Creepy hotel incidents happen with such frequency that entire movies and TV series, from The Shining to American Horror Story, base their scares around haunted hotels.

With their vast size, long, empty hallways, and sometimes sordid histories, spooky hotels make for excellent sources of paranormal and creepy activity. Rattling doorknobs, unexplained noises, and unsettled guests appear frequently in scary stories from hotels, often overshadowing people’s memories of vacation. After all, how can you recall your wonderful ski excursion when the room you stayed in scared you more than the steepest of slopes?

Even hotel workers get spooked by their places of employment, though most look like they’ve at least come to an understanding with their “permanent” guests. Honestly, many would rather deal with the occasional ghost than the gross stuff you leave in your hotel rooms.

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• Back From The War, Back From The Dead

From SJB95:

“A friend’s grandfather either worked in or owned a hotel at some point. The building was hundreds of years old, dating back to the English Civil War. The story goes that he was cleaning up in the dining room and he saw three men in armor charging at him with weapons; being ‘ghosts’ they just ran through him, but apparently he was left feeling physically ill afterwards having come into contact with the apparition.

“Friend’s grandfather called a medium to come check the place out and she freaked out at the nature of the supposed presence in the hotel. If I remember correctly, they found through later research that there had been some murder committed by three soldiers in the building during the Civil War.

“Not much of a believer in that kind of stuff, but I definitely like a good ghost story.”

• Seeing The Red Lady

From MikeOxbigg:

“I worked in a hotel that was supposedly haunted by ‘The Red Lady’ who was an actress that committed suicide in our building back in the day. We had a security guard quit on day one after he allegedly saw her.

“My first month in the job, we were short-staffed so I was delivering guest folios and using the access stairwell. A lady in a red dress and red heels with movie star hair and classic good looks walked into the access stairwell one flight down from me and didn’t even glance my way, just kept walking down. I was about to sh*t. She didn’t acknowledge me at all until she made it down about three flights and looked up at me. Dead in the f*cking eyes.

“She said, ‘Where are the vending machines?'”

• A Waking Nightmare

From Scrappy_Larue:

“I’ve stayed in a couple of them just by chance, and nothing unusual happens.

The most recent was the Clown Motel in the middle of the Nevada desert. It even shares the parking lot with an old, spooky cemetery. The most disturbing thing was no coffee maker in the room.”

• A Presence Was Felt, But It Never Felt Threatening

From backwardsinheels:

“I worked housekeeping in a chain hotel.

“There was one room at the end of the hall where things would happen while you were working on it, and the same two things every time. Sometimes the faucet would start running. Not full blast or anything, but turned on enough to be running steadily. A half-turn of the knob I’d say. I’d be in the other room and suddenly hear water gurgling down the drain. Sometimes I’d be working on the tub and hear it on behind me. Whoever/whatever would also turn on the TV. I’ll never forget being warned on my first day that things would happen in the room, and then while making a bed and rustling the sheets noisily – suddenly aware I was hearing muffled voices and seeing the TV was on. I’m getting chills thinking back on those moments. Whatever part of the room your back was to, it felt like someone was there. I got the feeling they didn’t want to be in the way, but they wanted to be there with you.

“One thing we all felt throughout the staff: none of us felt threatened . . . none of us felt like it was a bad person or someone who was trying to frighten us. We all felt overwhelmingly like it was someone trying to reach out. It had limited ways, and was lonely. Sometimes I’d say hello, sometimes I’d say sorry, because I felt like if they were frustrated trying to tell me something. I’d want them to know I felt for them.

“I realize I sound crazy but it happened super regularly and was witnessed by a lot of people. I thought a lot about whoever it could be. The hotel has since been bought by a college and was turned into dorms. I hope having people staying in the room more steadily will be a good thing for whoever that spirit was. Maybe they felt less lonely with students actually living there than a revolving door of hotel guests.”

• A Party In The Bedroom (Not ~That~ Kind)

From Sandbargirl:

“Not me but a friend who is a pilot.

“She stayed at an older hotel downtown Chicago and was studying for her recurrent class which was in a few weeks. While at the desk, deep in thought, she heard people talking and laughing.

When she looked up, it got quiet. She said it sounded like it was in the room with her and went back to studying. The noise started off softly and then again sounded like a party was going on in her room. She got up and looked around and there was silence. There were no sounds coming from any rooms; no televisions on, no radios, no people in the hallway – the noise was definitely in her room. That night around 2 AM, she was in bed and felt someone brush strands of hair from her forehead and tuck it behind her ear. She jumped up and turned on the light and there was no one there. She didn’t get back to sleep and bid around that overnight so she wouldn’t be in that hotel again.”

• Don’t Be Chicken

From NejKidd:

“I used to work at a ‘haunted’ hotel and camping ground. The place was built as an old-fashioned manor house and grounds, so it had this long winding drive, stables, summer house and various other assorted outhouses that Victorian Country Men needed.

“Where they’d built the camp reception was in the bottom of the valley in this clearing. To one side was a pet cemetery of the old house’s children. Spanning about three generations of the family, these people had some weird pets: a couple dogs, cats, a huge amount of chickens, ferrets, and a cow. They were all buried in this little patch of ground which the company decided to keep as it was because it was quaint.

“Anyhow, the receptionists often had customers checking in asking ‘What’s with all the chickens running around? We nearly ran some over coming down the drive!’ We were never allowed to tell them the chickens weren’t actually there because management said we’d scare people away.

“There were plenty other places on the site which were haunted, but that one always made me giggle.”

• Can’t Spell ‘Ghost’ Without ‘Host’

From smittenkitten97:

“I stayed at the Driskill in Austin, not knowing it was haunted until we got there. Apparently it’s a big deal to ghost hunters and stuff though.

“As we were leaving our room to check out, all the lights flickered in the hallway then went out. My boyfriend then remembered he’d forgotten one bag of luggage in the room.

“That was it. No spooky ghosts, just ghosts reminding us to grab our carry on.”

• Special Of The Day: Ghosts

From i_smoke_a_lot:

“I was a server at a restaurant that used to be a hotel, does that count? It was said to be haunted by all kinds of things. My second day of training (and before I learned about the rumors), I saw a little girl about three or four-years-old pop her head out of a cupboard below the bar and look around. I turned my head toward her to tell her to get out of there, but – here comes the cliché – she was gone!

“Once, I walked into the kitchen and two of my friends were standing in front of a pile of shattered glass, jaws dropped and faces pale. Dropping a glass in a restaurant happens daily; no one reacts like that. I asked what was wrong and they sort of babbled together that the glass threw itself off of the counter, and they watched it happen. I ain’t seen that sh*t, so idk personally. But I trust those two and they’re great friends, so I believe them.”

• His Ghostly Girlfriend

From theseus12347:

“When my family was staying in the Silver Queen Hotel in Virginia City, there were a lot of stories told about this ghost harlot who couldn’t find true love in her life, so she kept searching after death. I was sharing a room with my older brother, who’s always the first to sleep and last to wake up, so I know he wasn’t able to be tricking me. Nobody else had a room key, so I know it wasn’t any of my other siblings doing anything. The room we were staying in had one bed, so he slept on a travel cot. He didn’t have a blanket since the bed only had one, but it was warm so he didn’t mind. He woke up not too long after I did one morning and started freaking out. His jacket was over him like a blanket and he was fully tucked in, and it looked like whoever did it did it with care.

To this day we joke around about his ghost girlfriend.”

• Flying Rocks And Breathing Walls

From notobiko:

“I used to stay in the Minor’s Cabin at least once a year with some friends. We had a lot of weird sh*t happen there.

“One of the creepiest experiences I witnessed was when rocks were appearing in the cabin and being thrown from one side to the other.

“Creepiest thing I didn’t personally witness was one of my friends waking up to see a hole in the wall next to the bed that looked like it was breathing.

“Virginia City is creepy AF all over, and that’s why I love it so much.

“I was ecstatic the year the Washoe Club was reopened to the public.”

16 Employees Share Their Bone-Chilling Stories From Working In Remote Places, And We Are Creeped Out

• Lizzie Borden Lives!

From wisniear:

“I stayed at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in April 2016. After our grand tour of the place, all of the guests were encouraged to explore the house and take pictures and whatnot. Well, my friend and I decided to hang out in the parlor (aka where Lizzie Borden’s father was axed to death) and ask our tour guide more questions. As we were hanging out on the floor in a circle, the door to the dining room starts violently shaking. One of the other guests whispers, ‘I wonder if Mr. Borden is pissed we’re lounging around his death site?’ and the door immediately stops shaking.

“Now, I don’t really know if I believe in ghosts but I do know that I def took a Xanax that night to knock me the f*ck out.”

• Giggles And Tiny Footsteps

From a deleted user:

“I stayed in the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee, AZ. It has a number of fairly infamous hauntings. Usually people report seeing women in 1900s-era dresses and miners and a little boy who supposedly drowned in a nearby stream.

“I was always fascinated with the paranormal growing up but never really completely believed in ghosts (even now, my belief is TBD one way or the other). My mom threw herself into the interest head-first as well but she put a significant amount of trust in the hoax-y TV shows like Ghost Adventures and whatnot. I was moving out to AZ for college and before they dropped me at the dorms for my freshman year, my parents wanted to do an AZ tour. My mother begged for us to stay at the Copper Queen since it’s been the focus of many a ghost hunting show. She downloaded a stupid hunting app too that ‘allowed ghosts to use their electromagnetic energy to choose words in the app and speak to you.’ Obviously it was a random word generator.

“The Copper Queen was gorgeous, really well-maintained and antiquated. My mom immediately took my dad by the arm, ghost app pulled up, and dragged him to the bar/lounge area to look for ghosts. I took our bags upstairs and began unpacking. Okay, here’s the weirdness.

“As I unpacked between the two beds, I suddenly felt little tiny footsteps in the floor coming from the other side of my parents’ bed. I stopped and listened. Then I heard the footsteps coming closer and felt them stop directly in front of the gap between the two beds where I stood. My heart was racing like crazy and I was frozen in place. I finally gathered up the nerve to ask whatever it was,

‘Are you there?’ I was embarrassed the moment it came out of my mouth because it may very well have been a kid out in the hallway.

“I sh*t you not, guys, I heard a giggle. Something was giggling right in front of me. It was clear as day and sounded so close I thought I could touch the source. Then it stopped and the little footsteps ran around to the other side of my bed, it giggled and disappeared.

“I immediately ran out of the room into the hallway to look around and find a kid somewhere. But it was empty. My parents were just arriving to the room, as well. I asked them if they saw any kids running around by the elevators or stairs. They said no. I barely slept that night.”

• Invisible Pranksters

From cwn8970:

“Girlfriend and I stayed in room 14 at the Historic Jefferson Hotel in Jefferson, TX just for fun. She always wanted to stay in a haunted hotel so I obliged.

“Around 2 AM I was abruptly woken by what seemed to be some drunk walking down the hall scratching the wall and rattling all the doorknobs as they were passed. Even saw the shadow under my door of what I believed to be someone walking past without stopping as our door knob rattled.

“Got up, opened the door to have a word with the prankster/jacka**. However, no one in the hall way at all. Yet the scratching sound of the wall and rattling of door knobs on my side continued farther down the hall away from me one after the other.

“Forced myself back asleep and then woke up about 3 AM for unknown reason. Just felt like someone was in the room, in the dark, standing and watching me/us. I just laid there, eyes open, refused to roll over and look. Laid there for what seemed to be an eternity until the feeling went away. Next thing you know it was dawn.

“Girlfriend experienced none of it. She slept through the whole thing. Oddest experience of my life so far.”

• Footsteps With No Owner

From johnwalkersbeard:

“I worked at the Wallowa Lake Lodge in the early ,90s. I was front desk clerk for graveyard shift so work consisted of me mostly just doing lots of laundry. (I can now fold a fitted sheet perfectly like when you first buy it)

“I was told ‘if you hear a customer walking around make sure they have what they need: tea, snacks, a fire.’

“I’d hear footsteps from the basement stomping around upstairs in the front room, so I would go upstairs, and no one was there. This happened dozens of times. Eventually I just decided if I kept going upstairs every time I heard footsteps I’d never get any work done. So I’d just ignore it.

“Well, one night I heard the front door ringer go off. Less common but still common and probably just the ‘friends.’ Then footsteps. Same ol’ same ol’ no big deal.

“But then the footsteps turned the corner. They approached the door to the basement. The creaky cellar door slowly opened.

“My butthole clenched. I approached the stairwell slowly. Peered around the corner. I saw a face.

“I said ‘AAAAHHHHHH!!’ and the guest who arrived late said ‘AAAAAAHHHHH!!’ so I said ‘AAAAAAHHHHH!!’ again. Then as she’s panting I collected myself and said ‘I’m sorry, ma’am. Are you checking in? Do you have a reservation?’

“Oops.

“Another time while walking out of the kitchen I saw a little girl in a powder blue dress at the edge of the dining room. I said ‘Hi sweetie, do you need something?’

“She ran up the stairs to the rooms. I don’t know why but I took off after her.

“The guest doors were all loud. I got upstairs. No girl. No door closing noise. Every door closed. F*cking creepy.”

• Scares In The Stall

From Cannibal808:

“I work in a haunted hotel. Have plenty of co-workers share stories of stuff they’ve seen but I’ve personally only had one incident.

“I am working late, just past midnight, when I have to go to the bathroom. This bathroom I’m using is in a public area, and is fairly large. Standard men’s bathroom in that it has both stand-up and sit-down stalls. So I go in and I’m the only one present. It’s quiet, and I walk to the stand up stalls and start to go.

“As I’m going, I hear a knocking sound (very fast paced like someone rapping with their knuckles) coming from behind me and over my shoulder. I look and I see the door for the handicap sit-down stall is vibrating, which is what is making the knocking sound. It’s moving like if someone had locked it from the inside and was bouncing it off the lock and the outer doorstop.

“I’m still pissing, mind you, and I get overcome with chills. But I finish up and it still is making that noise. I think that it could possibly be a coworker playing a prank, so I laugh and say ‘very funny’ and it immediately stops. So I walk over expecting the door to be locked with a coworker inside, so I knock. And the door swings wide open with no one inside. I get overcome with chills again and just run out.

“There is no way the door could’ve made that noise without being locked. Anyways, I still use that particular bathroom, but never late at night. Freaked me out good and proper.”

• A Couple Of Ghosts

From justnodalong:

“A drunk couple disappeared in a meeting room late at night. I went to tell them to go to their room. No one. What’s more, the room had an eerie cold feeling. I decided I must’ve been mistaken and left.

“A few minutes later the same couple ran out of there. I asked them what happened and they didn’t answer. I heard a scream though as they ran out of the front door. Maybe they stepped into hell?

To this day I have no explanation.”

• Spectres On The Staircase

From vilejester33:

“I visited a hotel that had a very large spiral staircase. Usually it had a lot of people walking along it and taking pictures during the day but when I went down it there were very few people.

“At around the halfway point I looked down at the other side and saw a tall, pale man dressed in black slowly ascending. His face was so pale it looked like he was wearing makeup. His body and head barely moved while he walking, almost like he was in some kind of trance. It was really freaky walking down and constantly looking over to see this guy getting closer and closer. Eventually we passed and he just smiled and kept walking.”

• Getting In The ‘Ghost Room’

From queenofcambodia:

“So I’ve posted about our ghost a few times.

“Lately she’s been pretty quiet or our living customers have been so turned up that even the GhostGuest doesn’t wanna mess with them. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still have her fun here and there.

“We have these ladies that work for some kind of schooling/public works program and they do a lot of training in our area. So some of them stay with us every other month and most of them have their favorite rooms and some rooms they don’t like. One of these ladies showed up as part of their group tonight and she asked to be on the Ghost’s floor. So I start selecting a room and she stops me and says, ‘But I don’t want to stay in that back hallway. No way, never again.’

“Me: Ma’am I’m sorry was there something wrong with your room last time?

“Teacher Lady: No but she don’t like me at all. You know who I mean.

“Me: Wait, what room were you in?

“The Teacher Lady gave me a room number that was not exactly the Ghost Room. It was the connector to the Ghost Room though; if you wanted to rent that room and the Ghost Room you can swing a door open between the two and sort of have a suite. I definitely raised my eyebrows because I have this theory that the person responsible for our Ghost Guest becoming a forever resident entered the Ghost Room through those connecting doors. Teacher Lady then said ‘I know it’s not the room but SHE was in there and never again.’

“Me: Actually I do know what you’re talking about. She’s generally harmless, a little annoying but harmless usually.

“Teacher Lady: Last time she jumped on my chest and tries to strangle me. I’ll never stay back there again.

“The Teacher Lady did not look like she was joking so I gave her a room closer to the front; the friend that she traveled with was supposed to have a room of her own but after listening to all of this decided she wanted to share the 2Q room that Teacher Lady was staying in, so I canceled her reservation and those two went off to their ghost-free room.

“Later the Teacher Lady came back down and said ‘You must think I’m crazy. But that girl she can not rest. She’s angry. She’s getting angrier. This is what I felt in that room. You must think I’m crazy.’

“Me: Actually ma’am I believe you. You’re not the first woman in those rooms to ask to be moved or to complain about something feeling off about the room. I don’t think you’re crazy, I don’t really like going up there either.

“The Teacher Lady: Someone needs to find who killed that poor girl.

“And then the Teacher Lady made the sign of the cross, took a cookie, and went back up to her room.

“Man mother eff the top floor.”

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