Evelyn Kanter Eco Report

Halloween has us all pre-occupied with scary ghosts, goblins, zombies, and other things that go bump in the night.  Here are some historic USA hotels said to be haunted, but only with friendly ghosts, nobody scary or malevolent, like the ones in Hollywood movies like The Shining.  

Have you ever slept in a haunted hotel, or haunted hotel room?  I have.  It was the medieval castle of Meldrum, on the beautiful moors of northern Scotland.  I was in the room that had belonged to  the daughter of the lord of the manor some time in the 1700s, who committed suicide when daddy ended her romance with the stable boy.  Story sound familiar?  It inspired the classic Emily Bronte story Wuthering Heights, which inspired the classic 1930s movie of the same name, starring Sir Lawrence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as the doomed Cathy.  Her ghost is said to sit by the table at the window in her former room, looking for a glimpse of her beloved.  Even though she’s a friendly ghost,  I slept with the bedside light on.

The Stanley  Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado –  The Stanley Hotel was known for its architecture, magnificent setting and famous visitors before its inspirational role in Stephen King’s novel, The Shining and the 1980 movie of the same name  starring Jack Nicholson at his most sinister.  The hotel has been featured as one of America’s most haunted hotels and with the numerous stories from visitors and staff, The Stanley Hotel continues to “shine” today, as it did in 1909 when first opened.  There are scheduled ghost hunts bringing travelers through some of the hotel’s attractions in search of their own ghostly experience.

The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California — Rich in history, The Queen Mary  is renowned as the grandest ocean liner ever built, counting Winston Churchill, Clark Gable and Greta Garbo among her guests.  Since her maiden voyage in 1936 (shown here), the ship has served as a luxury passenger ocean liner, a troopship in World War Two, and now a historic hotel.  It is rumored that some 55 ghosts remain aboard The Queen Mary, including a young girl named Jackie, who has been known to take a swim in the pool every now and then, instead of swimming with the sharks and dolphins at the sprawling Long Beach Aquarium a few minutes walk from The Queen Mary.

Read about these other haunted US hotels on the next page –

• 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
• Napa River Inn, Napa, California
• Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Jekyll Island, Georgia
• Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans
• The Heathman Hotel, Portland, Oregon
• The Menger Hotel, San Antonio, Texas