My mom, my sister, and I took an awesome girls’ weekend to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. First of all, I don’t know how they built that town, because it’s literally perched on a mountain with streets that are nearly straight up and down. Driving through the skinny, switchback streets I definitely prayed to the god of effective brakes.
We stayed at “the most haunted hotel in America,” The Crescent Hotel, which has gotten publicity in recent years from paranormal investigation shows like TAPS. The building is beautiful yet creepy, a la the hotel from the movie The Shining.
The Crescent opened in the late 1800s as a lavish resort for VIPS in the Midwest. As the years passed, it served as a college for young women. Then as a “cancer-curing” hospital which pulled in millions of dollars in just three short years in the 1930s. (Many of the ghosts probably came from Dr. Baker’s failed attempts to save people with his “miracle cure”).
The Crescent Ghost Tour (well worth the twenty bucks per person) gets you a good historical account of the hotel with plenty of ghost stories and even some demonstrations (ghost photos, paranormal video evidence, and a beeping ghost meter).
Creepy Carving on Fireplace at The Crescent
The most haunted room, 218, gets visits from Michael, an Irish mason who helped build the hotel. Supposedly, he fell to his death during construction in the area outside the door to 218. Michael likes the ladies and will sometimes touch them while they sleep–or push men out of bed (Ha!). Here I am with my pregnant self, wearing my rosary for spiritual protection and posing by the famous spot.
Does Michael still haunt here?
We did not stay in 218, but did stay down the hall where my mother heard a rhythmic thudding in the hallway right outside our door. When the hotel was a women’s college, the dean’s young boy fell fatally ill and sometimes he’ll bounce his ball down the hallway.
Room 3500 seems the creepiest to me–especially after seeing the picture that our guide provided. A woman will stand at the foot of your bed and stare at you, but most times only women can see her. So if your hubby’s in bed with you, he may think you’re crazy.
Room 419 is Theodora’s space. She was a tiny woman (we’re talking four feet tall) who worked at The Crescent and when you stay in her room, make sure to clean up after yourself…or she will. Some guests report that they’ll come back to their room after being out for the day and find their bags packed by the door.
Orb of Morris the Cat?
After the ghost tour, I decided to take some pictures of my sister who was petting one of the two resident cats. But there is also a resident ghost cat, Morris, whose framed picture hangs above this couch. I got this cool orb that I am quite proud of. Plus, in the making of this post, every time I viewed the picture it was positioned correctly. But each time I downloaded it, it showed up rotated! I’ll take it to mean that the ghosts approve of this post.
Originally posted on www.camillefaye.com.
Read more about my haunting experiences at America’s most haunted house, The Myrtles Plantation, and in haunted New Orleans.
Camille Faye | Author of Voodoo Butterfly
Experience love, purpose, and the paranormal in New Orleans.
*Originally posted on The Literary Ladies Blog
*Photos courtesy of Nic Walker from Flickr Creative Commons
