Check out some of the spookiest spots around the Centennial State!
Estes Park
Stanley Hotel
Located in Estes Park is the Stanley Hotel which is home to several spirits. This makes sense when you consider it served as the inspiration for The Shining. Room 217 is believed to be haunted by a maid that was injured in an explosion at the hotel; she didn’t die from her injuries, but she’s still believed to be hanging around. Flora Stanley, wife of the original building/owner, is said to be spotted on the fourth floor.
We stayed at the Stanley in June of 2021 and were able to do a ghost tour while we were there. Stories included phantom footsteps on the fourth floor (where children were often sent to play), the ghost of Flora Stanley playing piano in her music room, and the main staircase which is known as “the vortex,” drawing many of the hotel’s spirits to it.
Aspen
The Red Onion
The Red Onion is said to be home to at least two spirits. The former saloon was said to once house a brothel upstairs, the madame of which was murdered. She’s now seen having drinks around the bar (when the bar was still open that is; the Red Onion is now permanently closed). A man named Billy is also haunting the building after being murdered here in the 1970s by his roommate. He’s been known to leave footprints where people have just mopped.
Hotel Jerome
This hotel is not far from the Red Onion and has at least three spirits roaming its halls.
Katie Kerrigan was a maid who was tricked into going outside in the freezing mountain winter, later dying from pneumonia. She’s said to be the one playing pranks now on guests, messing with the bedsheets and making a mess with soap in the bathroom.
Henry O’Callister was said to have struck silver during the rush but was left broken hearted after the woman he loved was sent back to Boston by her parents as they didn’t believe he was good enough for her. He spent the rest of his days at the hotel and is now seen wandering the halls, crying still has his heart never healed.
An unnamed boy is said to haunt the hotel, leaving wet footprints in his wake. In 1936 a ten year old boy drowned in the hotel’s pool and he’s now trapped wandering the halls.
Denver
Airport
When you get to Denver, the creepiness starts right away. The Denver Airport surrounded by several conspiracy theories, which the airport seems to be leaning into with their construction site! Conspiracy theories include:
The art in the museum contains clues to the airport’s dark history.
There are bunkers underneath the airport which are said to be reserved to the elite for the apocalypse.
The bunkers are home to lizard people and/or aliens.
Oxford Hotel
The Oxford Hotel downtown has been open for 128 years. In that time, two different spirits have taken up residence here. Room 320 is haunted by Florence Montague, who died in a murder-suicide after catching her husband with another woman. The hotel is careful not to put male travelers in that room as she will pull at their sheets, turn the lights on and off and mess with the bathroom sinks.
A postal worker is haunting the martini bar downstairs. He is described as an “old time postman” who worries about getting Christmas gifts delivered in time. He always orders a beer and will be seen drinking it; he’ll vanish though and the beer is seen to be full again.
Union Station
Union Station is haunted by a lost traveler, a man that is believed to have died while he was passing through the area. He’s often seen wandering the station as he looks for what train he needs to get onto before vanishing all together.
Brown Palace Hotel
The Brown Palace Hotel was opened in 1892. The main dining room is haunted by a string quartet that is still practicing, often heard by employees late at night. They were once reported as saying, “Don’t worry about us, we live here.” On the same note as the quartet in the dining room, a waiter is seen moving about the halls before taking a service elevator.
There are spirits that are only heard here as well. Children are heard running through the halls and a baby is heard crying as well.
As with most haunted hotels, there is usually a ghostly resident mourning a broken heart. Louise Hill is that for the Brown Palace, having lived in room 904 for 15 years. During a tour of the hotel there were calls coming in from room 904. Two problems with that. One, there weren’t any visitors in that room. And two, the room was being renovated so there was no active phone line anyway.
Molly Brown House
Maybe you’ve heard of Margaret “Molly” Brown before when you learned about the Titanic. Did you know her home was in Denver? She lived here with her husband JJ. The home is now a museum, with guests often reporting the smell of pipe smoke, which was JJ’s favorite. The lights are often going out, not because the lightbulbs are bad but because they are being unscrewed by someone.
Molly, or someone else as the sightings never specify who, doesn’t seem to like how the museum has her furniture arranged. A woman “wearing Victorian dress” is spotted moving the furniture around to her liking. Maybe they should leave it how she wants it?
The couple is seen roaming the homes and the classic “cold spots” that note the presence of spirits are felt around the home.
Photo Prints
October All Year 