The Real-Life “Shining” Hotel
The Real-Life “Shining” Hotel Though its story remains lesser-known, the hotel that inspired The Shining is just as chilling as its fictional counterpart. Long before his stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado prompted author Stephen King to write The Shining, this Rocky Mountain lodge was leaving its visitors terrified. Seen here under construction in the early 1900s, the hotel was home to an unexplained explosion in 1911 that left a chambermaid maimed. She returned to work, but after her death years later, guests reported seeing her ghost stalk the halls, especially the scene of the incident in Room 217. This was the exact room where King spent his fateful and terrifying night at the Stanley in October 1974. The Haunted History Behind The Shining's Stanley Hotel Wikimedia Commons BY DANIELLE RYAN/UPDATED: JULY 13, 2022 10:42 AM EST While fans of Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining" might have a love for the fictional Overlook H...