Climb every mountain! Forge every stream! Follow Thursday Thrillers! This week's dreams are Temple of Vampires #12, Radio Icebox: Fogbound & Down and The Three Musketeers- Chapter 61!

Nothing beats staying in a hotel whose suites hold some stories — especially if they’re of the spooky variety. The same friends who roll their eyes at mentions of luxury amenities and amazing views will be wide-eyed when you tell them about the ghost you accidentally ate breakfast with, the wailings you heard on your way to the icebox, or your run-in with an uncanny Victorian woman wearing all black. Booking a room at a regular old hotel will give you a few nice photos and a comfy robe; booking a room at a _haunted_ one will give you tales of terror to tell for the rest of your life. At these hotels, lodges, inns, and resorts around the world, the supernatural is embraced and the unsettling is celebrated. Unexplained occurrences are simply part of the experience, and those with a healthy level of morbid curiosity will find no shortage of places to explore. Here, dark lore is hidden in every nook and cranny: a quack doctor’s treatment room, geothermal soaking pools, an old-school saloon, and a clown statue collection. Look over your shoulder and you might spot a glowing orb, a sopping-wet child, or a murderous outlaw. No matter where on this list you choose to book your stay, get ready to expect the unexpected. Prices shown are approximate starting rates for a standard double room per night, based on rates current as of September 2026. Rates vary significantly by season — expect higher prices in October. USD figures for non-US properties are approximate conversions. * * * Hotel | From / night | Ghost Tours | Notes ---|---|---|--- The Marshall House Savannah, Georgia, USA | ~$221 | Yes | Nightly social hour, sometimes with live entertainment. themarshallhouse.com The 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA | ~$170 + $21.72/night resort fee | Yes | Daily ghost tours + midnight ESP investigations. Autopsy table in basement. crescent-hotel.com The Drovers Inn Argyll & Bute, Scotland | ~£90 (~$115) Includes breakfast | On request | Standard rooms have shared bathrooms. En-suite and Lodge rooms available. Dog friendly. droversinn.co.uk Hotel Alex Johnson Rapid City, South Dakota, USA | ~$87 + $5.99/night destination fee | Yes | Ghost adventure package (haunted room + detector + $25 dining credit). Valet $28.95/day. alexjohnson.com The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs La Grande, Oregon, USA | ~$100 | No | Books via Airbnb. 24-hour access to hot springs soaking tubs. Guests must be 12+. No pets. Gran Hotel Bolivar Lima, Peru | ~$85 Breakfast included | No | No pets. Cash payments over $500 USD not accepted by Peruvian law. granhotelbolivar.com.pe St. James Hotel Cimarron, New Mexico, USA | ~$115 | On request | No A/C or TVs in historic rooms. Annex rooms have modern amenities. Book direct: (575) 376-2664. exstjames.com The Mermaid Inn Rye, East Sussex, England | ~£215 (~$270) Includes breakfast | On request | Pet friendly (£5/night, prior arrangement). No parking on site. mermaidinn.com Hotel del Coronado Coronado, California, USA | ~$350 Resort fee applies | Yes | Directly on the beach. National Historic Landmark. hoteldel.com Clown Motel Tonopah, Nevada, USA | ~$85 | Yes | Paranormal investigations available. Next door to Old Tonopah Cemetery. theclownmotelusa.com The Mizpah Hotel Tonopah, Nevada, USA | ~$135 | Yes | Ghost tours + guided cemetery walk. Short walk from the Clown Motel. themizpahhotel.com The Stanley Hotel Estes Park, Colorado, USA | ~$239 Haunted rooms from ~$359 | Yes | Multiple tours year-round: classic, Shining, Halloween, and Frozen Dead Guy tours. No A/C in historic rooms. stanleyhotel.com **Pricing note:** All rates are approximate starting prices for a standard double room, verified September 2026. Rates fluctuate significantly by season — October is the busiest and most expensive month at all of these properties. UK properties are priced in British pounds (£); USD equivalents are approximate. The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs books via Airbnb. Always confirm rates and availability directly with the property before booking. ### 1. The Marshall House - Savannah, Georgia Savannah has long been known for its thriving ghost population, many of whom have taken up residence at the city’s oldest hotel. Established in 1851 by Mary Magdalene Marshall, the building has played many roles: a makeshift hospital during the mid-19th-century yellow fever epidemic, a Union hospital near the end of the Civil War, and a temporary home to Joel Chandler Harris, creator of Uncle Remus, during the Reconstruction era. It’s no wonder then that guests frequently report odd activity in the hotel’s period-detailed rooms and cozy library. Common occurrences include the sound of children running down the halls at night, strange figures spotted in the foyers, doorknobs rattling, and faucets turning on on their own. Many Savannah ghost tours stop outside the hotel, but nothing beats drinking spirits amongst the spirits during the nightly social hour (sometimes with live entertainment!). ### 2. The 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa - Eureka Springs, Arkansas For a long time, the Crescent Hotel seemed cursed: Just before it opened, in 1886, a stonemason working on the structure fell to his death and later, in the early 20th-century, a young woman may or may not have been pushed out of a top floor window. Eventually, the hotel landed in the hands of Norman Baker, a quack doctor who “treated” his mental patients using inhumane methods. (He was eventually arrested but only after plenty of damage was already done.) Needless to say, there are numerous rumors that now swirl around the hotel, with many visitors spotting doctors, nurses, and patients from the hospital roaming the corridors. Room 218, where the stonemason met his end, is considered the most haunted spot in the hotel, but most anywhere you venture you’ll find mysteries galore. The staff leads daily ghost tours — including a look at Baker’s old autopsy table in the basement — and there are even midnight ESP investigations for especially fearless guests. ### 3. The Drovers Inn - Argyll and Bute, Scotland This rural Scottish inn on the edge of Loch Lomond is home to a colorful cast of spirits, including an entire family. Legend has it that this family got lost in the snow while looking for shelter, all of them freezing to death in the night. Now, in death, they’ve finally gotten their wish of a place to stay in room two at the inn. Meanwhile, down the hall in room six lives a little girl who supposedly drowned in the river behind the building. Guests staying in her room have, on occasion, seen her small figure dripping in water and have even felt her in the bed beside them. Last but not least, there’s Angus: a young cattle drover who was murdered by members of a rival clan and now screams in pain as he wanders the property for eternity. After you’ve greeted the ghosts, make sure to grab a pint from the inn’s bar and restaurant, where taxidermy animals, old china dishes, and exposed wooden beams transport you back in time. The most daring guests of all will not shy away from a heaping plate of haggis or a hefty helping of mince and tatties. ### 4. Hotel Alex Johnson - Rapid City, South Dakota Railroad tycoon Alex Johnson built this hotel in 1927 to attract high society to Mount Rushmore, the West’s newest tourist trap. Though he passed away in 1938, his dream came true: Over the years, the hotel hosted six U.S. presidents and even served as a temporary home for Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant during the filming of “North by Northwest.” It’s a testament to the grandeur of Hotel Alex Johnson that none of its famous guests were deterred by its more mysterious elements, i.e., the Lady in White who haunts the eighth floor. This bride supposedly jumped to her death while staying at the hotel on her wedding night, and now, guests wake up to her opening their windows and dresser drawers. If you don’t see the Lady in White, you might instead spot John himself, who still keeps an eye on day-to-day business with his young daughter by his side. For amateur ghost hunters, the hotel offers a ghost adventure package that includes lodging in a haunted room, a ghost detector, and other, less-haunted perks like a $25 dining credit and free valet parking. ### 5. The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs - La Grande, Oregon Everything was going swimmingly for this hot springs resort until, in 1934, a raging fire destroyed half the building and put it out of business. In the years after, the space was used as a nurse’s training school, a retirement home, a restaurant, and an insane asylum; however, in 1991, it was entirely abandoned and left to the elements. During this 15-year offseason, many a story started to spread about The Lodge, such as it being haunted by (among others) a gardener who committed suicide on the property, a nurse who perished in the lake, and a number of asylum inmates. So dark did this once-grand establishment’s reputation become that it appeared on the ABC series “The Scariest Places on Earth” in 2001. Two years later, new owners cleaned up the building and reopened it to the public as a spa and B&B with geothermal soaking pools, a bar and restaurant, and a 60-seat movie theater. The Lodge is a bit reticent to discuss its dicey past, but guests still report odd figures in windows, random screams, and a piano playing itself. ### 6. Gran Hotel Bolivar - Lima, Peru In its heyday, Gran Hotel Bolivar was the swankiest place to stay in all of Lima, welcoming politicians, artists, Hollywood stars, and rock legends. The Rolling Stones spent the night here (before being kicked out for poor behavior), while Ava Gardner once danced barefoot in the bar. Charles de Gaulle, Orson Welles, and Ernest Hemingway are just a few of the hotel’s many other renowned guests. However, by the time it was declared a national landmark in 1972, Gran Hotel was on the decline; new, modern hotels pulled away business and its sketchy owner fled the country, leaving financial ruin in his wake. It was around this same time that ghost stories started to emerge, with “insiders” claiming that the hotel’s fifth and sixth floors were closed not (as reported) for financial reasons but because they were severely haunted by former guests and employees. Even on the floors that are still operational, ghosts have been said to turn on and off the coffeemakers, radios, and televisions. ### 7. St. James Hotel - Cimarron, New Mexico Back in the day, as Americans journeyed out west, this hotel offered weary travelers a place to rest their heads (and get a cold drink). Many outlaws like Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Buffalo Bill Cody stopped here on their way down the Santa Fe Trail, and thus (unsurprisingly), the inn became known for its frequent murders. (Supposedly, “Wonder who got killed at Lambert’s place this weekend?” was a common question around Cimarron.) With the exception of a modern annex, the hotel still looks much like it did in the days when drinking, gambling, and guns were the norm, with a creaky wooden staircase, deer antlers on the walls, and a big stone fireplace in the dining room. There’s only one bedroom that guests are unable to book: room 18, where T.J. Wright, infamous ne’er-do-well and onetime owner of the hotel, was killed by an unknown gunman. Doomed to the room for eternity, he does not take too kindly to visitors. ### 8. The Mermaid Inn - Rye, England With more than 600 years of history under its belt, it’s easy to see why this quaint inn is one of the world’s most haunted places to stay. Factor in that it was built shortly after French raiders burned all of Rye to the ground, and it’s no wonder there are some restless souls lingering around. The cellars beneath the inn date back all the way to the 12th century, and the secret tunnels connecting them were once used by smugglers from the notorious Hawkhurst Gang. In fact, many folks believe that members of the gang still use the tunnels today, even roaming upstairs to visit guests from time to time. The inn’s 31 rooms are all named after notable people from either Rye’s or the inn’s history, and a handful of them are also said to be haunted. Among the resident spirits are two 16th-century swordsmen, engaged in a perpetual duel in room 16, and the wife of gang leader Arthur Gray in room 17. ### 9. Hotel del Coronado - San Diego, California The self-proclaimed “birthplace of the American beach vacation” has wowed big-time guests for over a century. Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and L. Frank Baum all enjoyed its luxury suites and sandy beaches, surely reveling in the relative privacy afforded on a tidal island. The hotel has many claims to fame, from lighting up the world’s first outdoor electric Christmas tree, to being featured in the film “Some Like it Hot,” to — you guessed it — housing a famous ghost. In 1892, 24-year-old Kate Morgan checked into the hotel and never checked out, her body found on an exterior staircase with a gunshot wound to the head (which the coroner ruled a suicide). If you tire of Hotel Del’s luxury and want a bit more spook in your stay, take a walk past Kate’s room, where many odd phenomena have been reported. Guests and staff alike have recalled sudden cold breezes, phantom footsteps, and electronics turning on and off on their own. Some have even spotted a Victorian woman dressed in black wandering the halls or standing alone down at the seashore. ### 10. Clown Motel - Tonopah, Nevada This eerily jolly roadside fully embraces its role as nightmare fodder, leaning into the common fear of clowns with horror-movie-themed rooms (all with a clown twist, of course). From “Friday the 13th” to “Chucky” to “Halloween,” the motel lets you choose which creepy world you wish to enter. Even the “normal,” non-movie rooms are a bit disconcerting, with strange clown wall art and plenty of ghosts. The cemetery right next to the motel is home to such distinguished residents as Bina Verrault, a conwoman from New York; Sheriff Thomas Logan, who was shot while investigating a local brothel; and Clarence David, the father of motel co-founders Leroy and Leona David. In fact, Clarence’s 150 clown statues formed the first of the Clown Motel’s collection, which has since expanded to over 4,000 pieces of clown memorabilia. In a 2015 episode of “Ghost Adventures,” host Zak Bagans and his crew explored the motel’s spiritual resonances and even captured on camera the hand of a large clown moving entirely of its own accord. ### 11. The Mizpah Hotel - Tonopah, Nevada Just down the road from the Clown Motel, the Mizpah offers a completely different (but equally spooky) experience. Built in 1907, at the height of Tonopah’s silver boom, the hotel was long a hub for investors visiting from the east coast; however, as silver prospects slowly declined, the Mizpah floundered and ultimately closed its doors in 2000. After sitting abandoned for 11 years, it was purchased by the owners of several Sonoma wineries and restored to its former glory — a process that included capitalizing on its many spooky stories. Among the hotel’s undead residents are U.S. Senator Key Pittman (whose body was hidden in a bathtub full of ice within his suite) and the Lady in Red, a 1920s prostitute who was strangled by one of her clients on the fifth floor. At the front check-in desk, guests are encouraged to write about their encounters with the Lady in Red (or any of the other ghosts) in a dedicated notebook; some have even left photos of their supernatural experiences. ### 12. The Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, Colorado It was after a stay here, in room 217, that Stephen King dreamed up his 1977 horror masterpiece, “The Shining,” shaping the fictional Overlook Hotel in the mold of this mountainside retreat. In fact, early in the novel, room 217 is mentioned as a place that the clairvoyant son, Danny, must avoid under all circumstances. However, the Stanley was home to eerie activity long before King made it famous, with the story going that its founder, Freelan O. Stanley, still drifts through the lobby and billiards room from time to time. Guests have also heard children running and playing at odd hours, witnessed cupboard doors unlock and open on their own, and, in room 407, spotted a cowboy apparition (perhaps the spirit of local legend “Rocky Mountain Jim.”) The Stanley proudly embraces its haunted reputation: playing the 1980 film adaptation of “The Shining” on an endless loop on the hotel TVs and leading a number of different ghost tours all year long. There’s the classic Stanley ghost tour, a “Shining” tour, a seasonal Halloween tour, and even a one-of-a-kind Frozen Dead Guy tour (which is basically exactly what it sounds like).

The answer to Sharp Pins’ pining question is all in the sound on this kaleidoscopically swooning preview from his new EP ‘Electric My Icebox’.

Is there any better way to start the week than with Just Desserts ? Maybe not. Check out today's offerings, including the Lemon Icebox Pie...