America’s Most Haunted Hotels
May 22, 2008
Slamming doors, cold gusts of wind, strange noises and flickering lights are all signs that you might not be alone in your hotel room. If you’ve ever been to any of these haunted hotels, you’ll know what I mean.
The Stanley Hotel-Estes Park, CO
The Stanley Hotel may be best known as the inspiration for the “Overlook Hotel” in Stephen King’s famous novel The Shining. Built by Freelan Stanley (of the Stanley Steamer), the Stanley Hotel has several permanent guests.
Freelan Stanley has been spotted in the lobby and the Billiard Room, his favorite room when he was alive. He has also been seen strolling through the bar, disappearing when the bartender tries to cut him off at the kitchen.
His wife, Flora, can still be heard playing the piano in the hotel’s music room and the piano keys can be seen moving. However, as soon as someone steps into the room to check it out, the keys stop moving and the room goes quiet.
Guests of room 418 might be a little taken aback by the strange noises that emanate from it, and the impressions left on the bed when no one has been in the room.
There have been reports of children playing in the hallway at night when no children are checked into the hotel, and some have claimed to have seen a red ball moving up and down the hallway like it was being passed between two kids.
Stephen King supposedly even witnessed the apparition of a child calling out to his nanny on the second floor. He stayed in room 217, which is a popular request of guests who stay at the hotel.
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Museums: The Strange and Weird
May 15, 2008
Museums can be educational, informative, fascinating, and occasionally very weird. Below are some that range from completely bizarre to flat-out grotesque, so you might not want to read on if you are squeamish or sitting down for lunch.
The Mutter Museum
The secret tumor of Grover Cleveland, the thorax of John Wilkes Booth and a really big 9-foot colon are just a few of the wonders that you can expect to encounter at Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, a museum of historical pathology containing about 20,000 fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, models, medical instruments, and memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians.
See the “Soap Lady”—the body of a woman who died of Yellow Fever during the 19th century that turned into soap due to the chemical properties of the soil she was buried in.
Then there’s the huge 9-foot colon of a man who took a dump only once a month for his whole life until he died. It is perhaps no great surprise that he only lived into his late 20s.
If that wasn’t enough for you, there are skeletons of a giant and a midget, various skull collections, the brains of epileptics and a murderer, and drawers filled with objects removed from the windpipes of choking people.
Feast your eyes on a plaster cast of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng, various baby deformities and many more displays that will fascinate you and make you feel totally creeped-out.
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