Haunted Hotels
You Can Visit
And the Guests Who Never Checked Out
Episode Description
Pack your bags—and maybe your Ouija board too—we’re visiting haunted hotels near our most majestic national parks. Together, we’ll encounter a phantom piano player and ghostly bellhop at Colorado’s iconic Stanley Hotel (inspiration for The Shining); learn about a jilted bride’s terrifying grip at Alaska’s Golden North Hotel; and meet Belton Chalet’s top-hatted prankster near Glacier National Park.
Our guides to the netherworld, National Park After Dark hosts Danielle LaRock and Cassie Yahnian, also share practical advice for ghost-curious travelers, explain why the pleasures of staying in these historic sites can offset their supernatural challenges, and why you might not want to sleep—or even shower!—alone in some of them. Whether you’re plotting your next national park road trip or just love a spooky story, this episode is a scream.
Spine-tingling highlights:
- The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado: Find out why the Stanley’s vibes feel “spooky but wholesome” and what really happened in room 217.
- Golden North Hotel, Skagway, Alaska: Enter a gold rush–era landmark where Scary Mary still stares out the windows.
- Belton Chalet, West Glacier, Montana: Meet giggling child ghosts and the lodge’s faucet-turning phantom, Belton Bob.
- Learn about listeners’ paranormal encounters at Fort Bragg’s Gray Whale Inn in California, aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, and at a casino hotel in Laughlin, Nevada.
- Plus, get tips on how to visit haunted places with respect (say hello, set boundaries, and don’t agitate).
Guests
With campfire-storytelling flair, Danielle LaRock and Cassie Yahnian share meticulously researched survival tales, morbid histories, and paranormal lore meant to inspire—not discourage—exploration. The best-friends-turned-cohosts of the popular podcast National Park After Dark believe that learning the history of a place—no matter how gruesome—will deepen your experience there. The pair first met while working at an animal hospital, bonded on long hikes, and now road-test historic lodges, haunted hotspots, and national park legends. To help their listeners put the show’s motto, “enjoy the view, but watch your back,” into practice, the two also organize wilderness first aid courses and international group adventures.
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