Haunted? 
You be the judge! 

What seemed to be a pretty normal Saturday night was anything but normal. It was a rather balmy December evening two years ago with a forecast for thunderstorms rolling in just after midnight. I had just finished my regular routine of checking doors, turning down lights, etc. before retiring to the innkeeper’s quarters for the night. I could tell the winds were picking up and it had begun to rain. It was at this moment that what sounded like a women’s scream sent cold chills up and down my spine. As I was stepping into the hall, I thought perhaps it was a cat until I looked up and saw the blood soaked figure. Just joking, sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. However, as the owners of this hotel since 2004, we have had a few experiences both first hand and reported by guests. If walls could talk, I’m sure we could write a book. The following are just some of the experiences reported by guests, staff and others over the past couple of years.

 

The Story:  Room 19 is one of the rooms to request - or avoid - since it has been the location of several occurrences. A guest, feeling uneasy, awoke in the middle of the night to find a women standing at the foot of the bed looking at her. The guest indicated that she (the guest) was never scared or even startled. When she reached over to turn on the night-light her visitor vanished. And There's More:  Another guest in this room reported that she had very carefully hung several items of clothing in the closet prior to going to bed only to find them on the floor in the morning hangers and all. However, the clothes bar was perfectly intact as if someone had purposely laid them on the floor during the night.

The Story:  Prior to our purchase of the hotel, a gentleman had been a permanent residence here for the prior twelve years. Ten of those years had been spent in a tiny third floor room that looked like a horrible crime scene due to the nicotine that oozed down the walls from cigarette smoke (renovated but now used as a maintenance room). His last two years were spent in Room 13, which he occupied up to the day of closing. All of the permanent residents were to vacate the property prior to closing per our contract since we were planning on renovating the building and taking the business in a different direction. The prior owners had made other living arrangements for the gentleman but in a haste of anger, he literally just walked away. Leaving everything he owned in his room and never returning for it. Several local residents knew the man and reported that he was seen walking to Granbury. He passed away within the year and it is thought that he returned to the hotel, at least on occasion.

The Haunting:  Periodically, cigarette smoke can be smelled only for an instance in various places in the hotel but most often in the back lobby. Yet, the hotel has a very strict no smoking policy and none of the staff smokes. “Stinky” as he is affectionately known for his smoking propensity is suspected of being the source of these periodic smells. I wonder if third hand smoke smell has been studied by the Surgeon General.

The Story:  The hotel, built in the 1920s, originally had guest rooms with no bathrooms. Modernization later put a shared bathroom between many of the guest rooms. However, some guests may have suitemates that they were unaware of.

The Haunting:  Several guests have reported toiletry items being moved are falling in their bathrooms after very specifically placing and even replacing them to have it happen again. Our guests don’t seem to mind sharing a bathroom as long as it is not with another “paying” guest per say.

The Story:  One early afternoon, my wife and I were in the lobby when a man from the carpet company came bolting down the stairs and out the front door without saying a word. He got in his truck and left without returning for several days. After contacting the carpet company to find out what was going on we were informed that he had been frightened by a ghost and would return next week with a crew so he would not be alone.

The Haunting:  Upon returning (with a half dozen men), he informed us that every time he would set a tool down it would be across the room or in the hall when he turned back to retrieve it. After this happened several times, he got scared of the “phantasmo” as he called it and left. Don’t worry; most of our rooms have wood floors.

The Story:  December 2006, the hotel was going to be on the historic home tour and was to be decorated for Christmas. As my wife and mother-n-law began to unpack boxes of decorations, they saw a white flash fly across the room toward the check-n-counter. Both women looked to discover that the miniature wagon train that sits on the mantel above the fireplace and flown across the room. Apparently, either something was not a fan of Christmas decorations or couldn’t wait to get them up and was clearing a spot. To this day, the wagon train sits peacefully on the mantel. And There's More:  The next week during the actual home tour, a college professor from the DFW area who had spent hours admiring the hotel earlier in the day insisted that we had spirits in the hotel. She very emphatically reassured me that they were here but not to worry because they were very friendly and gave guests a “warm feeling” as they entered the building. She also told me that they were very pleased with the work we had done to the hotel?

The Story:  The hotel had a bar for many years prior to our ownership and may have a few patrons who don’t seem to want to leave. As the story goes, there has been more than one shooting in the hotel over the years with several taking place in the front lobby in the vicinity of the bar.

The Haunting: Occasionally, a cold chill can be felt in this area and guests have reported the hair standing up on the back of their neck.

The Story:  The downtown historic district and perhaps this hotel is also home to a few other guests.

The Haunting:  Reports are that over the years a number of people have drowned in the Paluxy River that runs behind the hotel. Some are thought to still wander the area on occasion.

The Haunting:  On occasion, the sound of running (usually several people) can be heard in the hallway late at night, even when the hotel is empty. After investigating the first couple of times to find nothing, we don’t even respond now unless we have guests to make sure it’s not the paying guests doing the running.

The Haunting:  Room 29 also has semi-regular reports of items moving such as hairbrushes, tooth paste, etc. It is usually women’s cosmetics that seem to be relocated so maybe we have a chauvinist. However, this room is a third floor suite that has not been used as much as the second floor rooms. Maybe there’s a reason this room was not used by the prior owner’s???? 

The Story:  The Society Paranormal Investigators Network (SPIN) visited the hotel on August 11, 2008 and conducted an all night investigation in an attempt to determine to what extent, if any, paranormal activity existed. SPIN had made a brief investigation earlier in the summer and admitted that they were somewhat skeptical about finding anything but were they ever wrong.

The Haunting:  The investigators found the basement, first floor and third floor to be relatively uneventful on this night. However, the second floor was loaded with activity. In fact, the investigators indicated that it was the most intense activity they have ever encountered during an investigation. Extreme temperature drops everywhere including one they were able to follow down the hall into a storage room; numerous voice recordings; new batteries going dead immediately, etc. Electronic voice recorders (EVR) were placed throughout the hotel along with video recording equipment in Room 19. The investigators indicated that nothing was captured on the small amount of video they were able to record because the batteries would not stay charged. They did indicate the pants and hangers they had placed in the closet and been altered.

And There's More:  Electronic voice recorders placed in various locations picked up several women laughing together and a women moaning. While in Room 12, the investigators were picking up extreme temperature variations and asked the question “Are you a man or a women?”. It wasn’t until they were reviewing the EVR from that room later that they discovered a clear audible voice whisper “I am a man” which they have provided us with a copy. Also, in Room 12 the investigators requested the spirit give them a sign of its presence. It was at this time a flash light sitting on the other side of the room fell over and began clicking. So my conclusion is that we either have more than one nonpaying guest since the reports from Room 19 all involve a women or that we have a cross dressing ghost.

The Story:  A husband, wife and adult daughter were in Glen Rose for a family reunion (Summer 2008) and were staying in the Western Suite (Room 12). The husband indicated he was reading in bed with the bedroom door closed. His wife was taking a shower and his daughter was in the second bedroom with the door closed.

The Haunting:  The husband indicated that he heard two knocks on his bedroom door (room door to the hall was closed and locked). He responded by saying, “come in” and momentarily he heard two more knocks. At this time he got up and opened the door to find no one there and his wife in the shower and daughter in bed. When asked what he did next he responded by saying, “left the door open and continued reading.” No more knocks.    

The Story:  A couple from Arlington had come down to the hotel mid-week just to get away. They were intrigued by the hotel from a prior visit to Glen Rose and wanted to stay here. Upon arrival they were given a brief tour of the first floor.

The Haunting:  It was not until later that the women revealed to us that she was “sensitive” to spirit type activity and had been so ever since she was 7 years old. While we were visiting in the lobby, she revealed that during our original tour she experienced strong “pressure” outside of the Queen Suite and storage room (which are on the first floor) that it made her mildly nauseas. As it turns out, these rooms are below Rooms 18 & 19 where report activity regularly. She felt that perhaps the spirits lived on the first floor and would occasionally make there way up to the rooms above, perhaps via the closet. In hindsight, the Queen Suite closet was locked with a keyed dead bolt lock when we bought the property and there was no key. At the time we thought that was odd but maybe it was locked for a reason.

And There's More:  Upon learning of this women’s sensitivity, she was given access to the entire hotel for curiosity sake. Afterwards, she like others before her indicated that the spirits she felt were very friendly and welcoming. She indicated that she felt a male presence with a sense of humor towards the end of the second floor towards the back of the building. She felt something disturbing had happened in the basement. Being the hotel “ghost” skeptic that I am, I have to admit to an odd experience with this guest that made me wonder just a bit. Upon hearing a beep on the second floor from a smoke detector, our guest accompanied me up the stairs when I went to change the battery. Within minutes at least a half dozen smoke detectors began beeping indicating low batteries. “Hmmm”. The next morning the husband and wife both reported hearing women giggling in either their bathroom or the adjoining Room 18.

The Story:  In the Fall of 2008, a group of singles from a North Texas church occupied the entire hotel for a weekend retreat.  On Saturday morning the gentleman staying in Room 19 reported having a visitor in his room the previous night.  A female nonetheless.  Upon further questioning, we learned the details of his encounter.

The Haunting:  After an enjoyable evening, the gentleman retired to his room for the night only to awake to gaze upon the transparent figure of a women standing in front of the chair in his room.  He immediately scurried to locate his camera but much to his chagrin his visitor had vanished.  On Saturday night, determined to capture a picture of this mysterious visitor, he went to bed fully prepared with his camera snuggled by his side.  To his delight, the mystery women did not disappoint as she made her nightly room service call.  This time he was ready and captured her image on photograph which we have provided for you to see.

The Story:  A very cool grandmother brought her 17-year-old granddaughter down on a weekend getaway (via motorcycle) and they had requested Room 19.  The warm natured grandmother wanted the room very cold and cranked the air conditioner down or up depending on perspective.  Needless, to say she slept well through the entire night bundled up under the covers.  The generally cold natured granddaughter spent the night burning up with no covers because…

The Haunting: ….she said it felt like someone kept getting in bed with her and the body heat made her very warm.  She thought at first it was the covers but after she discarded them she never cooled off.  “It felt as if someone was laying on me.”  I guess this means our Room 19 ghost is a snuggler.

The Story:  The Twilight Society from Garland, Texas was our second group to spend the night gallivanting around the hotel searching for ghosts in the Winter of 2008.  This group indicated that our hotel had more paranormal activity than any place that they had ever investigated.  From strong recordings in the basement to unexplained dancing lights in the back lobby, they found loads of activity everywhere.  On this night, they indicated intense activity on the third floor.  However, the most intriguing thing they saw was a dark shadow that moved from Room 17 and went across the hall and disappeared into Room 9.  This is the second time someone has reported a shadow going into Room 9.  The interesting thing about this (that we recently learned from a former owner) is that someone died in this room.  We do not use this room as much as others because it is located at the top of the stairway that is slightly louder than the other rooms on the second floor.  I guess this is good since it has apparently been occupied.

The Story:  Tell us yours!

 We’ll keep you posted on any new stories as they occur. 

Other: 

Paranormal investigators briefly visited the hotel this summer and are scheduled to come back in the winter for a full investigation when the hotel can be empty.  They seemed to be particularly interested in the basement which I haven’t even mentioned since it is not accessible to the public.  We’ll keep you posted on any new stories as they occur.