Ghost-Like Figure Allegedly Spotted in Window of Infamous Stanley Hotel During Tour

Has a ghost been caught on camera at The Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining? A Texas tourist at the hotel was on a ghost tour when she reportedly captured a ghost in a photo, peering out one of the windows.

“I decided to do one of the ghost tours of the hotel with my friends,” Kim Kimberly said in a chat with CBS4. “They tell you to take pictures so I took a ton, you can ask my family… I take at least two to three pictures in a row of the same thing.”

Kimberly said the alleged specter in the photo didn’t show up during the tour itself. It wasn’t until she took photos, with the first coming a 9:03 p.m. local time on May 27 and a few other to follow.

“My friends were taking photos as well and they didn’t see it either — until I looked back at my photos,” Kimberly explained. “Some people are saying curtains — the curtains are the exact same in every window, they are see-through, and if it was curtains, what is the dark area that looks like hair, and the skin tone color? That can’t be a shadow.”

The amateur ghost explorer also poked holes in the claim that the image was Photoshopped or faked using a mannequin. “If it was a mannequin, I would have seen it while taking the photo — and others would have got it on camera as well,” Kimberly said. “I have no idea how [Photoshop] even works.”

When pressed for an answer, Stanley Hotel marketing manager Kristina Rusch “respectfully” declined to comment. The Folklore Night Tour at the hotel is a regular feature people who reserve in advance can take part in the night. “The Stanley Hotel Folklore Night Tour is a 60-minute walking tour that will take you through the dark edges of the hotel. It is a unique way to experience the hotel’s paranormal folklore with a knowledgeable storyteller under the ambiance of nighttime in the Rocky Mountains,” the description on the Stanley Hotel website reads. “Each tour offers you opportunities to explore, ask questions, and perhaps leave with a few stories of your own.” Apparent apparitions are not on the list of what to expect.

The Stanley Hotel is famous as the inspiration behind Stephen King’s The Shining. Notably, the hotel featured in the film is not the same as the Stanley Hotel, but King did return there to film the ABC mini-series adaptation in the late 1990s.