I recently took a behind-the-scenes tour of a place that has haunted our collective imaginations for decades: The Stanley Hotel.

It all started once upon a time, before Stephen King was a household name. A hotel called The Stanley caught his eye for one simple reason… it looked spooky.

He arranged to stay there, and the hotel staff put him in a room thought to be haunted: Room 217.

That night, Stephen King had what he called the worst nightmare of his life. He dreamt he witnessed an inanimate object come out of the hotel walls and murder his son. He woke up, went out onto the balcony, lit a cigarette, and within five minutes had the beginning, middle, and end of The Shining plotted in his head.

Now that I’ve written a few books myself, I can totally see how that could happen. Inspiration often comes to me in a similar flash, and it’s a really cool feeling. The specific events of the movie weren’t in his nightmare, but he masterfully composed the story using the hotel itself as the setting.

For instance, the woodshed on the property, which now holds a frozen dead body in an international cryogenics museum, inspired the infamous snowmobile shed scene.

The iconic hedge maze, however, was something he made up completely. Well, not entirely—in the book, he actually created terrifying animal topiaries that came to life. Special effects were not up to par at the time, so a maze was constructed instead. But no maze existed until ten years ago, when one was planted on the grounds–mainly to stop people from asking about it. It’s not had great success between droughts and wildfires, but perhaps in another decade it will be formidable.

More than just a King Thing

Fun fact: Stephen King isn’t the only celebrity who’s had freaky experiences here. Did you know The Stanley Hotel was also a filming site for Dumb and Dumber? The hotel’s interior was used for the Aspen hotel scenes.

Jim Carrey, being a huge Stephen King fan, insisted on staying in room 217. Carrey entered the room, stayed for a couple of hours, and exited the room in a hurry, running out to the lobby in his boxers. Completely shaken, Carrey refused to ever step foot back into that room and, to this day, will not tell anyone what happened. He would only agree to film Dumb and Dumber 2 on the condition that they did not return to the Stanley. Carrey wanted nothing to do with that hotel ever again.

Many people are disappointed to learn that none of Stanley Kubrick’s version was actually filmed at the hotel, which was a point of contention for Mr. King for many years. Finally, in the 90s, King won back the copyrights and created his own miniseries, which was filmed right at The Stanley.

A large chunk of the story takes place in the caretaker’s cottage, which we got to tour. The production company—the same one behind Get Out, Cloverfield, and The Purge—now uses the house for storing movie props. It was incredible to walk through and see the props from these films.

Upstairs, they’ve paid homage to the movie. First is the twins’ bedrooms, which is a nice touch, even though the twins were never in King’s book—that was a Kubrick addition.

I also learned some other fascinating things, things like there’s a frozen person on the grounds at the worlds first and only Cryogenics Museum.

But, best of all, because the Stanley Hotel is now a not-for-profit, my ticket purchase went towards education in the state of Colorado. Plus, the hotel is situated right at the entrance to the stunning Rocky Mountain National Park.

If you’re thinking of visiting The Stanley Hotel, I booked my tickets directly through their website. Parking was an additional $10, but you get a token that can be exchanged for a $5 item in the gift shop. It bought me a much-enjoyed scoop of ice cream, the perfect end to a perfectly spooky day.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more stories out of The Stanley Hotel.