Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Haunted Crescent Hotel

A lot of people will immediately dismiss the possibility of ghosts, saying "NO, there's no such thing." I'm a bit of a skeptic myself, but the door is certainly not closed.

Ever heard of the Crescent Hotel? Yeah, I know a lot of hotels say they are haunted just for the publicity. If any hotel is truly haunted, it has to be this one.

I visit the Crescent Hotel at least once a year, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's one of the most historic and beautiful hotels in one of the country's most beautiful towns. I've tried to convince my fiance to have our honeymoon there next spring, but apparently she's less of a skeptic than me. Last year, we had the pleasure of taking a "Ghost Tour" of the hotel, where we heard tons of fascinating stories about the place; some very, very disturbing.

We were told about a man by the name of Norman Baker who took over the hotel in the 1930s. He was a self-proclaimed doctor who believed he had discovered a cure for cancer. In those days, it was harder to know some one's background, so as far as his patients were concerned, he was a real doctor.

People flocked to Baker at the old hotel for a chance to have their cancer cured. They had no idea that Baker's "cure" was only a combination of watermelon seed, brown corn silk, alcohol, and carbolic acid. Baker's patients, not having any real treatment would only get worse. When the patients got to the point of crying out in pain and agony, Baker put them in an area of the hotel where people near by couldn't hear their cries of pain.

The tour guides also told us that the cruel doctor would do autopsy-like experiments on people who had not yet died. We were told that hundreds of innocent people died agonizing deaths, trying to be cured of cancer by Baker. Some say that years later, when the hotel was being renovated, human remains were found in some of the basement walls. Baker hid his victims there along with his corruption.

If that's not enough reason for a hotel to be haunted I don't know what is.

A few years ago, my brother, my dad and I were all on the 3rd floor of the hotel. All three of us suddenly felt a bit dizzy, only for a second or two. This could have been our imaginations, but I thought it odd that we all felt the same way at the same time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYnU-oMPVI

http://www.prairieghosts.com/cresc.html

9 comments:

Chicken Lips said...

Lance - I love this kind of stuff! Although I'm not sure about the presence of ghosts, I've never seen one and I'm not dismissing the idea - I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to spend the night at that place! Spooky!

Marie Patterson Studio said...

Very spooky!!! Would be fun to visit!

Huckleberry Arts said...

Wow Beautiful would be a place toe visit for sure! Honeymoon sounds fun there!!

Thanks for sharing Enjoyed much!!

Malissa said...

I am convinced that "ghosts" exist, and have had a fascination with the paranormal (ghosts, ufo's, all of it!) since I was nine or ten! I would love to visit this hotel!

HowlingMoonDesigns said...

Hi lance..What a cool Hotel and interesting stories about it..There are many aspects to life & living..The ones we know about that we can see, touch & hear..and those we can't quite get a handle on :)...There's so much more out there than one's mind can comprehend!
Candy

Lance said...

I'm glad you guys don't think I'm crazy for having an open mind to the supernatural! a lot of my friends are completely close minded about it.

Anonymous said...

Wow! sounds cool by the picture I would love to stay their too ghost or not
great stuff by the way
www.jujulee.etsy.com

Diane Duda said...

I'm with your fiance. I wouldn't want to be worrying about ghosts on my honeymoon.
Maybe on just a regular day though. :0
Thanks for visiting my blog.

Di

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing, I may have to go find that place one day. It is beautiful!