Stanley Hotel — the inspiration for The Shining, Estes Park, Colorado

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, is one of America's most famous haunted hotels, best known as the inspiration for Stephen King's novel 'The Shining.' King stayed in Room 217 in September 1974, and the eerie atmosphere of the nearly empty hotel inspired his masterwork. The hotel, built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, sits at 7,500 feet in the Colorado Rockies with sweeping views of the Continental Divide. F.O. and Flora Stanley are both said to haunt the hotel. Flora's ghost has been heard playing the piano in the ballroom — the grand piano reportedly plays by itself, with witnesses seeing the keys depressing without any visible hands. Room 217, where King stayed, is the most requested room in the hotel, and guests report the covers being tucked in by invisible hands, believed to be the ghost of chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson, who survived a gas explosion in the room in 1911. Children's laughter and the sound of running in the fourth-floor hallways have been reported for decades. The hotel offers ghost tours, and the TAPS team from Ghost Hunters conducted one of their most famous investigations here. The Stanley has captured EVP recordings, documented moving objects, and recorded what they believe is the voice of Flora Stanley. The combination of King's literary legacy, the genuine historical hauntings, and the hotel's magnificent mountain setting make the Stanley one of the most iconic haunted locations in the world.