#5 - The Silver Queen  
Virginia City, NV

This photo is a view of C Street  from the third floor room my husband and I stayed in.  A loud zephyr screamed through the hotel the night we were there and I heard a transom slam shut.  
 
The second time we stayed at the Silver Queen was in 2008.  I was doing a book signing of The Secret of Lucianne Dove at the Mark Twain bookstore the next day.   I can't say anything ghostly happened to me, but a friend who came on this trip said she heard voices in the middle of the night.

 #4 - The Farnsworth House Bed and Breakfast - Gettysburg, PA

My husband and I stayed in one of the most haunted rooms, but nothing paranormal happened.  I choose this hotel because I saw a show where a couple went running from the hotel without spending a full night, they were that frightened. I found the place charming and I'd stay here again. They offer a lot more paranormal attractions than when I was there. Their website boasts nightly Ghost Hunts, Haunted Walk Through Tours, Story Telling in the Basement, Seances, and more. 

#3 The Copper Queen  
Bisbee, AZ

This photo is from the Copper Queen's website.  My photos were all interior shots. This is a beautiful hotel and was featured in Ghost Hunters. They have a book where guests can record their paranormal experiences. Alas, I did not have one.   They now offer Ghost Hunts on Thursday nights.

#2 The Stanley Hotel  
Estes Park, CO

I will definitely stay at The Stanley again. I went on the ghost hunt they offer and captured an EVP. (See earlier blog post.)  I also had a visit from my deceased mother, but won't go into that.  No one has actually died at the Stanley.  But people who worked there or stayed there who have died elsewhere are so attracted to this hotel that some of them come back in the afterlife (or so the ghost hunt guide explained).

The hotel was made infamous because Stephen King stayed in room 217 and was inspired to write The Shining, one of the scariest books I've ever read. 

Now, here's a tidbit for you.  While running around the hotel snapping photos, I came across a flight of stairs that led from the 3rd floor to the roof or attic. I don't know where it led. There was a velvet rope and a sign that said the stairs were off limits.  It was completely dark at the top of the stairs and I took a photo.  Imagine my surprise when the flash revealed that someone had written Redrum up there. See photo to the side.

#1 The Delaware Hotel
Leadville, CO

I want to go back to Leadville, the two-mile-high city in the United States.  Yes, this  city has an elevation of 10,152 feet. 

I stayed at the Delaware Hotel and loved it.  They do not claim ghosts although there were a couple of ghost hunters staying in the room next to mine.   My sister and her family claimed to "feel" an other worldly presence, but I didn't.  I just soaked up the atmosphere and thought of all the people over the years (since 1886) who had stayed in the room I was in.

If I ever write another Mickey McCoy Paranormal tale, I'm going to have it set in Leadville.  Maybe I'll take up residence until the entire first draft is written.  Maybe.

Well, I did it.  I finally went ghost hunting as opposed to just taking a tour.  I was in Estes Park, Colorado and stayed at the Stanley Hotel (of Stephen King's The Shining fame). On Friday night, June 1, 2012, I went on the ghost hunt the hotel offers.  I audio recorded most of the hunt. Not all because I'm new at this and ran out of space on my recorder.  I've listened to two hours of the recording.  I still have more to listen to.  But!  I think I recorded an EVP (electronic voice phenomena). Without going into the story of Lucy (one of the spirits said to haunt the Stanley's Concert Hall), I may have caught her voice on my recorder.  Listen to the recording.  Right after you hear me say, "Lucy, I'm going to take your picture. Okay?"  (at 16 seconds) A voice says: "kay".