Ah, the Hotel Cecil, the most talked about haunted location of 2021. Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, California, the Cecil opened in 1924 with the dream of becoming the premier spot for businessmen and tourists. Sadly, the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression put a halt to any grand future the hotel might have had. The Cecil became the last stop for the depressed and the broke denizens of LA who used the hotel to permanently "check out." The hotel became notorious for the number of murders and suicides that took place within it's rooms and even housed two serial killers, Richard Ramirez and Johann Unterweger. Heady stuff for any location.
Hotel Cecil (Photo courtesy Wikipedia).
The final straw in this toxic stew of misery came in 2013 when Canadian student Elisa Lam disappeared while staying at the hotel. After an intense search of the hotel came up empty, the LAPD released the last sighting of Lam captured on the hotel's CCTV. Lam was filmed in one of the hotel's elevator's apparently hiding from someone or something. Her behavior in the elevator has sparked endless internet fodder and speculation on what caused her to act the way she did. The body of Lam was discovered in one of the hotel's water tanks after guests complained that the water pressure was running low and that the water had a strange brown color and tasted bad. Her death was ruled an accident caused by her bipolar depression. A tragic end to a beautiful soul who was just beginning to find her place in the world.
Elisa Lam's tragic death coupled with the dark history of the hotel has turned the Cecil into a genuine pop culture phenomenon. Numerous documentaries have been made detailing the numerous deaths that have occurred at the hotel. Internet sleuths have taken to Youtube to analyze Lam's death and producing numerous colorful theories to explain her death. The hotel was even the inspiration of a season of Ryan Murphy's anthology horror series American Horror Story: Hotel. With all this attention it was only a matter of time before Ghost Adventures jumped on the bandwagon. In January 2021 the streaming service Discovery+ premiered a two hour special Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel. In true Ghost Adventures fashion, series host Zak Bagans concluded that the hotel was the home to demons who possessed the guests and residents of the building causing all the death and mayhem.
In response to all the hype, it was refreshing to read a balanced history of the Cecil by prolific paranormal author Richard Estep. American Hotel Story: History, Hauntings, and Heartbreak in L.A.'s Infamous Hotel Cecil charts the history of the hotel from its glory days to the present. Estep relies on period newspaper articles to document what actually happened at the hotel in the process dispelling some of the more colorful legends about the building. Besides being a dedicated paranormal investigator, Estep is also a EMT in Colorado. The author uses his expertise in both the paranormal and the medical field to great effect in American Hotel Story.
Unlike his previous books, Estep did not have a chance to actually investigate the hotel due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the restoration work the Cecil is currently undergoing. Though he did not personal visit the Cecil, Estep interviewed those who have investigated the hotel several times. So does the Cecil really live up to all the hype? The truthful answer is maybe. Yes, the hotel is likely haunted by ghosts. But so are countless other hotels. All hotels have had deaths, there's are just not as widely publicized.
But what truly haunts the hall of the Cecil is the endemic poverty of the neighborhood that surrounds it. The Cecil stands out as a beacon of the Skid Row attracting all the lost souls of the area. Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the US still struggles with treating drug addiction and mental illness. Those with mental illness are frequently stigmatized by society and members of their own families. Elisa Lam suffered from bipolar depression and while she was staying at the Cecil was not taking the prescribed dosage of her medication. The results were catastrophic and resulted in her tragic death. It is disgusting to allege that Elisa was possessed by demons and does nothing to further the acceptance of those who suffer from mental illness.
I found Richard Estep's book on the Cecil a much needed antidote to the all the hype about the hotel.
American Hotel Story is available on Amazon.
Rating: 5 Orbs
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