The Stanley Hotel. Infamous for serving as the set of The Shining––you’ll see it on every list of Top 10 Most Haunted Places in America!––and has a reputation for leaving its guests prone to nightmares weeks after their visit. Rumors has it that the ghost of maid Elizabeth Wilson still haunts Room 217, the exact room where Stephen King got the idea for his novel. That spiral staircase in the lobby? A staff member coined it “The Vortex”; a slew of terrified guests claim it’s a superhighway for the spirits residing in the hotel. If I were you, I’d watch my step.
The best traditions are born of ‘happy’ accidents. After a Kincaid student nearly burned down the Winthrop building in 1992, the Stanley Retreat––now just called ‘FRIGHT NIGHT!’––was conceived by some of the more macabre students as away to promote unity and harmony between the societies. Now every spring, each society at Yates foots the bill to fly all of its members out to Colorado to spend a weekend in the Stanley Hotel, renting out the entire building and allowing students free rein. And the time has come again... are you ready for FRIGHT NIGHT?