- Joined
- Oct 29, 2002
- Messages
- 36,905
- Location
- East of Suez
I've never heard of this hotel before and it seems not to have been mentioned on the board previously.
The Skirvin Hilton, the grande dame of Oklahoma City – a sort of Waldorf Astoria in America's Heartland – is an imposing 14-storey, Art Deco property from 1911 that's said to be haunted by Effie, a Prohibition-era chambermaid who jumped to her death with a love child fathered by hotel founder WB Skirvin. Such stories, like the tornadoes that plague the region, have swept through the hotel's English Gothic lobby into the city and beyond, most notably among visiting NBA basketball teams who have overnighted here before playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, only to experience inexplicable creaks, groans, cries and ghostly molestations.
"There's the spooky, sad Effie, and then there's the Effie that wants to get it on to Barry White music," said Steve Lackmeyer, co-author of the book Skirvin, as we sat at the hotel's Red Piano Bar. "And with the NBA it tends to be the latter. This is the most legendary ghost story in Oklahoma City, if not the entire state. You have even these famous people claiming they've had encounters with a horny Effie."
Lakers forward Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly known as Ron Artest, claimed he was assaulted by an amorous ghost at the Skirvin in 2016. In 2010, Ed Curry, a seven foot, 295-pound centre for the New York Knicks, slinked off to spend most of his Skirvin stay in the room of 5'9, 180-pound teammate Nate Robinson for protection. Kyrie Irving, now with the Brooklyn Nets, has plans to star in a film about the Skirvin's hauntings.
"I don't think it's haunted," said Petra Germany, the hotel's current artist-in-residence who makes cosplay weapons and armour. "I think NBA players are just a bunch of sissies."
"People will tell us their lights will flicker at night or a closet door will slam unexpectedly or there will be a creaking door," said Don Jackson, the Skirvin's director of sales and marketing. "There are some haunted stories floating around out there about the hotel, but we prefer to stay away from them since they have never been proven to have happened."
I mentioned to Jackson that a guest I met who was attending a conference at the hotel claimed her colleague discovered the words "HELP ME" written in the post-shower mirror fog. He responded: "We've had recent reports that that verbiage may appear in the mirror."
Quite a chunk more, including pictures of the plush building and interior:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211028-the-skirvin-the-us-most-haunted-hotel
The Skirvin Hilton, the grande dame of Oklahoma City – a sort of Waldorf Astoria in America's Heartland – is an imposing 14-storey, Art Deco property from 1911 that's said to be haunted by Effie, a Prohibition-era chambermaid who jumped to her death with a love child fathered by hotel founder WB Skirvin. Such stories, like the tornadoes that plague the region, have swept through the hotel's English Gothic lobby into the city and beyond, most notably among visiting NBA basketball teams who have overnighted here before playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, only to experience inexplicable creaks, groans, cries and ghostly molestations.
"There's the spooky, sad Effie, and then there's the Effie that wants to get it on to Barry White music," said Steve Lackmeyer, co-author of the book Skirvin, as we sat at the hotel's Red Piano Bar. "And with the NBA it tends to be the latter. This is the most legendary ghost story in Oklahoma City, if not the entire state. You have even these famous people claiming they've had encounters with a horny Effie."
Lakers forward Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly known as Ron Artest, claimed he was assaulted by an amorous ghost at the Skirvin in 2016. In 2010, Ed Curry, a seven foot, 295-pound centre for the New York Knicks, slinked off to spend most of his Skirvin stay in the room of 5'9, 180-pound teammate Nate Robinson for protection. Kyrie Irving, now with the Brooklyn Nets, has plans to star in a film about the Skirvin's hauntings.
"I don't think it's haunted," said Petra Germany, the hotel's current artist-in-residence who makes cosplay weapons and armour. "I think NBA players are just a bunch of sissies."
"People will tell us their lights will flicker at night or a closet door will slam unexpectedly or there will be a creaking door," said Don Jackson, the Skirvin's director of sales and marketing. "There are some haunted stories floating around out there about the hotel, but we prefer to stay away from them since they have never been proven to have happened."
I mentioned to Jackson that a guest I met who was attending a conference at the hotel claimed her colleague discovered the words "HELP ME" written in the post-shower mirror fog. He responded: "We've had recent reports that that verbiage may appear in the mirror."
Quite a chunk more, including pictures of the plush building and interior:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211028-the-skirvin-the-us-most-haunted-hotel
