Hotel That Inspired The Shining May Become World's First Horror Museum

The Stanley Hotel, famous for inspiring Stephen King to write The Shining, might become the world’s first horror-themed museum. Through a $24 million development, the hotel, located in Estes Park, Colorado, would transform into the Stanley Film Center, which would also feature a film archive and film production studio. Backers have applied for an $11.5 million credit through the State of Colorado’s Regional Tourism Act.

According to PR Newswire via Rolling Stone, proposed plans for the center would include “multiple indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, including a 500-seat auditorium; a 30,000 sq. ft., interactive museum and discovery center, featuring rotating exhibits such as The Walking Dead; a 3,000 square-foot soundstage; classrooms and workshop spaces; and cutting-edge post-production and editing suites.”

“I would love to have a home for which we could constantly come year-round and celebrate with other fans from around the world,” said actor Elijah Wood, who is a member of the center’s Founding Board. “There’s really no better place for there to be a permanent home for the celebration of horror as an art form than the Stanley Hotel. It was practically built for it.” Other Founding Board members include horror movie director George Romero and Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg.

In 1974, King spent a night in The Stanley while on vacation with his wife. He dreamt his child was running through the hallways and woke up inspired to write the novel, which would later become Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 classic film.