ZEEA News
Shanley Hotel Overnight!
What did we find?
November 1, 2019
The Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, New York (photo: Zach Shaw)
It was months in the making, but on July 12, 2019, we conducted out very first overnight investigation. Where? The infamous Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, New York (pictured above). The four of us were beyond excited (and spooked) to pull up to the allegedly haunted hotel in rural new York, but our expectations were exceeded when we found out that we were the only ones at the hotel that night; from what we were told, a couple other folks were going to stay, but never showed up, so we had the ENTIRE place to ourselves to investigate. Our guide, Kim, was very pleasant and kind, and gave us a rundown of the hotel's history, complete with tidbits about famous guests (including Eleanor Roosevelt and Thomas Edison), and her own brand of paranormal humor.
After hearing about the history, she took us on a guided investigation, where we all had some form of experience. it wouldn't have been complete without the eeriest room of them all...the morgue, which we were given special access to since our group was so small. From moving beds to communicating with deceased gangsters and a hitman, to seeing shadows on the wall cast by no one, we had our fill of paranormal fun at this location. Kim was more than happy to answer any questions and was just as excited as we were when we found something she hadn't encountered before. she even let us wander the hotel on our own after she went to bed, and let us use some of her equipment.
Kim showing us a photograph of Esther Shanley during our pre-investigation background briefing (photo: Zach Shaw)
Like with all of our investigations, we approach situations as skeptics (as stated in the "About" section of our website). As events started to occur, ranging from doors slamming shut to hearing voices call our names, we searched every room we were in for cameras, microphones, audio devices, switches, and anything that could prove this hotel was embellishing its "paranormal activities." All of our searches turned up fruitless, and throughout the night we desperately wanted to find something to expose this overnight as a sham. Still, no luck. There were moments where we felt Kim was over-exaggerating her emotions or anything she felt that she was experiencing to make our stay a memorable one. If this is true (and there's no way to know if it is), it is to be expected when you run a business such as this. We all came to the conclusion that, even if some aspects were embellished, the root of the experiences were possibly genuine. There were instances where some of us felt unusually ill for no reason upon entering a room. Furthermore, we saw a shadow on the wall of the morgue (not cast by anyone), and as soon as we looked away, it was gone. That is certainly something you can't explain.
We cannot, with conviction, say that the Shanley Hotel is 100% haunted, nor can we say that every encounter is paranormal. However, given the hotel's troubled history and notorious guests, we believe there is something dark lurking in the shadows of the hotel, shadows we have walked through, where we have seen and heard things that shouldn't have been. What we captured and experienced is enough to tell us that something is residing at the Shanley, but whatever it may be, we may never know.