The Ghost of the Crescent Hotel



Perched high on a hill in the Ozark Mountains, overlooking the Victorian town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, stands the grand and mysterious Crescent Hotel a building as famous for its haunted halls as it is for its historic charm. Dubbed “America’s Most Haunted Hotel,” the Crescent has a long, chilling history of tragedy, deception, and lingering spirits. Among its many phantoms, one ghost in particular is said to walk its corridors with quiet sorrow and eerie purpose.

A History Built on Shadows

Opened in 1886, the Crescent Hotel began as a luxury resort for the wealthy elite. Over the years, it served many purposes first as a hotel, then as a women’s college, and later, most infamously, as a cancer hospital run by a fraudulent “doctor” named Norman Baker in the 1930s.

Baker, a showman and con artist with no medical qualifications, claimed to have a cure for cancer. He turned the hotel into the “Baker Cancer Hospital,” where desperate patients flocked in hopes of a miracle. Instead, they were subjected to painful, ineffective treatments and many died within the walls. The basement, once used as a morgue, still carries the chilling energy of those lost souls.

The Ghost of Room 218 – Michael the Stonemason

The most well-known and frequently encountered spirit at the Crescent is Michael, believed to be a young Irish stonemason who died during the hotel’s original construction. According to legend, Michael fell to his death near what is now Room 218, and his mischievous spirit has haunted it ever since.

Guests and staff report:

• Doors slamming shut on their own
• Lights turning on and off
• Disembodied voices and laughter
• Covers being tugged in the middle of the night
• An apparition of a man with a handlebar mustache appearing briefly before vanishing

Room 218 is now the most requested room in the hotel by paranormal thrill-seekers.

The Ghosts of Dr. Baker’s Hospital

The legacy of Norman Baker left a spiritual scar on the Crescent Hotel. Visitors to the basement once the morgue and autopsy room report chilling phenomena: shadow figures, cold spots, and even the smell of antiseptic lingering in the air. Some have even claimed to see Dr. Baker himself, dressed in a white suit and lavender shirt, wandering the hotel as if still checking on “patients.”

In 2019, a gardener discovered hundreds of glass medical specimen bottles buried on the property some filled with tissue, others with mysterious liquids. These relics have since been displayed in the hotel's haunted history tour, further solidifying the building’s dark past.

Other Notable Spirits

• Theodora, a cancer patient who often introduces herself to guests before vanishing.
• A Victorian-era lady in white, seen drifting through the gardens and staircases.
• Children’s laughter and fleeting shadows often heard and seen near the hotel’s third floor.

A Paranormal Hotspot

Today, the Crescent Hotel is fully embraced by the paranormal community. It hosts ghost tours every night, welcomes investigators year-round, and has even been featured on shows like Ghost Hunters and The Haunting of... Visitors leave with photos, EVPs, and spine-tingling experiences some even check out early.

Despite its haunted reputation, the Crescent remains a popular wedding venue and getaway spot, where beauty and horror co-exist in one of the most haunted buildings in America.

Whether you’re seeking spirits or just a good scare, the Crescent Hotel offers a unique blend of luxury and the supernatural. Just be sure to leave a light on Michael might be paying a visit.