Experimental Paranormal Investigations in ‘Spirits of the Stanley’
The concept of the paranormal, of energy or forces beyond what we immediately see and hear, has always fascinated me. That interest has always drawn me toward shows about ghost hunting and paranormal investigations.
Most recently, I’ve been captivated by Hellier, a show focused on a team of investigators are asked to look into a strange case of Kentucky goblins — only to have the investigation spiral off into profoundly weirder territory (which Cassandra Rose Clarke does an excellent job of discussing in her essay on the show).
Hellier is primarily focused on long-term investigation, with the team digging deeper and deeper into the mysteries they face. That drive to research leads to reading and viewing books and media about a variety of subjects—something I personally find inspiring.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that Hellier inspired me to dive into the brief YouTube series, Spirits of the Stanley.
Two of the investigators in Hellier, Karl Pfeiffer and Connor Randall, began their work as paranormal investigators at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, a site well known for having paranormal activity and for being the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shinning. From the period of 2009 to 2016, the hotel hosted five-hour paranormal…
