Oxford Ghost Tour
The Most Haunted Hotel in Denver
Angelia Shugarts
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Spotlight
Entering the Oxford Hotel is almost like going back into time.
Black marble and maroon columns frame the golden lit lobby offering a Victorian-esque atmosphere. Large gold framed landscape paintings, gold drapery, and deep mahogany woods illustrate luxury, elegance, and beauty. Fresh fall flower arrangements flourish from the center of the entrance where locals and tourists alike flocked to experience a night of ghostly frights. "A Haunted Evening at the Oxford" is an unforgettable experience.
Beginning the tour outside, with guide Kevin Phillips, we stopped at numerous places around the hotel, located on 17th Avenue, between Wazee and Wynkoop. Phillips' told of Denver's old "red light district" and historic tales of ghosts that still walk the chilly streets of downtown. Gruesome and frightening murders, suicides, and unreported conflicts shocked, intrigued, and even humored all who were on the tour including myself.
From the Aveda Academy, to the Windsor Hotel (no longer standing), to Mattie's House of Mirrors, to Bell Warden's Barber Shop, and to Coors Field, ghostly women prostitutes, Chinese immigrants, and poor widowed wives lurked within the nightly air. Rocky Mountain News and local employee eye witnesses were the credible sources behind these mysterious occurrences around the Oxford. All these spirits possessed emotions of revenge, broken hearts, greed, or simply lust including infamous ghosts like Jack the Strangler, Little Baby Doe, and Japanese prostitute Leena. Smells, shady sights, and eerie sounds are emitted from the spirits that walk the night. Locals sense the unidentifiable energies and thus, are still reported to the local businesses and the Oxford to this day.
Continuing the other half of the tour inside the Oxford Hotel, which was dubbed by Ghost Hunter Magazine as the "most haunted building in Denver," I was not expecting such an intense experience.
Beginning in the attic of the hotel, usually limited to hotel staff and authorities, locals and I were privileged to be in such a place. Here, tour guide Kevin told more scary ghost stories and of scientific investigations that are conducted within the dark attic. We were allowed to "explore" the attic, which was the classic creaky wood floor, dusty antique furniture, and storage rooms one would expect to see when touring any haunted location. I felt an intense energy in the attic, the kind of tension where your heart seems to contract inside your chest- I knew this was not a good place to be.
Black marble and maroon columns frame the golden lit lobby offering a Victorian-esque atmosphere. Large gold framed landscape paintings, gold drapery, and deep mahogany woods illustrate luxury, elegance, and beauty. Fresh fall flower arrangements flourish from the center of the entrance where locals and tourists alike flocked to experience a night of ghostly frights. "A Haunted Evening at the Oxford" is an unforgettable experience.
Beginning the tour outside, with guide Kevin Phillips, we stopped at numerous places around the hotel, located on 17th Avenue, between Wazee and Wynkoop. Phillips' told of Denver's old "red light district" and historic tales of ghosts that still walk the chilly streets of downtown. Gruesome and frightening murders, suicides, and unreported conflicts shocked, intrigued, and even humored all who were on the tour including myself.
From the Aveda Academy, to the Windsor Hotel (no longer standing), to Mattie's House of Mirrors, to Bell Warden's Barber Shop, and to Coors Field, ghostly women prostitutes, Chinese immigrants, and poor widowed wives lurked within the nightly air. Rocky Mountain News and local employee eye witnesses were the credible sources behind these mysterious occurrences around the Oxford. All these spirits possessed emotions of revenge, broken hearts, greed, or simply lust including infamous ghosts like Jack the Strangler, Little Baby Doe, and Japanese prostitute Leena. Smells, shady sights, and eerie sounds are emitted from the spirits that walk the night. Locals sense the unidentifiable energies and thus, are still reported to the local businesses and the Oxford to this day.
Continuing the other half of the tour inside the Oxford Hotel, which was dubbed by Ghost Hunter Magazine as the "most haunted building in Denver," I was not expecting such an intense experience.
Beginning in the attic of the hotel, usually limited to hotel staff and authorities, locals and I were privileged to be in such a place. Here, tour guide Kevin told more scary ghost stories and of scientific investigations that are conducted within the dark attic. We were allowed to "explore" the attic, which was the classic creaky wood floor, dusty antique furniture, and storage rooms one would expect to see when touring any haunted location. I felt an intense energy in the attic, the kind of tension where your heart seems to contract inside your chest- I knew this was not a good place to be.
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