The distinctly creepy Skirvin Hotel was not always like it is today. To understand the origin of the Skirvin legends, one must go back to the hotel's beginning.
Built by W.B. Skirvin in 1910, the hotel was to provide all the finest comforts to Oklahoma City visitors. When it opened in 1911, it was the first hotel in the city with air conditioning. Towering at 10 stories tall, it contained 224 rooms and a grand ballroom with a capacity of 500. In 1930, a third wing was added, increasing the size of the building to 14 stories with 525 rooms.
It was shortly before the addition that things turned dark at the hotel. It is said that Skirvin had an affair with a hotel maid, who became pregnant. In order to prevent a scandal, it is said that he locked the pregnant maid in a room on the top floor of the hotel. Even after giving birth, the maid was not allowed out of her confines. Driven to madness, she hurled herself and the infant child out of the window.
Since then, hauntings have been reported in the hotel. Staff nicknamed the maid's ghost "Effie," though the true identity of the maid is unknown. She still wanders the halls, disturbing guests, sometimes in the most provocative ways. The infamous 10th floor, formerly the top floor, seems to be the locus of the encounters. These Skirvin ghost storiesare some of those tales, all accounts of contact from the other side in this haunted hotel.
The maid's tragic story is not the only eerie thing to have happened at the Skirvin either. The hotel was supposedly the site of numerous séances and a meeting place for devil-worshippers, and at least four people (besides Effie and her baby) have perished there.
Read on for some otherworldly stories about the haunted Skirvin Hotel.
After losing a game to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Knicks reported that they lost in part because of the haunted Skirvin hotel. Eddy Curry said that he slept just two hours one night. His room was on the infamous 10th floor, and he said he ended up spending most of his time in Nate Robinson's room.
“I definitely believe there are ghosts in that hotel,” Curry told the Daily News.
In 2010, ESPN's Bill Simmons reported strange happenings during his stay at the Skirvin. He recounts his tale of staying on the Skirvin's 10th floor in a sidebar of a story on his NFL picks. At around 4:30 am, he awoke to what sounded like a crying baby in his room. He got the distinct feeling that someone else was in the room with him. The crying was urgent and seemed to be coming from near the window. He flipped on the light and the crying stopped.
He is not the only one to report a crying phantom baby at the Skirvin - staff and guests have long reported these instances.
In 1994, a security guard revealed his story to a group who liked to explore the abandoned hotel. He related the story of "Effie" (though he said the events took place on the 8th floor, not the 10th). Effie revealed herself through the scent of lavender perfume, he said. Her spirit would try to seduce men, including him.
On one occasion, the ghost told the guard that she wanted him to join her in the afterlife. She manifested in the truck he was driving and held the guard's leg to the gas pedal, trying to make him crash.
There are multipleaccounts of "Effie" soliciting sex from male staff and hotel guests. She has been reported to appear disrobed in the shower. A woman's voice has been heard by men alone in their rooms, propositioning them.
One man even reported being sexually assaulted by an "invisible entity."
Lou Williams, NBA player with the Lakers, reports having his practice gear mysteriously transported from the hallway into his locked hotel room.
Later, when visiting the hotel while playing for the Lakers, he decided to forgo the risk and checked out early. He didn't want to spend more time with "Effie" than he absolutely had to.
