Dark True Story That Inspired Netflix Horror Film

There’s a creepy real-life inspiration behind horror flick 1408 - if you're not familiar with the movie, you can see the trailer here:

1408 centres on author Mike Enslin (played by John Cusack) who is renowned for debunking famous supernatural phenomena. 

His work takes him to New York’s Dolphin Hotel - specifically room 1408 - despite several attempts from hotel manager Gerald Olin (played by Samuel L. Jackson). 

Although initially sceptical about the room’s ‘supernatural’ qualities, Mike soon finds himself completely trapped inside the room while experiencing a series of bizarre, and at times, harrowing events. 

The movie, which was released in 2007, is actually based on a short story from legendary horror writer Stephen King for his audiobook collection Blood Smoke.

Paramount Pictures

However, according to a piece of trivia on IMDb, the story was partially inspired by real-life parapsychologist Christopher Chacon. 

Chacon visited numerous hotels across the US that were said to be haunted, including Hotel del Coronado in California, which was built all the way back in 1888. 

According to Hotel del Coronado’s website, Chacon spent months investigating the hotel in 1992 as well as speaking to more than 1,000 employees about their experiences. 

In the movie, Mike asks: “Hotel rooms are just naturally creepy places, don't you think?” 

And it seems like he may have had a point, because according to the hotel the research found that ‘a significant percentage of anomalous (paranormal) phenomena were documented that could not be scientifically explained’. 

This included ‘moving chairs and furniture, disembodied shadows, opening and closing doors and windows, water faucets turning on and off, concentrations of extremely cold air, and disembodied voices and footsteps’. 

Alamy

On top of this, there were said to be ‘hundreds’ of reported incidents from guests and staff about unexplained phenomena such as hearing voices when no one was around. 

The hotel is said to be haunted by the ghost of a woman named Kate Morgan who checked in alone under a fake name back in 1892 and then took her own life five days later. 

But unlike the horrific experiences poor Mike goes through, Kate’s ghost is relatively harmless. 

The hotel said: “She generally limits her activity to fleeting appearances and inexplicable antics.

“Guests in Kate’s room report everything from breezes that come from nowhere to having to deal with a television set that turns on and off by itself.”

1408 is available to stream on Netflix now.