The Ghosts of The Cecil Hotel

By Crusader1307

 The Cecil Hotel, located in the Downtown outskirts of The City of Los Angeles, California was envisioned as an opulent Hotel to cater to the boom business (mostly Films) that was making The City a World name even in 1924. It took 3 years to construct the 600-room building. Swanky, The Cecil was supposed to make ''sure money''. That was until 1929, when the then 1 Million USD Hotel fell prey to what every other business did in America. The Great Stock Market Crash followed by an even greater Depression. The Cecil quickly fell into disrepair, and with the rise of jobless and soon homeless that would fill the streets of The ''City of Angels'', The Cecil became known as a ''seedy flop house''. From the 1930s forward, The Cecil Hotel would earned another name. That of ''The Suicide''. More people have either killed themselves (suicide) or have been killed within it's walls than any other Hotel in The United States. As many as 19 (confirmed) deaths are known, with as many as 25 (unconfirmed). In addition to this misery, several infamous names are also attached to The Cecil in it's long and dark History. The first, Elizabeth Short, who in the 1940s would earn the name ''The Black Dahlia'' as being a hopeful Actress, turned Prostitute that would be found cut in half in a field in Los Angeles. Her body, bloodless and ''posed'' She was said to have spent many hours in the Cecil's Bar perhaps trying to ''earn money''. Perhaps Short was their that fateful night.

The next was Richard Ramirez, who in American Crime History earned the name ''The Night Stalker'' as he robbed, raped and murdered at least 14 (known) victims from 1984 to 1985. He was eventually captured, tried and convicted to life imprisonment. He would die there in 2013. Ramirez lived in The Cecil for about 2 weeks. From self-inflicted gunshot wounds, to even one Man who cut His own throat with a straight razor, the list of casualties goes one. And it is not one specific Room (as in Stephen King's Horror mindbender ''Room 1408''). The pervasiveness of Evil is everywhere. Most cases are of course, suicide by jumping to One's death from either the Upper Floors or The Roof.

Attempts were made in the early 2000s, to rid The Cecil of it's ''dark image''. More security enforcement, partial renovations, everything. Despite the transient problems on the outside, The Cecil tried to improve it name. That was until 2013, when once again The Cecil would be thrust into World News with yet another bizarre case. This involved a Chinese-Canadian Student by the name of Elisa Lam. Visiting the Tourist spots of Central California, Lam checked into The Cecil. She stayed for 1 week and was supposed to check out on January 31. When Her parent had not heard from Her, they called The Los Angeles Police Department. The investigation showed that She never even packed. She had simply just vanished. Naturally, The Cecil has Security surveillance cameras. These were checked. The Police found a very odd segment on the night of the 31st. Lam is seen entering a Hotel Elevator, but ''appears'' to ''see something''. She seems terrified of whatever it is She is looking at. She runs into The Elevator Cab, appearing to be both ''seeing and talking'' to ''someone'' or ''something''. No other evidence was ever found. Every ''Jan Doe'' crime victim was checked for possible identification when delivered to The County Medical Examiner's Office. Nothing.

On February 19 of 2013, Residents of The Cecil reported to Building Maintenance that their water ''tasted funny''. Too many reported the same issue. Whereas The Cecil had it's own Water source (via a 1,000-gallon Water Tower on it's Roof as was the fashion in the early 20th Century), so Crews went to the Tower to inspect it. They opened the access port and were greeted with the cause of the foul taste. It was the badly decomposed body of Elisa Lam, floating inside the sealed Tank. The Access Ports are so small that the average person could not fit thru. Special equipment was needed to even cut through and retrieve the corpse. No camera system are present on the roof and no one is quite sure just ''how'' Lam got inside. After much pressure from The Media, Police stated that Lam's ''erratic and strange behavior'' on camera was from the fact that She was bipolar and not taking Her medicine (at least officially). The surveillance film of Elisa garnered over 4 million views on The Internet and spurred theories plenty. In the year 2017, under New Owners, The Cecil was completely renovated and remodeled giving it a somewhat more ''polished sheen'' (perhaps as it had in 1927). But the side of The Hotel building still retains it's 1920s painted Logo Advertisement. This was kept for the Historic Nature of Downtown Los Angeles. No current reported ''accidents'' have occurred since 2015, when someone jumped to their death (despite measures taken to stop such actions in the future).

Just what is the problem with The Cecil No one is quite sure why this piece of ground is so cursed and dark. One theory, is that in the mid-18th Century, just prior to Mexican Colonists establishing The Town of Los Angeles in 1781 slaughtered a nearby Native American Tribe and took the land which would become Los Angeles. Perhaps, and records no longer exist to confirm, that the actual massacre site may have been the location of The Cecil. The Hotel has been subjected to Paranormal Investigation many times in it's History. Most confirm it is a very active location and many Mediums and Psychic have a difficult time inside. Lately, most requests for investigations are declines, as The New Management is trying to distance themselves from The Cecil's ''past''.