#ghosthuntingwithtracyanddeb The Luxor

Las Vegas is a city that is full of incredible stories of legend. This is certainly the case when it comes to the Luxor, where it is believed that an eerily high number of deaths have taken place at the venue, resulting in a huge amount of paranormal activity. Let’s take a look at its history to find out how it got dubbed the most haunted casino hotel in Sin City.

The iconic pyramid-shaped casino resort has a notorious reputation for being linked with numerous suspicious and untimely deaths. Many guests that have chosen to stay at the 4,407 room Egyptian-themed resort have frequently shared their experiences of ghostly events. If you take a look at the history of the venue it’s not surprising that there are so many claims of haunted sightings within the property. The impressive building, which is one of the world’s largest hotels and the 4th largest pyramid, opened in 1993 and took only 18 months and $375 million to build. It is thought that several construction workers died during the building process, with conspiracy theorists suggesting that the management kept these deaths under wraps to save the reputation of the resort. Reasonable grounds for haunting don’t you think? There are also some who argue that the Luxor was doomed to be haunted before it was even built, simply because it is designed like an Ancient Egyptian tomb – a sure fire way to upset the spirits. Many suggest that the Luxor’s haunting has increased since the hotel opened a Titanic themed exhibition in 2008. The exhibition contains parts of the doomed ship and personal items belonging to many of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

In Las Vegas hotels deaths are not exactly uncommon. Approximately 1,100 visitors die every year in Sin City with the majority being from natural causes. However, 15% of all deaths are suicides, 11% homicides, and an eery 6% go completely unexplained. Nearly all of these deaths will not be reported on because the whole of Las Vegas knows that bad news can affect tourism and reduce the city’s profits. As such, there is little proof of the many deaths that have occurred at the Luxor. However, even without these unreported deaths it is clear something strange is happening inside that famous black pyramid. The Luxor’s first reported death occurred in 1996 when a lady jumped from the 26th floor of the hotel. At the Luxor, suicides of this nature are made extra grisly because the pyramid shape of the building means those leaping to their deaths do so from indoor balconies. This means instead of the street they land in the building’s atrium amongst the other guests. Another guest is also believed to have fallen to his death, this time from the 10th floor. The circumstances around his death remain a mystery but there was no evidence to suggest his fall was voluntary. The Luxor has also seen deaths from many other causes. These have included strangulation, as was the case in the assault, robbery, and murder of a 16-year-old woman by the name of Sara Gruber. But perhaps the most alarming means of murder came in 2007 when a casino worker, 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorante Antonio, was killed by a home-made explosive device in a plot that Newsweek compared to the hit TV show CSI. The bomb was set under a plastic cup that had been left turned upside down on the top of his car. When Antonio turned the cup over the explosion was triggered, ripping a hole in the car’s roof and killing him. The casino was not evacuated, and it continued to run as normal. Three years later, the highest profile death took place at the resort. UNLV football player Demario Reynolds got into a fight with another guest, Jason Simon Sindelar, over his partner. Sindelar was an MMA fighter and struck a devastating blow to Reynolds, who then fell unconscious after hitting the floor and never woke again. In 2010 a court ruled that Reynolds had died from an overdose and not from the fight. 2012 saw the next death – a casino employee was murdered by their boyfriend in full view of the public in the lobby, scarring those who witnessed the murder. The same year, a case of Legionnaires’ disease took another victim at the hotel. Two cases had been identified previously, with the water being treated both times. However, this third case was not picked up quickly enough because tests on the water came back negative until just after the victim’s death. Creepy. A third bizarre death took place that year when an airman visiting from Nellis Air Force Base mysteriously fell 25 feet down an elevator shaft. Once again, no evidence suggested that the victim’s fall was intentional.

But who are the ghosts? The Deadly Blonde The most common ghost guests report seeing at the Luxor is a mysterious blonde lady who is often seen in bedrooms on the Luxor’s 12th floor. Guests sleeping in these rooms have been known to wake up fighting for breath and feeling as if they were being choked. Others report catching glimpses of the woman standing over their bed or feeling a phantom hand running across their face. The hushed-up deaths of several workers during the building’s construction in the 1990s has reportedly led to the appearance of many ghosts. These were most commonly seen on the dark banks and tunnels of the hotel’s old ‘Nile River Tour’ an attraction where guests were ferried to different parts of the pyramid by boat. Many have suggested that the sight of so many ghosts was one of the main reasons the Luxor demolished the river tour during later renovations. The Luxor’s exhibition on the Titanic includes over 300 artifacts recovered from the bottom of the ocean. Many of these items are extremely personal including clothing, purses, and glasses. Whilst interesting to look at there have been tons of reports of the item’s original owners coming back to haunt the exhibition, including a shadowy figure who has frequently been seen standing on a near-perfect replica of the doomed ship’s grand staircase. Other guests have also caught glimpses of one of the Titanic’s lookouts, Frederick Fleet, who committed suicide in 1965. He stands on the exhibition’s Promenade deck peering out into the gloom, searching for the fateful iceberg.

For example, it is believed that pyramids in Ancient Egypt required a Sphinx to be facing both East and West so that the pyramid was protected from evil on both sides. The Luxor pyramid only has one Sphinx facing East, potentially leaving it exposed to evil spirits. People also forget that Egyptian pyramids are actually tombs built on the West side of the river Nile. This is the side where the sun sets and where Ancient Egyptians believed the newly dead entered the underworld. It just so happens that the Luxor is built on the West side of the Las Vegas strip.