A surprising number of gaming venues have seen supernatural phenomena at times!
Little known fact: casinos are some of the most widely reported settings for reports of strange and ghostly goings-on, and so it can be fascinating to investigate this connection in more detail. Can it be that the ghosts of angry gamblers come back to haunt their former tormentors? I certainly can’t prove otherwise, and we all remember what happened in that 2007 movie The Haunted Casino, after all…. Don’t we?
Actually, you’ll be hard-pushed to find anyone who’s watched it. And for good reason, too – it’s awful! The plot can be summed up as, protagonist inherits casino, casino turns out to be haunted by a vicious Vegas mobster, only one cast member survives the first night inside casino. Saved yourself the 90 minutes and go check out some videos of these places on YouTube instead – you’ll have a lot more fun!
Oh and just one observation… I know Vegas is a town literally formed of casinos, but how come so many of these places are in this one place? You have to admit, it seems a little bit fishy.. almost like it could be a myth created to attract tourists? But why would they need to do that, when the real money casinos are such a huge attraction anyway? Sure is a mystery, but that doesn’t make these tails any less interesting, all the same!
The Tropicana
This one sounds a little bit silly, but there’s actually a little bit of anecdotal evidence to support it so let’s discuss it anyway. The Trop’ is one of the largest and most popular casinos in Las Vegas, but also has a terrible reputation as being one of the most haunted of all the gambling halls as well.
The main site of interest appears to be in the area of the huge Tiki mask positioned in the lobby, and some have even shown photographs of a strange “purple mist” surrounding the mask at times as well. Many guests have claimed to have developed a rash of sorts after touching the mask or getting too close to it, which again is said to consist of some sort of purple sores usually around the facial area.
This is probably extremely embellished if not outright untrue, but if any of this is accurate, could the mask have some kind of mold or other fungal matter growing on the inside of it someplace? Or, is it truly possessed by dark spirits?
The Luxor Pyramid
The “Great Pyramid of Vegas” as it is often known features on every list of haunted casinos I could find, and can sometimes make for quite unsettling reading. Its blacked-out exterior is intended to look elegant and classy, but instead invokes feelings of dread in some who see it. The outside is frightening enough in the eyes of some, but it’s the stories of ghostly sights inside which are most terrifying.
Stories of the Luxor being haunted have persisted ever since the building’s construction phase – it’s one of the newer resorts in Vegas too, opening as late as 1993, so there’s no mob violence associated with this place in the past either. Some claim that the various Egyptian pieces of art inside brought curses with them, whilst others claim it’s all a hoax by management intended to drum up interest in the hotel and casino. Who could say?
The Flamingo
This casino and hotel were built by the feared gangster Bugsy Siegel, who was shot to death in 1947. Bugsy’s is an awkward tale, as whilst he undoubtedly had many faults he was also instrumental in transforming Las Vegas into the gambling mecca that it is today, too.
It’s Bugsy himself that is said to haunt this resort, and as he wasn’t a man to be crossed lightly, this is one of the scarier legends of Las Vegas. Several employees have quit their jobs at the Flamingo over the years after reportedly encountering Siegel within its halls, which lends some credibility to this tale.
Bally’s Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
Built on the site of a horrific tragedy that claimed the lives of 80 people, the current Bally’s Casino stands on the land previously occupied by an earlier iteration of the MGM Grand. The tragic fire occurred in 1980 and since then there have been countless claims of paranormal activity, ghostly apparitions wandering the upper floors, and inexplicable phenomena.
There is no evidence to support any of the claims, but the history certainly gives enough of a reason to be wary when staying at the Bally’s Resort & Casino.