Ghost Stories of Tripadvisor is a dreadful directory of hotel hauntings

Ever stayed at a hotel with a strange uncanny presence in the room, or where spirits weren’t just lurking in the mini bar? It seems plenty of people have, and helpfully documented their spooky experience when reviewing their stay on Tripadvisor. Having stumbled across one of these wretched write-ups one day, design studio Bompas & Parr set about collating nearly 40 from around the world and, through its in-house imprint Bompas & Parr Editions, has now published it as a handy guide titled Ghost Stories of Tripadvisor.

The idea for the project was born when the team was visiting Boscastle, a village in England that’s home to the Museum of Witchcraft, the world’s largest collection of witchcraft and occult-related artefacts. They booked into the nearby Wellington Hotel but later checked its Tripadvisor page and discovered an eerie review describing a “chilling early morning visitation” that “paralysed and scared the guest”. Unperturbed, they still ventured to the Wellington. Though disappointed to have a “deep and restful” sleep with no ghosts in sight, the experience prompted a year-long internet trawl for the other accounts of hotel hauntings on Tripadvisor.

The stories are documented as a directory with both paranormal and practical information such as the star rating, price, facilities, and a firsthand account of one visitor’s spine-chilling stay. This appears alongside a black and white photo of the hotel, for added creepiness no doubt.

The “horrific, unseemly and comic” publication is dedicated to all those who work in hospitality. There are two editions, a leather-bound limited edition hardback and paperback, which Bompas & Parr note “should be read beneath the covers with a phone torch and hot breath”.

While some might find it a useful way to avoid such encounters on holiday, Viktor Wynd, impresario, collector and owner of The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, says it’ll be useful to those seeking to make contact beyond this world. “Finally a reliable guide to easy-to-see ghosts and easy-to-feel hauntings. Oddly the reviewers do not seem, in the main, to have enjoyed the experience, which makes me think their testimony is all the more reliable. I have just booked room 242 at Lansdowne Strand House and can’t wait to get there. I was amazed to be told there was no premium on the room – something that is sure to change now this book is out.”

The book is being launched with an event tomorrow Wednesday 28 October, called The Davos of Ghost Hunting at The Standard Hotel in London (which the general manager is quick to point out isn’t haunted, yet). Described as a “candlelit summit of legendary ghost hunters and experts,” there will be readings from the book and a panel discussion featuring Roger Clarke, author of A Natural History of Ghosts, aforementioned Viktor Wynd, and paranormal investigator Marie Wesson. The Double Standard bar will serve cocktails by the “world’s best dead bartenders” including Ernest Gantt, aka Don the Beachcomber (1907-1989) who created the Zombie cocktail. These bartenders have been contacted by medium Carrie Kirkpatrick, who noted the recipes to be recreated at the bar. The drinks will be available until 4 November.

Bompas & Parr Editions has previously published Tutti Frutti, an encyclopaedia of fruit, and Memoirs of a Stomach, a reprint of a Victorian tome told from the perspective of a querulous stomach, Fridges Fight Back and Ode to the Egg.