Nevada is the world capital of gambling, known for offering the most and the best gambling games in its glamorous casinos, but everything is not what it seems. Behind the gorgeous façade, some casinos hold dark secrets and restless spirits. Today, we will explore these horror stories surrounding some of Nevada’s most prominent casinos.
Circus Circus
Circus Circus is a famous hotel and casino on the Las Vegas strip which is also notorious for its paranormal activity. Who could have guessed that a casino hotel with creepy clowns was haunted? Jokes aside, the casino hotel has been the site of many murders since its founding in 1965.
Circus Circus was the site of many mob dealings, including murders. When Chicago mobster Anthony Spiltoro became a business partner of the owners of Circus Circus in 1972, he brought devastation to the casino hotel. Spiltoro and Circus Circus served as inspiration for the film Casino.
Spiltoro is rumoured to have killed dozens of people on the Strip, throwing some out of hotel windows. His victims are said to haunt the hotel to this day with their screams being heard from the top floors.
Another known ghost inhabiting Circus Circus has an even more tragic story. Staff and guests have reported seeing a little boy wandering the hallways asking for a man named Robert. Sometimes the boy is seen with his mother, both quickly disappearing as one looks away. Legend tells us that the boy was murdered by his mother in the hotel, though there’s no known record of that.
Binion’s
Binion’s, now rebranded as Hotel Apache, is another Las Vegas casino hotel with a high number of paranormal sightings to the point where the casino hotel has a dedicated page for them where guests share their experiences.
Some of the creepiest stories include hearing various people talk and play music with no-one actually being there, or seeing a man from another era slowly fade into the ether. A particular guest even managed to record poltergeists, appearing as orbs floating around the room.
This hotel is certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you find yourself there, avoid room 400 at all cost. Room 400 is the most haunted site in the hotel; suspiciously, the only other room on the floor was formerly used as a count room where money from the casino was counted. Many believe that people were murdered on this floor, perhaps by the mob.
Flamingo Hotel and Casino
Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was famously founded in 1946 by Billy Wilkerson and gangster Bugsy Siegel, the latter contributing to the iconic flamboyant style of the casino hotel. Only a year later, in 1947, Bugsy was shot dead in Beverly Hills, but it is said that his ghost returned to Flamingo.
Guests report seeing a dark figure lurking in their rooms at night, hearing mysterious whispers and having their doors randomly open and close. Bugsy is also often seen wandering around his memorial in the gardens of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino.
Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino
Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino in Primm, Nevada (near Las Vegas) has perhaps the most interesting haunting story on the list and its origins are based on factual truth. The casino hotel was founded in 1977, but its ghost is much older than that.
Whiskey Pete was the name of a famous gas station owner (real name Pete MacIntyre) who took to bootlegging during the Prohibition Era. Whiskey Pete was well-known in the community and when he died in 1933, he was said to have requested to be buried in an upright position with a bottle of moonshine in his hand.
Decades later, construction workers found a corpse, while they were building a bridge in the area. The corpse is believed to be Whiskey Pete’s due to his unique upright position. Whiskey Pete was reburied on the hills where he used to brew his moonshine, while a casino hotel named after him was built on his former burial site.
Pete’s ghost must be either very happy to have been honored with an eponymous casino hotel or very angry to have been removed from his grave, because he is said to haunt the casino to this day. People have reported seeing a figure dressed in 1920’s Western clothes, while others have shared that they felt like they were being watched while they were gambling.
