The Innkeepers: A 10 Year Anniversary Retrospective.
A Look back to one of my all time favorite films and my visit to The Yankee Pedlar Inn 10 years later.
The year was 2010. It was the first time I had lived on my own outside of my parents house or living with a roommate. I did not have much “Ha Ha” money due to bills and everything else that involves moving, so on my nights off for entertainment I was renting a lot of movies. One particular movie was this horror movie that I had heard rumblings about on the innerwebs entitled House of the Devil. It turns out that this film would end up being one of the best horror films I have ever seen. After viewing it I needed more from the director Ti West. Which led me to articles about his next film project entitled The Innkeepers with the synopsis being about a haunted inn in small town Connecticut. The rest they say was, history.
Fast forward a year later and lucky for me, living in Philadelphia Dark Sky Films was hosting a screening for The Innkeepers at a theater downtown and I purchased a ticket immediately. I’ll never forget the night of the screening as I had such a feeling of excitement. Unfortunately Ti West couldn’t make the screening but the majority of the film crew did attend. After an informative introduction by one of the producers the lights go out and the drawing of the Yankee Pedlar fades up onto the big screen with the unforgettable title theme by composer Jeff Grace blares from the theaters speaker system I was instantly transported into the Yankee Pedlar along with this film. With a packed theater full of horror junkies you could hear a pin drop during the whole run time. Except for the occasional jump scares that the film pulls off tremendously. By the time the end credits rolled and after a pretty substantial question and answer session afterwards I came to the stark realization that one, I had a new favorite horror film, and two, I needed to visit this real life, still functioning Inn in Torrington, Connecticut. That following Halloween my girlfriend at the time planned a trip to the Yankee Pedlar for a birthday present. In light of the ten year anniversary of The Innkeepers being released, to honor the occasion I wanted to write about my experience at the Yankee Pedlar. How our stay there went, and how anxious I am to one day go back.
When Ti West was making The House of the Devil in 2008, he became fond of the eccentricities of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, where his cast and crew slept during the production. In interviews the director has stated that a lot of weird stuff happened to his crew and himself. Very vivid and weird dreams occurred nightly along with strange noises as well as some appliances turning on and off on their own. Strangest story Ti West has was that every night his phone would ring at 3am. When he answered all he could hear on the other end was heavy breathing. Completely unexplainable. The co star of the film Sara Paxton also has some paranormal experiences. In multiple interviews I have either listened to or watched, Paxton has described her dreams while staying at the Yankee Pedlar were so life like that they would wake her from her sleep in the middle of the night. Describing one in which she dreamed that there was a person standing at the end of her bed just watching her sleep. Over the decades, guests who have stayed at the Inn have told various stories about mysterious figures and random odd voices pestering them. One popular story is that the spirit of founder Alice Conly, who was rumored to have died in Room 353—still roams the halls of her dream hotel, checking on guests to make sure that their stays are pleasant. Apparitions and strange smells have been reported in Room 353, and Alice’s favorite rocking chair in the hotel lobby has also been witnessed to rock on its own. Room 295 has also reportedly been a location with unusual activity; guests here have claimed to have experienced weird smells, felt invisible forces get into bed with them and seen the spirit of a woman. The ghost of a grey-haired gentleman in a black suit—believed to be Frank Conley—has been supposedly been seen in the inn’s pub, using the old phone there.
Halloween/my Birthday weekend 2012. My girlfriend at the time, surprised me with a trip. One thing about me I will take a road trip over an actual gift any day of the calendar year. She initially kept it hidden from me on where we were going even to the point of being on the open road. That being said as soon as we past New York City, I had a pretty good idea where we were headed. My first guess was The Yankee Pedlay Inn and I hit the nail on the head. It was a great job on her end considering she had never seen the film The Innkeepers or had known anything about the Inn’s haunted history, she just went along with it because she knew how much I would enjoy it and that I did. We arrived in Torrington, Connecticut the day before Halloween. I instantly fell in love with not just the esthetic of the Inn, but the whole town in general. Small New England towns get me every time. So much history, and such a cool vibe. The whole town was decorated for Halloween and with the theater across the street playing Rocky Horror Picture Show, the all hallows eve mood hit just right. This being just a year after the release of The Innkeepers, the Inn actually had posters and paintings from the movie on display. Even to my delight film merchandise for sale in the bar that is connected to the Yankee Pedlar. After an uneventful first night, it was time for Halloween.
Waking up early I said I would go for a walk to get some adult beverages and just take a look around town. This is when I found out that every year on Halloween the town of Torrington performs a Halloween Parade. Felt like the whole town was there, probably even people from other townships as well, the place was lit! Fast forward to Halloween night I was surprised yet again with the invitation to a Murder Mystery event that was taking place in the ballroom of the Yankee Pedlar. Before the event started, and as the girlfriend was getting ready. I had a little bit of liquid courage going so I grabbed my camera and decided to explore the Inn a little bit further. During this time I did not experience any kind of paranormal activity, weird vibes, light headedness, ect. I did however manage to take a photo of the infamous double doors of room 353, the alleged room where Mrs. Conly committed suicide all those years before. In a lot of ways this trip sparked a hunger inside of me as it was the first time I really explored an allegedly haunted place. The fire still burns within me to this day. That night the Murder Mystery dinner was an absolute blast and we both had a great time. The Yankee Pedlar really deserved a ton of credit as they went above and beyond on doing the little things to set the vibe. Bloody footprint stickers around the lobby floors and up the steps, spider webs hanging from every where you looked and most importantly a spooky, Halloweeny soundtrack. Unfortunately before writing this blog posting I did some updated research on the Yankee Pedlar Inn and it actually closed its doors in 2017. They hope to have it re-opened at some point in the near future. I really hope that that is true because I would love to experience one of their holiday parties once again one day.
The morning after I again woke up super early. Honestly just had a tough time sleeping at the Inn. With being awake so early and not wanting to wake up my sleeping girlfriend I decided I would again grab my camera and explore and maybe snap some more photos. This is the moment where my experience happened. The Inn was dead quiet and empty as it had to be maybe 7am. I don’t even recall there being a receptionist at the front desk. At this point in my trip I essentially had seen every nook and cranny that the Inn had to offer except for the outside patio along the right side of the property, so that is where I headed. Entering through the threshold of the corridor leading outside I immediately felt light headed. Yes, maybe due to the alcohol from the following night but this felt different than a hangover. Walking past of the old wagon that is from the original owners with their names and the Yankee Pedlar written on it I felt like this would be a must have shot with my camera. As I was taking a few shots of the wagon a very loud and boisterous noise started buzzing from a back hallway that lead to another section of the back half of the property. Curious I headed toward the sound. When I arrived in the long corridor the noise became much louder and there was a light in the middle of the hallway. The noise was loud and the color of the light was this ugly shade of yellow and green, it just had this ominous eeriness to it that I needed to take a photo of the hallway. The very moment I snapped the photo the obnoxious buzzing sound along with the light instantly went off. As I slowly lowered the camera in disbelief, I could have swore I felt a freezing cold swirl of air come breezing through the hallway. Still to this day I am not sure where the breeze could have come from as I was nowhere near an open door or window. The entire experience freaked me out pretty damn good as I immediately turned and went back to my room. Super creepy. Below I will post my photo from the hallway that I just explained. Is their someone standing there checking me out? I’ll leave that up to you. When returning to my room my girlfriend was awake watching the television. I instantly told her my creepy ass experience that just took place down stairs. She found it pretty fascinating as well but she was more anxious to tell me something. She wanted to tell me about a dream she had from the night that just past. I could tell just by the way she was explaining it that it was very life like and it disturbed her more than a regular nightmare would. Now remember my girlfriend at the time was not aware of any past paranormal experiences that other guests have experienced here in the past which makes the story all the more interesting. She explained to me in her dream she woke up to a woman standing directly next to her bedside wearing an old wedding dress. This woman didn’t speak, just stood there motionless and watched. She then said she woke up. I never forgot it, because this was totally unlike her as I never heard her talk about anything like this which brought on another layer of truth to it for me. After hearing about her dream I told her about past experiences from guests and even from the star of The Innkeepers Sara Paxton herself seeing a woman at the foot of her bed while staying her. Safe to say I feel she was relieved our check out time was 11 o’clock that morning and we would be heading home. In the years since I have been to dozens of “haunted” places all around this country and in 98% of them you don’t experience a damn thing. I strongly feel that day at the Yankee Pedlar we experienced some instances that past guests have also experienced.
So that was my experience at the old Yankee Pedlar Inn. Do yourself a favor if you’re reading this and have never seen Ti West’s The Innkeepers, go cross it off your list. A Ghost story with some funny humor and one HELL of a jump scare. And if and when The Pedlar ever re-opens we can all go there and attend a murder mystery. Just hopefully to not get watched by a woman in a wedding dress while we all sleep.
All Photos by: Hugh Patrick
Terrified State 