January 05, 2026

HH07 The Crescent Hotel: Quakery, Cadavers, and Cold Spots

16 minutes

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Today on Ghost Bites, Mike and JT check into "America's Most Haunted Hotel," the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Mike details the hotel's notorious mid-life crisis when it was taken over by the charismatic but fraudulent "Dr." Norman Baker, who ran it as an experimental cancer hospital in the late 1930s. Mike covers the discovery of hundreds of bottles containing Baker's "cure-all" potions and, grotesquely, human tissue. Crucially, Mike includes the festive, yet chilling, ghost story of the Grand Christmas Tree that was inexplicably moved across the dining room during the holiday season. JT critiques Baker's fashion sense (a white linen suit and purple shirt), breaks down the sheer terror of a hospital using the basement kitchen as a morgue, and analyzes the spirits left behind, from the falling stonemason Michael to the ever-helpful cancer patient Theodora.

Sources

● Historic Hotels of America.

(n.d.). Ghost Stories - 1886 Crescent

Hotel & Spa. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/1886-crescent-hotel-and-spa/ghost-stories.php⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (2021,

September 29). Ghostly Happenings at the

Crescent Hotel. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://crescent-hotel.com/blog/ghostly-happenings-at-the-crescent-hotel/⁠

● US Ghost Adventures. (2022,

January 14). The Crescent Hotel

'America's Most Haunted Hotel'. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/the-crescent-hotel-americas-most-haunted-hotel/⁠

● Travel Eureka Springs. (n.d.). America's Most Haunted Hotel - Nightly Ghost

Tours. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.traveleurekasprings.com/crescent-hotel-ghost-stories/⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (2023,

August 4). Haunted Hotel History.

Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://crescent-hotel.com/about/history/⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (n.d.). Haunted Hotel. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://crescent-hotel.com/things-to-do/ghosts/⁠

● Smithsonian Magazine. (2018,

October 27). The Charlatan of the Ozarks

Still Looms Over the Haunted Crescent Hotel. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/charlatan-ozarks-still-looms-over-haunted-crescent-hotel-180973743/⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (n.d.). America's Most Haunted Hotel - Crescent

Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.americasmosthauntedhotel.com/⁠

● YouTube. (2022, October 31). The truly haunted history of the Crescent

Hotel in Eureka Springs, explored. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVuEOBTpRiE⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (n.d.). Americas Most Haunted Hotel Archives.

Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://crescent-hotel.com/blog/tag/americas-most-haunted-hotel/⁠

● Crescent Hotel & Spa. (2024,

February 15). The Baker Hospital – A

Patient's Story. Retrieved from⁠ ⁠⁠https://crescent-hotel.com/blog/uncovering-the-past/⁠

Intro Music by - Jayme McDonald (Chatterless) ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Linktree ⁠⁠

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