Estes Park, Colorado – Lee Cowan and Sunday Morning takes us to the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, known for its famous guests like Theodore Roosevelt, Molly Brown, and Stephen King. King’s stay inspired “The Shining,” later adapted by Stanley Kubrick. The haunted hotel, once plagued by financial troubles, was revitalized by John Cullen, who capitalized on its eerie reputation by renovating King’s room and adding a hedge maze.
In 2022, Cullen proposed an unusual guest: Bredo Morstal, who had been cryogenically preserved since his 1989 death. Morstal’s grandson, Trig Vabaug, hoped future doctors might revive him. Despite Vabaug’s deportation, Morstal’s body remained frozen in Colorado. The peculiar story spurred the annual Frozen Dead Guy Festival in Nederland, which Cullen later moved to the Stanley.
Cullen, with Alcor Life Extension Foundation, relocated Morstal’s body to the Stanley’s ice house, immersing it in liquid nitrogen. This exhibit on cryonics has attracted many visitors. Although Cullen sold the hotel, he’s proud of intertwining its ghostly and cryonic legacies, ensuring the Stanley remains a unique landmark with a guest who never checks out.
