American Horror Story Season 5: The True Story Of The Cecil Hotel

American Horror Story season 5, Hotel, took inspiration from the infamous Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, where many in real life have met their dreadful end. The Ryan Murphy anthology series broke new ground in season 5 with a flashy and more glamorous take on horror, featuring well-developed historical aspects. Since airing, it has become a fan favorite as the series continues, having been renewed for another three seasons.

American Horror Story: Hotel revolves around the Hotel Cortez, a place haunted by the spirits of past guests who have died in the hotel, many of them by suicide, trapping their souls at the hotel forever. Some of them become ghosts, or vampires, while a small human staff cares for not only the hotel but the restless spirits that lurk within its walls as well. Despite this seemingly fantastic description, the Hotel Cortez is based on the real-life Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, which has its own track record of murder and suicide.

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Related: American Horror Story: Hotel – The True Story That Inspired Season 5

Throughout its history, the Cecil Hotel has been home to numerous suicides and other deaths. It was originally built in 1924 for business travelers and tourists but after the Great Depression, it became a part of Los Angeles’s infamous Skid Row. After that, it served as a haven for drugs and prostitution. It is a Beaux Arts-style hotel, with 700 rooms, a marble lobby, palm trees, stained-glass windows, and an opulent staircase. However, this opulence soon became shrouded in a less than desirable reputation after a string of mysterious deaths and murders took place on the premises.

American Horror Story: Events At The Cecil Hotel That Inspired The Season

The Cecil Hotel has been host to at least 16 different suicides, murders, and other mysterious paranormal events. On top of that, it’s been home to some of America’s most notorious serial killers, including Richard Ramirez in the 1980s, who was known as the “Night Stalker” and Jack Unterweger, who had a penchant for killing prostitutes. The first reported suicide was in 1931, when W.K. Norton, a guest at the hotel, reportedly drank poison in his room. Since then, others have shot themselves, slit their own throats, and even jumped out of their bedroom windows. All of these tragedies contributed to a growing reputation, and is part of why the hotel eventually came to be known as “The Suicide”.

Furthermore, more disturbing events have taken place at the Cecil Hotel. In 1944, Dorothy Jean Purcell awoke in the middle of the night with stomach pains. Despite not knowing she was pregnant, she went to the bathroom and gave birth to a baby boy. Thinking the baby was dead, she threw it out the window. In 1962, George Giannini was walking by the Cecil when a woman struck him from above, killing him instantly. The woman was Pauline Otton, who had jumped from her ninth-story room after an argument with her husband. It is because of events such as these that the Cecil Hotel has been dubbed the most haunted hotel in Los Angeles. While certainly tragic, the Cecil set an amazingly creepy framework for the fictional Hotel Cortez in American Horror Story.

Next: American Horror Story Season 1’s Murder House Is Haunted In Real Life