Something Still Walks Beneath the Lava Hot Springs Inn

Cindy Martin was working in the basement laundry room of the Lava Hot Springs Inn when she saw a dark figure that looked like a person. She couldn’t make out a face or recognize anyone. The figure was simply standing where nobody was supposed to be.

Another employee, Sierra Peace, reported seeing something similar in the same room. Both women had worked at the hotel for years, and neither could explain what she’d seen.

They began calling it the Shadow Man.

The Basement Had Once Been a Morgue

The Lava Hot Springs Inn stands in a small Idaho town famous for its natural mineral springs. People had been visiting the area for generations to soak in the warm water.

In 1924, a large brick building was constructed to provide medical treatment for people who came hoping to improve their health. It operated as a hospital and later became a rest home, with treatment rooms, an operating room and a morgue downstairs.

By the 1980s, the old medical facility was no longer operating. George Katsilometes bought the property in 1988 and began turning it into a hotel.

He kept much of the original building, including the old room layout. Guests now slept in spaces where patients had once received treatment, while employees used the basement for everyday hotel work.

The former morgue had become the laundry room where Cindy and Sierra reported seeing the Shadow Man.

A Woman Appeared in Room 13

One of the hotel’s earliest ghost stories came from a couple staying in Room 13. According to George, the guests woke during the night and saw a woman standing in their room. She was wearing an old-fashioned hospital gown and asked them why they were there.

When the couple told George what had happened, he wasn’t convinced. He thought they might have imagined the experience or simply made it up.

Several months later, another couple stayed in the same room. They reported seeing a woman who matched the earlier description.

George began paying more attention. He couldn’t understand why two unrelated couples would describe such similar experiences.

He also knew that Room 13 had once been used to administer anesthesia before surgery. The room next door had been the operating room, and the two spaces had originally been connected by a doorway. That old doorway was about to cause more trouble.

Someone Didn’t Want the Bookcase Moved

Two employees were rearranging furniture near the old doorway between Room 13 and the former operating room. They wanted to place a bookcase in front of it. The doorway was no longer being used, so they couldn’t see any reason to leave the space empty.

But while they were moving the furniture, they reportedly heard a woman’s voice telling them not to put the bookcase there. Both workers were startled. Nobody else seemed to be nearby, and the voice appeared to be coming from the direction of the doorway.

They decided to finish moving the bookcase anyway. According to George, the old door began rattling that night, almost as though someone on the other side was trying to get through.

Employees eventually began calling the mysterious woman Martha. They suspected she might have worked at the hospital years earlier, although nobody managed to find out who she was.

George Had His Own Frightening Experience

George had spent years listening to strange stories from his employees and guests. He knew the people working for him, especially Cindy and Sierra, and believed they were telling him what they’d experienced.

Other workers, including Susan Soward and Nathleen Rife, also reported unusual things around the property. But George hadn’t seen any of the figures himself. His own experience happened one day while he was working in the basement boiler room.

He suddenly felt certain that someone was standing close behind him. It was the unmistakable feeling of another person coming up beside him, close enough that he expected to see somebody when he turned around. He looked behind him, but the room was empty.

George checked the area and couldn’t find anyone who might have approached him without making a sound. He later told reporters about the experience, admitting that he couldn’t explain why he’d been so certain someone was there.

Although the encounter frightened him, George didn’t believe the hotel was dangerous. He thought that if spirits were living there, they probably weren’t interested in hurting anyone.

He even developed his own unusual way of dealing with them. Sometimes he left windows open, hoping any spirits trapped inside might find their way out.

The Hotel Attracted Ghost Hunters

By 2015, George had collected at least fifteen reports of unusual activity at the inn. Some visitors described seeing figures in their rooms, while others reported knocking, footsteps or the uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching them.

A few guests became frightened enough that they wanted to leave before spending the night. Others stayed in the same rooms without experiencing anything unusual.

Ghost-hunting groups began visiting the property, hoping to record some of the activity. The stories also attracted the attention of producers from the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures.

In August 2015, the television crew arrived in Lava Hot Springs. They spent three days filming at the hotel and around town, interviewing people who had experienced strange things.

Fans travelled to the area hoping to meet the show’s investigators, and the episode aired that November. George was pleased with the attention. He hoped the program would encourage more tourists to visit Lava Hot Springs and perhaps spend a night at the inn.

The hotel was already known for its mineral pools, but now visitors had another reason to be curious about the old building. Some came hoping to experience the same things the employees had reported.

A Visitor Wanted to Talk to a Cowboy Ghost

Years later, a woman named Amber Mills described another frightening experience at the inn. Amber said she’d seen what looked like a human head moving through the building without a body attached to it. She also reported hearing heavy boots walking across a wooden floor when nobody was nearby.

The footsteps made her think of a cowboy. She became convinced that one of the hotel’s spirits might be a man who had lived in the area long ago.

Instead of trying to avoid him, Amber became curious about who he was and why he might still be there. She started looking into ways of communicating with spirits, gathering equipment that she hoped would allow her to ask questions.

Among the things she collected were dowsing rods, a pendulum and a device designed to detect possible paranormal activity. By the time she spoke to an Idaho television reporter, Amber had made up her mind about what she wanted to do.

She was going back to the inn to look for the cowboy.

And if she found him, she wanted to ask why he enjoyed frightening people.