The Gray Lady

Lizzie had no one else to talk to about the Gray Lady, except Mildred, the Inn’s housekeeper.  

“She’s generally benign, as ghosts go, I mean she does have that odor, and makes strange noises, but she is driving out all the guests! The Inn is not going to make it past summer if we don’t get better reviews, and more guests” 

“Something changed when you showed up, dear, she’s more active." Mildred said.  “I have even seen her walking around more.” 

“What do you think keeps her here, I mean not passing on?” Lizzie asked.

Mildred pauses before she speaks, “I think she is stuck here, looking for something, or for someone."

Throwing her hands up, Lizzie exclaims, “We need to move her on!” 

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HotelReviews.com:

The Lakeside Inn is a hotel on Lake Erie which has seen better days. According to the plaque on the wall,  it was a  successful speakeasy and boat slip for the rum-runners crossing the Lake from Canada during Prohibition. The Inn looks like it has not been painted since then either...   

Built in the 1920’s, the attached bar used to be a popular nightspot for gangsters and politicians from the City.  Since the only people I saw there looked about 100 years old, maybe some of them never left...  Mystery writer Dashiell Hammett frequented the place and supposedly a real shooting was described in one of his books. At least that is what the Manager said when I asked about the holes in the wall…  

 According to the legend, a ghost haunts the place, they call her the Gray Lady. The story is she was a beautiful woman who drowned herself in the Lake next to the Inn when she discovered her husband kidnapped their daughter and ran away with his lover.

I didn't see any ghosts, nor housekeeping, nor any staff at all!  I would have been happy to see a ghost, as long as they would have cleaned my room while they were at it…

-1 Star

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Lizzie banged the spray can of Raid on her desk to try to stop the line of ants, but it was too late. Just like the many One Star reviews for the Lakeside Inn, they just kept coming and there was nothing she could do about it.  The futility of turning the fortunes of this old Inn around weighed heavily on her. This spring weekend, there were only two rooms occupied, and none so far for next week. Lizzie thought back to how she got here.  

The unsolicited letter she received inviting her to take over management of the small 12-room Lakeside Inn, did not mention the terrible reviews the hotel received, the poor condition of the hot water plumbing, nor that the hotel only had two full time staff, Mildred the housekeeper, and her husband Frank the handyman.  It did mention a good salary, and the resident ghost, which she didn't believe in, then. 

Lizzie was never a believer in spirits, or interested in fantasy; reality was enough for her.  From growing up an orphan, or her tour in the Army, or maybe just because of her nature she was practical.  So the mention of a ghost did not register for her, she had skipped over that part of the letter as if it was not there, the words as incorporeal as its topic, her attention directed to the City name she recognized as where her Mother grew up, and the salary, much better than her current one. Lizzie had been working in a large corporate hotel at the time, and the job was similar enough to peak her interest.   With those points in the ‘Pro’ column, and the ‘Con’ column empty, other than the effort needed to pack up and move, her decision was easy.   She had moved before for less.  She responded to the owners by letter and moved to the Inn the next week.  She has still yet to communicate with the owners other than by post.  After just a few days the reality of the strange events which occurred at the Inn, when they had no other explanation except a supernatural ghost, has made accepting the Gray Lady easy too. 

 Since arriving here last month, Lizzie has looked for her Mother’s people. She has asked around with the little information she had remembered from being a child, with no luck.  She never got on with her Father’s friends,  Aunt Petey and Uncle Joe, who she lived with since her Father left her there after her Mother’s funeral when she was 10.  Family history was not spoken of, so it made her want to find out her history even more.  Something happened to her Grandmother, and it affected her Mom, but what?  Lizzie tried everything to find out, but just dead ends.  Aunt Petey used her for free labor mainly, and she escaped to the military as soon as she could. 

Lizzie adjusts, again, her photograph of her Mother. It moves around her desk every night, and sometimes the frame is damp with water, another quirk of working in a haunted Inn.  In the black and white picture, her Mother is about 3, and she is with her mom,  Lizzie’s Grandmother, who she was named after. Lizzie doesn’t know anything about her Grandmother, other than she died just after the photo was taken.  Lizzie’s Mother is in a light colored jumper, holding flowers in one hand, and her Mom’s in the other. Lizzie’s Grandmother is wearing a sleeveless dark pencil dress, and a matching bell-shaped cloche hat. Lizzie always loved that her Grandmother is so glamorously dressed. Lizzie longs to learn more about her mother’s family, and hopefully connect with them. 

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ReviewYourStay.com 

I was only there for one night on my way through town. It had bad reviews but what could go wrong in one night. It turns out, everything!  All night there were banging noises, like someone was throwing dishes at the walls. I assume it was the air conditioning system, as cold wet air flowed into the room. And then after I was woken up for the third time by the damn noise, all the faucets in the bathroom went on, along with all of the lights in the room. Just when I stood up they went off, until I sat down, and then they all came on again!  Some terrible mold smell came up from the bathroom pipes too.  It was like someone was playing a joke on me, but no one was there!   At 5 AM when I couldn't fall back asleep I finally left. That place is terrible.

-1 Star

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 Lizzie can hear the Gray Lady,  banging around upstairs, slamming doors. The staff and Lizzie now take her for granted.  Lizzie herself has not seen the Gray Lady, only heard descriptions of the well dressed woman in 1920’s fashion wandering the halls.   Lizzie has seen and felt the strange hallucination effects though,  a room will transform to look like it did in the 20’s, heard her throwing things,  and smelled her moldy presence.  The Gray Lady occasionally writes notes on the bar mirror in red lipstick to keep up the communication such as ‘Find Her’, or a name , they assume it is hers, ‘Elizabeth’. 

Reservations are way down, and Lizzie knew that if something did not change soon, there would be no more Lakeside Inn. Lizzie wrote letters to the owners explaining the situation, however there was no answer. So, Lizzie, ever practical, worked on the problems she understood. She  had the plumbing and air conditioning fixed,  hired some part time staff, and had them trained in customer service.  But she never had a ghost problem before! 

After she realized the extent of the problem, Lizzie did what she would do for any pest, she called in an exterminator service.  Psychic Cleaning, a ghost buster -type outfit, came by in a bright purple and green panel van, with their logo of a cartoon ghost holding a mop featured on both sides. The two men, Bill, and Roman, hopped out wearing headsets and holding electric gizmos.  One of the men started walking around the Inn, while Lizzie explained about the infestation. 

“The Gray Lady really doesn't like young couples.  Families come and go and not a sound out of her, but if a young man and woman show up, she is going to go off.  Jealousy maybe?”

“We suggest not describing human emotions to an apparition. “ Bill said. 

“But it is true!” Lizzie said. “The Gray Lady has a signature, whenever she is around, the air gets colder and a damp wet smell comes along.   As if the room has been flooded, it’s the mildew smell of damp old books and old clothes locked up too long. “ 

“We’ll get to work! “Bill said excitedly, their eyes bright at the prospect of catching a ghost. 

The two men from Psychic Cleaning set up gear and cameras,  recording hallways all through the night, but the Gray Lady never showed.   She is too smart for them, Lizzie guessed.  After a week goes by with no good video, the guys give up, they are off to some haunted house in New Hampshire with more promise.  

On the way out,  Roman says, “ You know, we noticed you really don't have many guests. Even though we did not find any definite proof, some people really get into ghost stories.  You should market your Inn as haunted. Your resident ghost could be a way to get customers in.” 

Roman leans in and whispers, “ A lot of ghost sightings are really just what people expect to see,” he says, “not what is actually there.” 

Bill adds, “Play up the Gray Lady, let people know they can get a chance to interact with a real ghost.”

Lizzie, open to anything, tries it out with a promotion sent out to all the paranormal groups she could find.   But the Gray Lady does not like that, she is not accommodating to ghost-chasers.  It turns out she can be  a loud, smelly frightening ghost when she wants to.

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FiveStarStays.com 

We love ghost stories, so we went to the Lakeside Inn to see the Gray Ghost. But we didn't see any ghosts- we saw a crime scene!  We came back to our room on the second night there, and someone was murdered in our room!  There was blood splattered on the sheets and walls, the smell of gunpowder and damp mold, and bottles of old liquor and champagne everywhere- someone had a raging party that ended in a shootout! I thought the lamps and pictures on the wall were different from when we left- but  we didn't think to take any pictures. We ran down to get the hotel manager, and when we told her we were in room # 13, she said just to wait in the bar for an hour and she would take care of it. What kind of service is that!  Although I guess she did something, because when we went back one hour later everything was back the way we had left it. Strange, but we are not staying there again! 

1 Star

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HotelReviews.com

The Lakeside Inn staff are thieves!  I was in the bar, and I knew I was wearing both earrings and my matching pearls, when I noticed one went missing.  I had the staff looking around for it, and then my necklace and bracelet went missing too!  I know one of them took it- how could it just go missing? And then my husband's watch went missing the next day!  

I let the Manager have it, let me tell you- and I could not believe that she blamed the ghost!  The same Gray Lady ghost they talk about like it is some amusement park ride. I think it is just a cover for their criminal activities!  I had to call the police,  it was such a brazen theft.  And of course that worked,  because while we were speaking to the police in our room, the bathtub started running somehow, with no one there to turn it on?  Then, we found all my missing jewelry in the toilet, and my husband's watch propped up on a towel.  I know they did it, I just don't know how…

1 Star

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The lipstick sign on the bar this morning said, ‘No More’.

Looking through recent reviews, Lizzie realizes now it is worse.  People think the ghost story is just made up to get people to come to the Inn, which was true in a way.   Lizzie is ready to give up, the Gray Lady wins.   The hotel is a dump, and no one cares about ghosts, they just think that the Inn is old, and the staff are crooks.   Lizzie finally got a letter from the owners, it was an ultimatum she has this summer to turn the situation around, or else the Inn closes for good.  

That night, Lizzie can not hold it together any more, and she sits in the bar by herself re-reading the letter.  Waving it in the air, she yells out into the halls, “You hear that Gray Lady! This Inn is going to close! You are going to get what you want! You're tired of people, good! We will leave you alone in this old dump! Elizabeth you win!”  The dark night echoes her words, and there is no response from the Gray Lady.  Lizzie’s long, still night goes on.

The next morning, Lizzie gets her coffee.  Only one person is scheduled for the weekend.  Her head hurts from too much wine, and no solution to her problem. She needs a miracle to get the place fully reserved. She doesn't know what she is going to do. She started smelling the wet moldy smell that announces the Gray Lady’s presence.  The banging and smashing started upstairs and Lizzie just shook her head. She looks across at the large mirror and sees scrawled in lipstick- “ I will help”. Lizzie can not imagine what that can mean. 

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InnsofAmericaReviews.com

We got to the Lakeside Inn late, after midnight, and at first we didn't see anyone at the front desk.  After a few minutes a beautiful woman walked in. She must have been at a costume party as she was dressed in an old flapper dress and had short bob hair, with an old style brimless hat.  The attendant didn't even say anything, but after a few minutes some keys appeared, Room 13, and it was great!  A 1920s-themed room even,  with some retro looking liquor and champagne waiting for us in ice buckets.  It was a magical experience.  Although the next morning, the Manager did not know about the Night Manager, and said they did not even have room 13?  No matter, we never had a better time at an Inn! 

5 Stars

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FiveStarStays.com 

I really did not want to stay at the lakeside Inn, the reviews are terrible! But the price was right, and it was only one night. I have to say I had the best time!  I don't know how they knew my favorite music, but they had Ragtime playing and incredible decorations from Harlem renaissance decorating my room. I did not believe the ghost stories,  I am not into that mumbo- jumbo.  However, late at night I saw something, and I swear it looked just like my mother. She smiled, and reached out to me and I was in tears, I really felt her presence. I believe it really was her, and I felt so good seeing her and knowing she was in a good place.  I have to go back. 

5 Stars

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Two weeks later, Lizzie sits at her desk, and looks at the full schedule of reservations for the next few weeks. The Inn has become the place for people to connect with their dreams. Tonight the Inn is fully booked for the first time since Lizzie came here. It is past midnight, and the guests have finally stopped their requests, and it is quiet.  Lizzie takes a deep breath and goes to the bar to get a glass of wine before she goes to her room. 

On the bar mirror the lipstick writing says “I am her”.

In the hallway she smells the faint, wet damp smell of Elizabeth.  And then in front of her, for the first time Lizzie sees the Gray Lady.  Immaterial, Lizzie can see through her form down the hall. Like some of the guests have said, she is not scary.  Lizzie feels a warm comfortable feeling come over her, and feels a connection, a peace.   

“Hello, Gray Lady, Hello Elizabeth, it is nice to finally meet you," Lizzie says.

The Gray Lady reaches out her hand to take Lizzie’s and Lizzie feels the warmth of the insubstantial hand passing through hers.

The Gray Lady smiled, turned and walked away, down the hallway, and through the back wall toward the Lake.  Lizzie thought she looked glamorous in her sleeveless dark pencil dress, and  matching bell-shaped cloche hat.