Enter this hotel freely and of your own will…

 

Victor, Colorado’s The Black Monarch, a boutique hotel that began life as a “haunted bordello” and has gained attention for its Victorian Gothic aesthetic and serial killer-themed rooms, has unveiled Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, a room themed around the horror movie icon and cult phenomenon whose characterization of Count Dracula transformed pop culture’s portrayal of vampires.

 

“We are very proud to be working directly with the Lugosi Estate and are excited to highlight Bela Lugosi’s legacy at the Black Monarch,” owner and designer Adam Zimmerli said on the eve of Halloween.

 

The Hungarian-born Lugosi’s early version of Dracula, which he created on stage in 1927, perfected the dark shadowy figure walking among us that now perpetuates vampire lore. The new Black Monarch room has a floor-to-ceiling 15-foot photorealistic mural of Bela Lugosi, as well as licensed Bela Lugosi as Dracula merchandise as decoration, prints of photos from the family archives and a copy of the only family-authorized biography of Lugosi, provided by Lynne Lugosi Sparks, his granddaughter.

 

The partnership between the Black Monarch and the Lugosi Estate also include plans for a merchandise line, and a screening of the 1931 film Dracula, hosted by Lugosi Sparks at the Black Monarch in 2021.

The Bela Lugosi room is among renovations at the Black Monarch that include painting the elaborate exterior in a gothic motif, an atrium room, a restored antique claw foot bathtub, and more themed rooms. 

 

The Black Monarch Hotel gained notoriety when it opened in May 2019 for its story: the former allegedly haunted brothel, casino and saloon from a gold rush era was renovated to reflect its dark history. The building’s 1899 ambiance was preserved while also painted black and gold to reflect a decadent opium den. Rooms are themed after serial killers like H.H. Holmes and Elizabeth Bathory, and are brimming with taxidermy, naughty Victorian pop-up books, tomes on Satanism and other oddities.

 

The hotel hosted the Haunted Writer’s Retreat in February, with writers attending horror writing workshops, going on walks to the local cemetery, learning about the wild mining town history, and immersing themselves in literary isolation a la The Shining.