As surreal as the 1408 movie's storyline may seem, it is based on a true story. Directed by Mikael Håfström, 1408 was released in 2007 and is hailed as one of the best horror movie adaptations of Stephen King's books. It featured John Cusack as Mike Enslin, a paranormal skeptic who pens books that debunk supernatural occurrences. His latest investigation takes him to a grand New York City hotel named The Dolphin that accommodates a haunted room, 1408. Despite warnings from hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), Mike insists on staying in 1408 and finds his skepticism tested.
The Stephen King movie is based on the short story of the same name. The story first appeared in his self-narrated audiobook Blood And Smoke and later in his short story collection Everything’s Eventual. In the movie, Mike records his thoughts on room 1408, stating, “Hotel rooms are a naturally creepy place, don’t you think? I mean, how many people have slept in that bed before you? How many of them were sick? How many of them lost their minds?” However, the inherently creepy nature of hotel rooms was not the only inspiration for the story.
The Hotel Del Coronado Inspired Stephen King's 1408
According to reports (via Hotel del Coronado’s website), Stephen King was inspired to write the short story, 1408, after reading about an investigation conducted by parapsychologist Christopher Chacon at San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado. Built in the late 1880s, the luxurious hotel was a playground for Hollywood’s elite in the Roaring Twenties and hosted stars including Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, and Greta Garbo. However, it is most famous for a tragic incident that took place in its vicinity a few years after its grand opening.
Related
1408 Is Stephen King’s Most Underrated Short Story Adaptation
The John Cusack vehicle 1408 is the story of a man versus a room, making it more impressive that it's one of Stephen King's best adaptations.
In 1892 a young woman named Kate Morgan checked into the Hotel del Coronado on Thanksgiving under a false name and informed the staff she was waiting for a male companion. Five days after checking in, however, Kate’s body was found on a flight of stairs leading to the beach after she took her own life. Since then, hotel guests and employees have reported several spooky incidents mostly centered around the third-floor guestroom Morgan occupied. From inexplicably moving objects to disembodied voices and footsteps, the hotel's staff has reported it all.
Are Any Of The Events In 1408 Real?
Strangely, Christopher Chacon experienced paranormal incidents in a room that was a part of the maids’ quarters in Hotel del Coronado; not in Kate Morgan's original room. After setting up infrared cameras, magnetic meters, and other relevant investigation devices, Chacon and his team detected a total of 37 abnormalities in the former maid’s room, including a glass that fell to the floor by itself. Chacon’s experiences were not even remotely as terrifying and bizarre as Mike Enslin's in 1408. However, they still established that Stephen King's short story and the 1408 movie adaptation have some semblance of reality to them.
Other Stephen King Stories Inspired By True Events
The Shining, Pet Sematary, The Dark Half, & A Good Marriage
Stephen King's stories are twisted and haunting, but even some of the scariest have an influence that the author came up with from real life. One of the most obvious examples is The Shining. Fans still talk about the iconic Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which King based the Overlook Hotel on. King went to stay at the hotel for a vacation with his wife, Tabitha, and when he heard it was haunted, it piqued his imagination. The hotel was preparing to close for the winter, and he wandered the almost empty hotel, and The Shining began to form.
When Stephen King was a “writer-in-residence” at the University of Maine in 1979, he rented a house next to a major road where people's pets were always killed by passing trucks. King's daughter had a cat, and it ended up dying when it was hit by a vehicle. King learned of a "pet sematary" near his house, and they buried the cat there. When King's son Owen almost wandered onto the road, he came up with the story of Gage dying and being buried and resurrected in the Pet Sematary.
The Dark Half showed a writer giving up their own pseudonym.
The Dark Half is a book that has a personal meaning for Stephen King. At the time, King was writing horror novels under his name and other books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Fans seemed to want to see King only write horror novels, and eventually they discovered he was Bachman. This made King decide to give up that pseudonym, and The Dark Half showed a writer giving up their own pseudonym, only for their other "half" to return and try to force themselves to be the only one.
There is also a lesser-known short story by Stephen King that was made into a movie starring Julianne Moore. In A Good Marriage, a woman named Darcey discovers the horrifying realization that her husband, Bob, is a serial killer. He even admits it to her, but she ends up killing him when she gets the chance and saves herself. Stephen King based Bob on Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, and the outcry against his wife of 30 years for having no knowledge of his killing spree.
Your Rating
Rate Now 0/10
Leave a Review
Your comment has not been saved
1408
PG-13
Mystery
1408 follows a man who debunks paranormal phenomena, as he checks into the infamous room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. His skepticism is put to the test when he encounters real horror within its walls.
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
*Availability in US
- Director
- Mikael Håfström
- Release Date
- June 22, 2007
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Pictures , The Weinstein Company , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Dimension Films
- Cast
- John Cusack , Samuel L. Jackson , Mary McCormack , Jasmine Jessica Anthony , Tony Shalhoub , Alexandra Silber , Noah Lee Margetts , William Armstrong , Paul Birchard , Margot Leicester , Angel Oquendo , Walter Lewis , Eric Meyers , Holly Hayes , Johann Urb , Andrew-Lee Potts , Kim Thomson , Drew Powell , Isiah Whitlock Jr. , Benny Urquidez , Len Cariou , Ray Nicholas , Paul Kasey , George Cottle , William Willoughby , Thomas A. McMahon , Kevin Dobson , Peter Conboy , Georgie Lee-Robinson , Bernadette Lords , Rob McGillivray , Kate Walsh
- Runtime
- 112 Minutes
Sources: Hotel del Coronado’s website
