Phantasmagoria Photography Prints 
Instantaneous Photographs of Things Unseen
Captured by S.M. McClure on October 2, 2023.
 
Captured through the lens of eerie stillness, "Descent" is a fine art print featuring the grand staircase of the Crescent Hotel—America’s most haunted hotel, nestled in the Ozark hills of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
 
The photograph bathes in soft, atmospheric light, drawing the eye downward in a slow spiral of worn wood, inviting viewers to step into the lingering presence of those who never truly checked out of the infamous, haunted hotel.

The Crescent Hotel opened in 1886 as a luxury resort, and the hotel's opulence quickly gave way to decay, repurposing, and eventually infamy. After a stint as a conservatory and girls’ school, it found its darkest chapter in 1937, when it was purchased by Norman G. Baker, a fraudulent medical practitioner and radio personality already notorious for promoting a fake cancer cure in Iowa. Baker transformed the hotel into a "cancer hospital", despite having no medical license. He claimed to cure terminal illnesses with injections of colored liquids and bizarre treatments. Desperate patients arrived with hope, and many died under his care. He wore a lavender suit and styled himself as a misunderstood genius, all while raking in millions through exploitation and deception. In 1940, he was convicted of mail fraud and served time in Leavenworth Federal Prison.
 
If you want to learn more about Norman Baker and his various crimes, head over to our Lantern Light blog post here.
 
A Staircase Through Time... and Beyond. The Crescent’s long and layered history has bred decades of ghost stories and paranormal investigations. Guests and staff have reported apparitions on the staircase—figures in 1930s attire, cold drafts, and unexplained footsteps echoing from nowhere. Paranormal investigators believe this area to be a hotspot of spectral energy, where time seems thin and echoes from the Baker era still resonate.