Whatever Became of Idaho’s Haunted Bates Motel?

Coeur d'Alene in the Rumor Mill

It's a little-known fact that the Bates Motel in Coeur d'Alene is said to have been the inspiration for the setting of Robert Bloch's 1959 horror novel, "Psycho."

According to the rumor mill, it was loosely based on the crimes of the infamous serial killer Ed Gein from Plainfield, Wisconsin. Just a year later, the novel made its silver screen debut. Directed by the renowned "master of suspense," Alfred Hitchcock, "Psycho" is a sneak peak into the mind of a murderous madman obsessed with winning his mother's approval.

Decades after its debut, the iconic suspense thriller still enthralls audiences with its notorious 45-second shower scene featured in the clip below.

"Psycho" Screen Themes // YouTube

Patriotic & Paranormal Activity at the Bates Motel

As reported by the Lewiston Tribune in Coeur d'Alene, the motel once fulfilled a patriotic obligation by accommodating U.S. soldiers stationed at the Farragut Naval Training Center during World War II.

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Following the conclusion of the war in 1945, the barracks underwent a transformation into a 12-room motel, initially recognized as the Rodeway Inn. In subsequent years, an individual named Randy Bates took over ownership of the property, rebranding it as the Bates Motel.

The while it operated as a traditional motel, a multitude of Bates Motel patrons shared accounts of paranormal occurrences they witnessed during their stays.

Haunted Rooms America documented reports from guests in rooms one and three and rooms nine through eleven, who claimed to have encountered the following phenomena:

• sightings of ghostly apparitions and an unsettling sense of being observed;
• observations of mysterious movements of objects without apparent cause;
• encounters with abrupt and unaccountable sensations of coldness;
• experiences with flickering lights and hearing peculiar, unexplained sounds;
• and overwhelming feelings of disquiet and anxiety.

The Bates Motel closed its doors in 2015, yet it endures as an eccentric piece of Idaho history.

Keep scrolling for a look at photos from the real Bates Motel in Coeur d'Alene