Mexican film maker Guillermo del Toro’s name has rightfully attained a household status amid billions of fans, who love the magical worlds of light and puppetry he has weaved together over the decades, filled with monsters and specters that are as frightening as they are adored across the world.
His next cinematic creature to fill in theater seats—Frankenstein; or to be more precise, Frankenstein’s monster— is currently keeping him very busy on the spectral landscapes of Scotland he carefully selected to shoot this new tour-de-force. But amid the exhausting production schedule, Guillermo has managed to share a few real-life anecdotes to his 2.4 million followers on Twitter that are heavily reminiscent of some of his own ghost movies.
It all started four days ago, with this Tweet thread:
Whilst in Aberdeen, I am staying in an old 1800’s hotel. [I] am in the Most Haunted room of it- which was vacated this morning by one of our producers. Odd electrical and physical occurences [sic] scared her into leaving asap. Stay tuned- if anything happens I will report.
I always stay in “the most haunted rooms“ but onlybonce [sic] did I experience anything supernatural- the rest of the time: nothing. I have high hopes.
I love Scotland- and, even when my links to it are not by bloodline, I feel close to it. My mother’s family side, has lineage going to Ireland- the O’Colligan family. My Grandfather (after whom I am named) was Guillermo Gomez O’Colligan.
While Guillermo didn’t share the actual name of the haunted hotel he and his filming crew were staying, writer Opheli Garcia Lawler at The Thrillist suggested it might be the Norwood Hall hotel, which is said to be one of the most haunted locations in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The first posts alluding to possible paranormal activity at the hotel was followed the next day by a slightly disappointing update, in which Guillermo admitted he hadn’t ‘seen’ anything that night, but the ambience in the room was nonetheless very unpleasant…
UPDATE-. I can only say:. Nothingbhas [sic] happened yet, but the atmosphere in the room is opressive [sic] and I am not gonna spend much more time there. It may be suggestion, but at this point I kept it but am sleeping in another room- I need 6 hours of sleep to have a good shooting day- Im stopping there early and late in the day- but something is in that room with me… If anything happens or [n]othing does expect one or two more updates.
The day after, Guillermo alerted his followers he was still looking forward to experience something otherworldly at the infamous hotel room, while sharing his personal impressions:
6:28 Scotland. Finished the shooting day. Going into the room now- dinner at 8:00 Anything happens and I will update. [T]he room has more than vibes there is something angry and teritorial [sic] there. A shred of rage. Room #4
To try to convey what he meant when he described the room’s atmosphere as ‘angry and territorial’, he took a somewhat distorted selfie using one of the mirrors in the room:
in the mirror at Room #4
Guillermo even tried a few ‘ghosthunting’ tricks in order to communicate with the angry presence of the room, by way of an EVP app pulled from his cell phone.
trying for an EVP on my Iphone
No doubt my friend John E.L. Tenney would have suggested an old-fashioned analog magnetic recorder to the seasoned director instead of modern digital gadgetry, since analog technology seems to be more efficient in capturing electromagnetic anomalies—as a fan of traditional movie tricks instead of relying exclusively on CGI effects, I suspect del Toro would have agreed…
Alas, Guillermo’s parapsychological experimentation produced no discernible results that night—just like in real life, because only on Television shows do you see ghost hunters obtaining results with 100% effectivity *ahem*
No sounds or sights happened- but justan opressive [sic] vibe- Room #4 I shall return… Life is unstructured- no grand finale
Ever the storyteller, however, Guillermo knew he needed to offer his followers some sort of conclusion; which is why he posted the message below the following day:
Finished the shooting day- and- as an epilogue to the haunted room– One of our cast had a similar sensation in the room and one of our crew saw someone outside the window… On the second floor. So, there: I went [out] flat, but the place is worth exploring!!
So there you have it. A bit of an anticlimactic ending to an initially tantalizing ghost story; but personally, I think it was probably for the best. For imagine how distraught all of Guillermo Del Toro’s fans would have been, if production of Frankenstein was cancelled on account of its director dying of a heart attack, after encountering some vengeful Banshee still angry with his Great-great-great-great-grandfather on his mother’s side.
Frankenstein is scheduled to be released in 2025.
