I don’t know if 2021 is the year of serial killer “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez and the Cecil Hotel or not, but it’s starting to feel that way. Why? Great question! After all, the Cecil is closed and Ramirez is dead. So what gives?
It’s because of the premiere of three shows. Two from Netflix and one from discovery+. Let’s take a look at all of them.
1. Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel
On January 4, Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel launched on discovery+ when the new streamer went live. The investigation examined the hotel’s paranormal activity as well as its dark history.
In addition to the unsolved mystery of Elisa Lam, the GA crew delved into the hotel’s other true crime connections, including two serial killers who stayed at the hotel: Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger.
Zak owns some of Ramirez’s drawings and brought two with him to the hotel. Did he make contact with Ramirez’s spirit? That’s debatable, but one of the psychics Zak brought along for the investigation, Marti Parry, seemed to pick up on his presence.
If you’ve ever been curious about going inside the Cecil Hotel but never got the chance, I must say this Ghost Adventures episode allows you to do that.
2. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
A little over a week after the Ghost Adventures episode launched on discovery+, Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer released on Netflix on January 13. Kind of like The Ripper did, Night Stalker focuses less on the serial killer and more on the investigation to catch him.
Which, in the end, still makes him the center of attention, but it’s not like the series is a biography of him. It really is much more about the second part of the show’s title: “the hunt” to catch him.
Netflix has done a good job with true crime docuseries and Night Stalker is no exception. Prepare to get hooked and binge once you start it!
3. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
As of this post’s publication, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel hasn’t been released yet. However, it’s coming to Netflix on February 10. Here’s its description on Netflix:
The notorious Cecil Hotel grows in infamy when guest Elisa Lam vanishes. From the creator of The Ted Bundy Tapes, a dive into crime’s darkest places.
As Variety reported, executive director and producer Joe Berlinger “sets out to deconstruct what really happened to college student and tourist Lam, who stayed at the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles in February 2013.”
What I wonder is: Did Berlinger get access inside the hotel too? If so, a statement Zak made in the Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel episode about his being “exclusive” may not be accurate. Maybe he meant exclusive as far as a paranormal investigation? I don’t know. I guess we’ll see how much time we get to spend inside the Cecil when Crime Scene premiers.
Now do you see why I’m wondering if 2021 is the year of Richard Ramirez and the Cecil Hotel since it’s starting out with so many shows about both?
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Which do you like watching: true crime docuseries, paranormal investigations, or both?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Richard Ramirez died in the hospital of cancer on June 13 2013
Yes, he sure did. I was just pointing out there’s suddenly a lot of shows this year “resurrecting” him. lol