The Shining hotel digging up pet cemetery

The Colorado hotel that served as the inspiration for the Outlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining is planning to dig up its historic pet cemetery.

Owners of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park say they want to dig up the graves, moving them to the other side of a small pond, to make way for a wedding and corporate retreat pavilion.

A small white fence surrounds some dozen marked graves where beloved pets were interred during the 1960s.

Local "dog psychic" Rosemary McArthur warns "stirring up the bones of the dead" could mean more than the hotel is bargaining for, causing construction delays, burst pipes and accidents if the animals are unhappy.

"They'll pull owners to them if the owners passed over and are unhappy," she explains.

And while McArthur said paranormal problems could be avoided if an expert comes along to help the dead animals' spirits make the move, some neighbors are unhappy for a more earthly reason.

The new 200-seat pavilion would be within earshot of 18 homes in the Stanley Historic District, and neighbors like Roxanne VanSkiver say they're concerned about the noise.

Hotel staff said the cemetery isn't too much of a draw on tours, at least compared to the famous hotel. As it happens, the Stanley Hotel's pet graveyard appears to be a coincidence: An assistant for King confirmed the author's Pet Sematary was inspired by a pet cemetery in Orrington, Maine.

Reported by:  UPI.com