The Elvis Room

by Stephen Graham Jones, Pye Parr (Artist)

What if you weren’t looking for evidence of the supernatural, but found it all the same? A true research scientist can either hide that evidence or tell the world. Either way it’s going to haunt you. Either way your life is never going to be the same.

Find out what’s always on the other side of the door.

It’s the Elvis Room.

Genres: Horror, Novella, Supernatural, Ghosts, Fiction, Short Stories, Indigenous

45 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2014

About the author

Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It's a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Did I wait so long to finally read something by SGJ? I have been meaning to read him for a long time and have heard nothing but good things about his work. Now I know why. Dude has skills - that's why. I knew right away once I starting reading this tale of a scientist and his quest to prove ghostly happenings in the Elvis Room that I will be reading more from this author in short order. His prose is extremely smooth and easy to read without being simple and his main character had plenty of depth within a short format. Very well done and Highly Recommended. 4+ Stars!

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woahhha, that was cool! Hated the writing style at first (sorry, that's just me, seems like many others loved it). But at a whopping 45 pages, it didn't take long to get to the goods, and it was worth it! This is my second Stephen Graham Jones. First was The Night Cyclist (which I loved). So, I have yet to read a full length novel of his, but I think I need to soon.

I think I saw this quote in another review, but I liked it too, "There's a reason that other guest pacing you, three steps ahead, is so silent. It's that, under his hat, he has no eyes".

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars.

"There’s a reason that other guest pacing you, three steps ahead, is so silent. It’s that, under his hat, he has no eyes."

When I think of writers who can do no wrong, Stephen Graham Jones immediately comes to mind. By that, I mean that he has such impeccable skills as a writer he will transform any plot line he brings to his pages. The short but haunting The Elvis Room is a good example of this. With its scholarly professor set-up and its "skeptic is challenged" beginning, it is reminiscent of older works from Blackwood and Machen. Yet it is thoroughly contemporary and has its own devious twists and turns.

A scientist studying sleep behavior has a subject who is terrified of the dark because she thinks she is haunted by the her unborn twin sister. He rigs an experiment to prove to her there is nothing in the dark with her but it tends to suggest the reverse. As this gets out in the tabloids, he is labeled as sort of a paranormal crackpot. He looks for a clearly provable incident that lifts him back into the reputation of a serious scientist. He discovers that every time a hotel books the very last empty room someone dies. He becomes obsessed with proving the hypothesis of "The Elvis Room".

Both the first incident in the story and the scientist's Elvis Room experiment become connected and that is where the horror is. This is a tightly structured story that wastes few words. Its power hinges on everything coming together at the right time. In others words, it is a good example of why SGJ is as good as he is. I would call this a excellent beginning novella for those who want to delve into his work. Then as soon as you finish it run out and get Mongrels. You will get my drift.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery relationship listening 🎶🔰

This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account

He is a professor and research on people. One goes badly and effects the rest of his life.

I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of relationships novels 👍🔰 2025 😕

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ELVIS ROOM reads from the point of view of a somewhat obsessive (slightly hyper and neurotic?) is a sleep scientist who finds himself in quite a predicament. He takes a patient afraid to be alone and afraid of the dark who thinks she's being haunted by her unborn/dead sister. He sets it all up and it actually turns out there's something paranormal/supernatural occurring. He then learns of The Elvis Room - it's like the last room in a hotel that you save in case someone like the President, a famous movie star, etc is coming so that you don't have to tell someone in that position you have no accommodations. Every person who checks into said Elvis Room dies. So now he's on this one-way mission to prove everything he can about the Elvis Room.

SGJ's writing style is on point in this and I really felt the fast paced vibes from our narrator. He seems like your "mad scientist" but also not (ok this may just make sense to me). It took me a few pages to get into this because I am not used to SGJ writing in this speed/style/format (?) but once I did I was ready to go on this ride!

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.

Huge writing chops, although this fact distanced me from the story a bit.
Could have just been my mood, read it through a busy time.

[Anomaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating Story, Frustrating Narrative Style

A man with an obsession risks it all to prove a scientific theory that ghosts cannot be real, only to accidentally discover a chilling reality beyond his expectations. But science isn't ready for this, his choices to break protocol have landed him in hot water, and all he can do now is lecture among Bigfoot-believers and alleged alien abductees, outcast to the fringes of science where only those of questionable sanity will listen.

It's in these spaces filled with conspiracy theories where he hears about the one room every hotel leaves unoccupied... and the ghostly theory as to why. He deems it the Elvis Room - as in, the room they seem to set aside just in case Elvis or the President or some other VIP wants a room when all others have been claimed - and it soon becomes his obsession. If he can prove the theory that ghosts occupy that room and kill hotel patrons when it's invaded, he can bring validity to the very work which got him ostracised from the scientific community.

This story follows the man's decline into madness. But is it really madness, or is it something more? Is there a grain of truth to his hypothesis? You'll have to read to find out. And if you're like me, you'll flop between belief and disbelief a few times as the main character spirals ever further out of control of his own life.

I didn't much care for the narrative style; many times, the main character's first person account dragged on his arrogance and got boring with unnecessary details. However, by the halfway mark, I knew I wanted to see this tale through to the end. And, thankfully, the narration style also got more engaging the further the main character fell into his obsession.

This one is very much worth reading through to the end. And I quite like the ghost story it brought to the table. It's not perfect and I think the ending got a bit messy - and also broke its own lore slightly - but I was entertained all the same.

[Toni L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced and interesting, really enjoyed the science and Psychology concepts.

[David Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating piece, not heavy on action or gore, but filled with the kinds of folklore and intriguing paranormal science. The protagonist, who tells us the story is a fallen academic trying to right the ship of his career. Those he interacts with take a back-stage position as the narrative centers on his work, his thoughts, and his absolutely selfish and ego-centric world view. Ghost hunters will love this short book.

Highly Recommended

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing about Stephen Graham Jones is, he is gonna deliver well rounded characters. This was short, it was bizarre, it was a perfect palette cleanser/interlude between reads. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because it started a little slow, but once it picked up, it took off.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great ending!

[unstable.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic SGJ. I love his short stories <3

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A contemporary story totally in the Edgar Allen Poe style, slightly less obsessive narrator, but the result is the same. Great ghost story. Graham's style is effortless for the reader, just beautifully smooth prose with the tension continuing to ratchet as the story progresses.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

scared the hell out of me. so cool, so original. SGJ is always amazing.

[zahraa al lawati · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was pretty fascinating to read, but I wish it had more action and less of the main character’s internal dialogue

[J.D. Keown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted over at my personal blog site, Night Terror Novels

“Stimulus-response, the world conforms to reason; I was a product of my lengthy education. There were no dark corners, as far as I was concerned. Just shadows we haven’t bothered to shine our lights into yet.”
– Stephen Graham Jones, The Elvis Room

Today’s story was actually a recent read for me – I only read it back in December, but Jones has fast become one of my favourite authors and I’ve made it my mission to read his entire oeuvre. He has one of the most unique authorial voices and everything I’ve read thus far has been of such a high quality. As such, I’ve been tracking down and reading as much as I can from him, slowly but surely.

Which brings me on nicely to the subject of today’s review: The Elvis Room. I read this pretty much back to back with Jones’ The Night Cyclist (2016 – another fantastic short, and one I’m sure I’ll feature soon), and loved it. Once again, this short is written in his ‘one-of-a-kind’ style, and has a really unique approach to the premise.

First things first, it’s probably worth mentioning that this is better described as a chapbook or a novelette than a short story – coming together at 44 pages, it is a fair bit longer than many of the stories that will be featured in my previous Sunday Shorts. I’ll admit, I was drawn into this one by the title, and it is so intriguing finding out how it ties into the narrative. I think I actually heard about this when it was released, way back when I was still in university, but I never got around to reading it at the time.

The plot concerns a self-confessed ‘mad’ ex-scientist, who goes to increasingly extreme lengths to prove the existence of an afterlife and the supernatural. To divulge too much more would spoil the plot, but suffice it to say, he gets more than he bargained for. What follows is an engaging and sincerely blood-curdling tale of otherworldly encounters. There is a palpable sense of dread throughout, and the tension ramps up incrementally; right up until it inevitably boils over.

The one slight gripe I have is that sometimes the wording and choice of language Jones’ employs is a tad overbearing. I think maybe this was a conscious decision – perhaps to illustrate the academic background of the protagonist – but it did sometimes work against the flow of the story, I felt. However, this was only an issue a handful of times – in most instances, as the quote above shows, Jones’ language can be beautifully effective.

The ending is absolutely brilliant, as well. I do sometimes find with shorter fiction that the conclusion can be a bit underwhelming, or a little too abstract and confusing. Not so, with The Elvis Room – it really has a perfect ending – genuinely terrifying, and somewhat ambiguous in the best kind of way. In a lot of ways, the finale (and indeed the story in its entirety) was very reminiscent of a classic Victorian ghost story – evoking, in my eyes, the plotting of greats like Algernon Blackwood, Henry James or M. R. James.

VERDICT: A truly chilling little slice of ghostly goodness, The Elvis Room is a highly original short with a wildly inventive premise. Although occasionally the language obfuscates things somewhat, this is a stellar story that is both evocative of the classic greats and entirely fresh and unique. Stephen Graham Jones continues to dazzle and amaze with whatever he writes.

It’s a highly deserved ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ from this reviewer.

Book Information

Title(s): The Elvis Room
Author(s): Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher(s): This Is Horror
Original Publication Date: 31st March, 2014
Page Count: 44 pages
Format Read: Digital
Advance Review Copy (Y/N): N
Website(s): https://www.demontheory.net/
https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/

[Philip Haagensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve worked in sales all my life and have spent at least 20% of my nights in a hotel every year for the past 25 years. I’ve passed countless similar travelers, occasionally exchanging a nod or a subdued “evening” as I pass them in the hotel hallway or staircase. I never think twice about it. But what “Jaws” did for summer swimmers in the ocean, “The Elvis Room” has now done for me in hotels.

Our narrator is a seasoned research scientist, looking to prove ghosts don’t exist and help one of his “haunted” case studies get past her fear of the dark. Much to his surprise, what he accidentally discovers is that, in fact, ghosts do exist and he has the proof. He’s ridiculed by his academic peers and is relegated to speaking at parapsychology trade shows (it does pay well) and conferences focusing on Bigfoot and UFOs. His department at his university scoffed at his scientific process to the point he was disowned by all recognized disciplines.

So what does he do? He doubles down years later, leaving the lecture circuit, and looks for that irrefutable, reproducible evidence to shake the world and make his name a household one.

He learns of an urban legend, what he calls “The Elvis Room”—the very last room in a hotel which is rarely rented out on the happenstance that a VIP shows up out of the blue and needs it. He learns every hotel keeps that one room vacant. He also learns that when that room is rented, someone always dies that night in the hotel. That final available room is there for other “guests”.

Our narrator looks to prove his hypothesis in a most scientific way, writing up his DOE and taking all variables into control, then goes about running the experiment. Needless to say, the dead don’t like the fact their gig is up and someone is on to them.

“There’s a reason that other guest, pacing you, three steps ahead, is so silent. It’s that, under his hat, he has no eyes.”

I am never going to be able to look at another fellow traveler in a Hampton Inn, late at night, without thinking of this line.

Jones spins a tale like the seasoned academic he is, employing full knowledge of the scientific process deftly and juxtaposing with the chilling effects of the supernatural seamlessly. He sprinkles whispers of ghosts and lost souls throughout the tale and, ultimately, makes us understand some data is better left unstrung. But damn....I will never look at a hotel staircase the same. This one hit home hard left a mark.

One last note. It is not lost on me that this copy I received is numbered 99/100 total copies made, a very limited release for sure. I wasn’t sure I would ever own a physical copy of this novella until Stephen graciously donated his personal copy to The Pixel Project, a fundraiser for the prevention of violence against women, and my donation secured this copy. I am hoping that copy 100/100 is still in the possession of the author. If not, knowing I received “The Elvis Copy” will be the final straw and I likely will never be able to sleep without a light on again.

5 out of 5 stars.

[Beth Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here I am, deviant curiosities and all.

Sometimes it happens that you're wandering around the Amazon cyber-showroom comparing prices on used books by one of your favorite authors and contemplating the purchase of another elsewhere because it's a brand-new copy only slightly higher than the used version found here.

Sometimes, it'll happen, that you'll come across an e-novella by this same author that you've not heard of before. And you'll click "Buy Now" even though it totally goes against the whole reason you came here in the first place. You want a $7 new full-length trade paper because it's cheaper than its electronic sibling, yet you won't hesitate to cough up $3.99 for a 45-page e-novella.

I never promised this would make sense, only explain how I came to read this gem. Why? Because it's by Stephen Graham Jones, whom I have come to respect and love as surely as any favored author before him. Also, c'mon. It's titled The Elvis Room. Seriously, what sort of Neanderthal would NOT find that supremely enticing?

Lastly, it's about urban legends and superstitions. Those modern phobias we keep inside ourselves whether we admit to it or not. The thirteenth floor, cracks in sidewalks, etc. I love that stuff. And Elvis. Poor Elvis. His people had a lot to answer for, in my opinion.

Anyway, yep. This is a 5-star tale. It's written intelligently all the way through to its unraveling.

Sometimes, it'll happen, you'll click for $3.99 whether it's economically logical or not. You can live without Starbucks in the next few days. The reason you'll be awake won't be the caffeine.

[Erin || erins_library · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Elvis Room by Stephen Graham Jones is a short story, under 50 pages, following a disgraced, skeptical research scientist as he studies The Elvis Room superstition in hotels. The book is full of ghosts, moving fast towards a horrifying end. I recommend it if you're looking for something a little creepy.

My takeaways:
-The exploitation of other beings for personal gain, regardless of the consequences.
-The use of western science to disprove or prove spiritual or supernatural beliefs.
-The dangers of obsession and sacrificing everything, including your relationships and life, for your goal.

CW: suicide, blood, death

[JWo1855 · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) Being from Elvis’ hometown (Tupelo, MS), now living in Memphis and loving ghosts, how could I NOT read this book?

While I wasn’t a fan of the writing style, I found myself totally enthralled with the story. Wondering if I’ve encountered a spirit in a hotel without realizing what it was.

I don’t know if hotels really leave one vacant room, although I can’t see the big corporations being willing to leave money on the table, but the whole dead bodies not being good for business makes sense, I know that I’m going to be more vigilant during our next hotel stay.

[Robin Dickert · Rating 3 out of 5]

'I’m the mad scientist the tabloids say would ‘weigh the darkness,’ yes.'

A spooky superstition leads to obsession, and the scientist becomes part of the experiment. Maybe a little hard to follow at times, but haunting. SGJ knows what scares me; now I can add hotels to that list. And don't hold the elevator, I'll take the stairs!

'There were no dark corners, as far as I was concerned. Just shadows we haven’t bothered to shine our lights into yet.'

[Kyle Feuerbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story to start the New Year. Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite writers and once again came through with this one. He packs so much into such a short book that I’ve learned to carefully dissect everything he says because each word matters. He forces me to read with more focus and diligence than most, but in the end, I always feel rewarded for my efforts.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

With two releases coming in 2024, I felt like the right way to start the year was with a little SGJ!!

This short novella was creepy and nerdy and addictive right from the jump. It was impressive they way SGJ was able to set things up and get you invested with so few pages. The writing style here was a lot of fun and I loved the elvis room concept.

[Joshua Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following a disgraced scientist through his exploration of the occult, The Elvis Room explores the legends that haunt us in hotels. It creates an eerie sense of familiarity as we check dark closets for the things that scare us most: the things we can't see.

[steven duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great ghost story

Stephen Graham Jones does it again. He takes an accidental "paranormal" investigator and puts him on the cusp of discovery, only to see him ultimately brought down by his own hubris.

[Roland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the contemplative first part of it with all the cracking the paranormal with science anecdotes I am always a sucker for.
Then it shifted gears and turned an action-oriented meh.

I recommend this for the first half, it introduced some interesting urban legends and theories.

[Amanda F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story so much! It’s on Kindle Unlimited, so I grabbed it today and read it. We follow a scientist who learns that sometimes you can accidentally discover something and then there’s no going back. So good and creepy. Hotels will never be the same for me.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like 30 out of the 44 pages were just the narrators ramblings; some where interesting, while some I skimmed through. The first few pages were good then it slowed down a loooot, until maybe the last five pages it picked up and got scary.

[Tosh P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Graham Jones doesn’t waste a single word. A truly original ghost story.

[Paul Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first SGJ story and most definitely not my last. Been meaning to read Mr. Jones for some time.

Fantastic style. Good and creepy. Just how I like it.