Haunted Histories of Las Vegas Signs

The El Cortez is one of Las Vegas’s oldest continuously operating hotels, first opening its doors in 1941. Located on Fremont Street, it served as a cornerstone of early downtown life. 

But the El Cortez isn’t only famous for its historic opening. Over the decades, the property has earned a reputation as one of Las Vegas’s most haunted buildings. Guests and employees alike have reported a range of eerie experiences, including disembodied hands, phantom footsteps, and knocking sounds echoing through empty hallways. 

In 2024, The Neon Museum announced a major addition to its collection: the original El Cortez Hotel & Casino “Prime Rib $19.95” neon sign advertisement. For many who visit The Neon Museum, seeing the El Cortez sign evokes some of these mysterious and eerie feelings (in a good way).  

Few Las Vegas landmarks carry a history as tragic, and as haunted, as Horseshoe, formerly Bally’s Hotel & Casino, and originally known as the MGM Grand. On November 21, 1980, a fire broke out in the casino’s restaurant and quickly spread throughout the property. Fueled by toxic smoke and inadequate fire-safety systems, the blaze killed 85 people and injured hundreds more, making it one of the deadliest hotel fires in U.S. history. 

In the aftermath, the hotel underwent massive reconstruction and reopened in 1981 before later being rebranded as Bally’s in 1986. Despite the renovations, many guests and employees have reported ghostly encounters: unexplained cold spots, voices in empty hallways, and the smell of smoke with no visible source. 

According to Ghost City Tours, some visitors have described seeing apparitions dressed in 1980s clothing near the casino floor or elevators, which are areas where many victims were trapped during the fire. Others have reported flickering lights and electrical malfunctions. 

No city reinvents itself better than Las Vegas. For every new megaresort that rises, another falls. Between the 1990s and early 2000s, a wave of implosions reshaped the Strip, erasing some of its most famous landmarks: the Dunes, the Sands, and the Stardust among them. 

Their signs were icons of the neon age. The Dunes sign towered 180 feet above the Strip before its demolition in 1993. The Sands sign, a sleek mid-century masterpiece, once greeted Rat Pack legends like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And the Stardust, perhaps the most famous of all, boasted a cosmic design of shooting stars and rainbow lights that could be seen for miles. 

When these casinos disappeared, their signs became relics. The Neon Museum’s collection includes fragments and full pieces from many of them, creating a treasure trove of salvaged light and memory. Visitors walking among them often describe the experience as both awe-inspiring and strangely somber. 

As one travel writer put it, “The Museum feels like a graveyard of forgotten dreams brought back to life.” The bones of these signs hum faintly, as if remembering the electricity that once coursed through them. Standing in their presence, it’s easy to feel the ghosts of Las Vegas’s golden age.