Her sadly very real death has become the stuff of morbid legend. It’s never been made evident why the woman jumped. The woman landed by the old buffet’s entrance, which shortly after her death was completely, thoroughly cleared out and converted into a food court. Her injuries were so severe that she could not be readily identified, and she carried no identification on her. Immediately, the woman died from severe head injuries. In September 1996, just a few years after the Luxor’s opening, a woman jumped from the 26th story of the hotel, falling to her death. More specifically, its guests, visitors, and employees have suffered. Since its calamitous construction, the Luxor has been maligned with remarkably bad luck. They are far from the only paranormal presences within the complex. When the Luxor’s Nile Riverboat ride was still operational, some guests claimed to have seen their ghosts roaming the tunnels. At times, especially in quiet parts of the hotel, the ghosts of the construction workers can be seen. The fallen workers have not gone completely forgotten, however. The resort’s construction may very well remain the most treacherous construction process in the history of the Strip. Perhaps significantly due to the main pyramid’s steeply sloping shapes, the Luxor’s construction is considered to have been extremely difficult and dangerous. Some local sources suggest as many as seven workers perished in building the Luxor. In the process, at least two construction workers “reportedly” (as it is believed that their deaths were covered up to protect the resort’s reputation) died. It is quite likely that the resort’s construction was a rush job on a tight deadline that couldn’t be met. Not long after opening, the building itself was literally sinking into a soft spot-which was highly uncommon for the typically hard desert floor. The hotel’s elevator system, called “inclinators”, due to how they follow the hotel’s slanted shape at a 39-degree angle, didn’t work correctly, either. As a result, some guests stayed in rooms that weren’t entirely finished. However, Bennett’s financial efficiency did not come without another price tag: lives.Ĭonstruction wasn’t completed by the time the Luxor opened. The Luxor’s initial costs were only $375 million, a number dwarfed by its rival and contemporary, The Mirage, which opened at $630 million. He managed to keep the Luxor’s opening costs low at ostensibly all costs. William Bennett, then-CEO of Circus Circus Enterprises, was efficient. The First Deaths: The Luxor’s Construction Of course, in the wake of the string of deaths it’s dubiously, mysteriously caused, it’s darkly ironic to consider how family-oriented the Luxor was once designed to be. With an Egyptian theme and sleek design, the resort strived to appeal to both families seeking theme-park-like experiences, and wealthier clientele than the Circus Circus crowd. An early example of the short-lived “family friendly” era of Vegas, the Luxor was intended to be a resort aimed at children as much as adults. The hotel-casino was the creation of Circus Circus Enterprises. The resort is also home to the only full-scale reproduction of King Tut’s tomb outside of Egypt. Inside, its interiors are lined with murals and statues depicting Egyptian iconography, mirroring the strongly themed exterior. The Luxor pyramid’s light beam is the strongest beam of light in the world, visible even to pilots flying hours away in southern California. At 30 stories, the Luxor pyramid is three-quarters the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza, its inspiration. The Luxor debuted on the Vegas Strip in October 1993 after only eighteen months of construction. Since its construction, the Luxor has been a magnet for strange, chaotic energy and tragic events: fights, terrorism, disease outbreaks, fatal accidents, suicides. The outwardly ominous appearance of the Luxor Las Vegas hotel and casino is no coincidence. Even viewing it in photos can induce a feeling of uneasiness.Īt the very front of the property, an obelisk inscribed “LUXOR” finally reveals the name of the property. It is a slice of a faraway era and desert placed in the midst of another desert. Taken in at once, the area is an uncanny reinterpretation of Ancient Egypt. In front, a lone sphinx reclines, a perpetual emptiness in its eyes. At night, an eerie beam of bright, white light shoots skyward from the pyramid’s north point, visible for miles and miles beyond in any direction. It is difficult to see inside through the opaque, onyx glass. In the thick of the Las Vegas Strip stands an immense, glossy, jet-black pyramid.
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