7-Minute Less Taken VII: The Bride of Room 812 (Rapid City, SD)

A woman checks into a historic hotel—room 812. Top floor. Alone. By sunrise, she’s gone—and the legend of the “Bride” begins.

In this haunting episode of Less Taken, we uncover the eerie true story that inspired one of South Dakota’s most infamous ghost legends. Maybe.

Was it suicide? Something darker? Or does the room itself remember what no one else dares to say?

Featuring the real-life lore of the haunted Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City, The Bride of Room 812 explores what happens when a place refuses to forget—and a name vanishes from the record. If you love haunted hotels, unsolved deaths, and the thin line between ghost stories and buried truths, this is one ride you won’t forget.

---

Let us know what you think!

Please rate, review, subscribe & tell a friend. Every little bit helps! Lucky reviewers have a chance of scoring some free LT swag!

If you're new to LT, Season Four: Hollowlands contains four different episode types:

1. Full-length real-life horror stories (~1 hr)
2. Previews of full-length stories
3. 7-Minute Less Taken stories
4. Transitional/Crossover episodes call 'Roads Less Taken'


Write to us - [e-mail]

FOLLOW US BEFORE WE FOLLOW YOU!
FB & IG - @lesstakenpod

Discover more and check out our merch - www.lesstakenpod.com

Submit your ideas for future episodes - www.lesstakenpod.com/ideas

lesstakenpod | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Some sound effects and background music are supported by www.pixabay.com + AudioJungle/Envato Elements, providers of copyright- and royalty-free media for content creators.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/less-taken--5431283/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
This take and contains content that may not be suitable
for all audiences Listeners discretion is advised less Just after midnight,

(00:25):
Shirley checks in into the Hotel Alex Johnson in rapid City,
South Dakota. Outside steady rain falls, cold and unrelenting. She's
traveled all day and now all she wants is a
warm room for the night, somewhere dry. She receives the
keys the room eight twelve, the eighth floor, the top floor.

(00:51):
The clerk hesitates before handing over the key, as if
the room's history weighs on him for whatever reason. Noticing
or stare, he explains film rooms carry's stories there, she
assumes he means Room eight twelve is one of those.

(01:11):
The room is older than the photo show, clean but
quiet in a way that feels deliver it. There's a
window that won't latch all the way, and it let's
in a small draft. The wallpaper is peeling slightly at
the edges. On the desk. Liza guest journal, worn and used.
Surely opens it and reads one of the messages left

(01:33):
by a past visitor. It says, don't open the closet.
Another note reads she rocks in, Surely sets the book
aside and turns on the television to feel the silence.
What surely doesn't know, what most guests never think to

(01:55):
ask about, is that in nineteen seventy four, a woman's
stayed there and never left. They say this woman is
thirty one from Montana. She travels alone. Some say she
recently married, Others say she's running from something. The facts
are a bit unclear, but when she stays, the woman

(02:19):
falls from the window of Room eight twelve. The sidewalk
below is empty when she lands. The death has ruled
a suicide, and no autopsy report has ever made public.
Her family never sees the full details. Friends say she
is afraid of heights, so none of this makes sense,

(02:42):
and there are some ruises on her body that simply
go unexplained. Ever since then, room eight twelve has gained
a bit of a reputation. Jewelry disappears, then shows up
in odd places. Guests report a woman in white and mirrors,
the door swing open at night, windows unlock on their own.

(03:04):
The hotel doesn't deny these stories, In fact, it encourages
them to attract visitors interested in the paranormal, But those
who experience the strange rarely stay more than one night.

(03:27):
Around two in the morning, Surely wakes Suddenly, the closet
door stands open, although she's sure she closed it. Her
necklace lies coiled on the dresser, shaped like a question mark.
The television screen flickers, and she swears she feels the

(03:48):
warmth of someone's breath on the back of her neck.
Going forward, Surely makes sure to leave the light on.
At sunrise, she checks out without a word. The clerk
doesn't bother to say anything either. It's like he knows
another guest waits to check into the same room. Surely

(04:09):
thinks about warning him, but or whatever reason, she doesn't.
Outside she looks up at the building curtains in room
eight twelve, moves slightly, as if someone's peering through them.
What's really crazy is when she looks up the hotel
on her phone, she finds it article and also her

(04:33):
own name. Woman falls to her death from hotel window.
No foul play suspected, no follow up, no answers, just
a woman assumed to have committed suicide, a woman by
the name of Shirley. No one knows why Surely comes

(05:04):
to Rapid City or what happens that night, but every
so often, someone checks in the room eight twelve alone
and something awaits behind the mirror or just beyond the
closet door. Not every haunting is a ghost story. Some
might be truth that people don't want to face, and

(05:28):
maybe that's why surely never leaves. I'm Steam Humphreys and
this has been another seven minute Let's Taken real life
horror stories from the Midwest. Follow us before we follow
you on Facebook, threads and Instagram under the handle at
Let's Taken Pod. Visit less takenpod dot com for all

(05:50):
things Let's Taken, merch and more. A quick note on
our storytelling. While we do our best to stick to
the facts, we sometimes take creative liberties to maintain narrative cohesiveness.
If you like this episode, be sure to come back
soon for the fifth of seven seven minute Let's Take
in episodes or July, and until then, thanks for listening.