Bright lights of Las Vegas hide its dark side

"(There's) a lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes."

Those words from director Martin Scorsese's 1995 movie "Casino" refers to how the gangsters who secretly ran Las Vegas used to deal with the unfortunate people who became their problems. The glittering world capital of gambling, sex and other sinful pursuits has long had a dark side and the remnants of those problems may still be haunting the casinos and hotels there today.
Old historic cities like Savannah, Ga. and Charleston, S.C. are well known for their haunted places and popular ghost tours. But Las Vegas, Nev. also has a ghost tour that can take you on a supernatural journey through what is often called "Sin City."
Last week, my wife and I spent a few days in Las Vegas, walking through the casinos and touring Madame Tussauds. Although we didn't have time for a ghost tour, we learned something about the paranormal happenings there.
The man who is often credited with "inventing" Las Vegas is none other than the notorious underworld figure Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. An associate of gangsters Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, Siegel had the vision of opening a luxury hotel and casino in the desert town back in the 1940s. Gambling was legal in Vegas then and the town already had several Western-style saloons complete with cowboys and sawdust on the floor. But Siegel envisioned a first-class hotel with a Monte Carlo-type casino and dealers wearing tuxedos. What he had in mind would attract movie stars and entertainers from Hollywood. He convinced the mob bosses to put up the money for the dream resort he called the Flamingo.
But the cost of building the Flamingo would run to over $6 million and the construction took far longer than anyone expected. It finally opened on Dec. 26, 1946 and a few celebrities showed up for the lackluster event. While the gaming tables were operating, the luxury rooms that would have served as the lure for people to stay were still not ready. It ended up being a financial disaster for Siegel.
The mob bosses were convinced that he had stolen their money and they knew that there was only one punishment for the reckless dreamer. On the night of June 20, 1947, Bugsy Siegel was murdered in his girlfriend's Beverly Hills home.
Today, the hotel and casino that bears the Flamingo name is one of the most popular on the Las Vegas Strip. Although the original building is long gone, the Flamingo today is said to be haunted by Siegel's ghost. Guests lounging by the pool have reported seeing his shadowy figure. A cleaning lady supposedly quit after seeing his spirit haunting the fifth floor, according to a Web site.
Another famous person associated with Las Vegas is the beloved showman Liberace, who died of complications from AIDS in 1987. The Liberace Museum in Vegas displays his amazing collection of stage costumes, expensive cars, extravagant jewelry and decorated pianos. But some of the employees there say Mr. Showmanship's ghost still lingers among his prized possessions.
One time, the museum went through an extensive remodeling and renovation. One of the employees reported seeing a shadowy figure lurking around a particular exhibit. None of the staff wanted to talk about it and none of them wanted to be hanging around the museum after dark, according to the book "The Haunting of Las Vegas" by Janice Oberding.
The museum's staff believed that the ghost was really Liberace's sister-in-law and she had returned to make sure that the renovation work was being done correctly. Other workers say they have seen Liberace himself among his rhinestone-studded suits and famous candelabras.
Not all of the ghosts seen in Vegas are those of celebrities and famous gangsters. The Luxor hotel and casino, also located on the Strip, is well known for its massive pyramid and ancient Egyptian décor. When the Luxor opened in 1993, it also featured a river ride that went around the casino.
A couple of years later, the river ride was taken away supposedly as a way to keep the hotel more up to date. But to this day, many people whisper that the Nile River attraction was removed because guests kept seeing ghosts of the three workers killed during the Luxor's construction whenever the ride passed through the dark tunnels, according to a Web site.
The popular saying holds that "Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." That statement doesn't seem to apply to the place's supernatural history.