The Most Terrifying Elevator Stories

In 1945, Betty Lou Oliver worked as an elevator operator at the Empire State Building. A plane hit the building on July 28, causing serious burns. To escape, she rode an elevator down 75 stories to the ground. The elevator cables snapped mid-descent, sending her car toward the basement floor.Betty Lou Oliver.She operated an elevator at the Empire State Building. On July 28, 1945, a plane hit the building, burning her badly. She then used an elevator to descend 75 stories to the ground.

The snapped cables landed under the elevator, acting like a spring to slow her drop. As of 2018, she holds the Guinness World Record for the longest elevator fall survived.

In 2011, a fired handyman got revenge. He turned an elevator into a deathtrap for his former employer.Jerome Isaac.Deloris Gillespie hired Isaac for odd jobs near her Prospect Heights, NY, apartment. Gillespie let him go quickly after catching him with her belongings.

Isaac wanted revenge and planned to use an elevator. Isaac ambushed Gillespie in her building's elevator, soaking her in flammable material then setting her on fire with a makeshift device.

Isaac added more accelerant after setting Gillespie ablaze. Gillespie did not survive. Authorities later caught Isaac and charged him for the killing.

Asking, “What if the doors never open?” is one of the most terrifying questions in an elevator. Sadly,A woman in China succumbed to starvation inside the elevator.a 43-year-old woman died in an elevator in Xi'an, China, in March 2016. Her body surfaced months later after the elevator got stuck between floors on January 30.

Technicians yelled down the shaft to check for people. Finding no response, they cut the power, unaware someone was trapped.

When technicians returned to fix the machine on March 1, they found her remains.

The case of the elevator started.Elisa Lam.Elisa Lam's passing became an urban legend. Her death inspired a plotline forAmerican Horror Story., and a film about her gets attention. In 2013, Lam's body appeared naked in a water tank on a seedy LA hotel. That is mysterious enough,This shows the creepy part.comes from elevator security camera footage from the night she died.

The video went viral on YouTube. It shows her falling into a kind of mania. She enters the elevator, checks the buttons closely, then hides in a corner. Then she jumps out and acts like someone is chasing her.

A test during her autopsy showed no illicit substances. Specialists found bipolar disorder, but they did not say it caused her death.

Some people guess she was possessed. Others think a spirit haunting the hotel caused her death.

An 85-year-old nun got stuck in an elevator for several days. One night in 2011,Sister Margaret Geary was trapped in an elevator for four nights.She was alone in her Baltimore convent. Her sisters attended a convention. When the convent's elevator got stuck, no one heard her cries for help.

Sister Geary survived. Help took four days to arrive. Realizing her cell phone had no service, she asked God for help. Her prayers answered.

She had celery sticks, cough drops, and water. This kept her from running out of food during the ordeal.

Elevator doors often close without warning. Modern safety sensors exist. Still, a faulty door set can cause harm or death. Unfortunately, what happened toDr. Hitoshi Christopher Nikaidoh.This sounds like a worst-case scenario.

In 2003, a colleague of Dr. Nikaidoh held a departing elevator for him. The contraption had mechanical problems. No "out of order" sign showed that day. As he walked in, the doors shut, trapping him between the hall and elevator.

The elevator started lurching up. Dr. Nikaidoh could only wait. It cut off his head, then broke down mechanically and stalled between floors. The passenger stayed trapped with his severed head for over an hour until rescue.

Elevators are a modern necessity.Without them, people climb hundreds of steps to reach tall building floors. People trust these contraptions daily. This trust should not hide their risk.

In 2005, a delivery driver for a New York Chinese restaurant got stuck for three days in a 38-story building elevator. When he did not return, coworkers called the police. They searched everywhere except the elevator for several days.

He had already delivered the order. He waited for rescue to get food. He survived the ordeal; he only needed treatment for dehydration.

Ed Bradley.An unassuming elevator mechanic faced elevator horror at his Manhattan job. In 2012, he was doing routine maintenance on an elevator electrical system. He got electrocuted.

Help arrived after he suffered a cardiac episode. He was never revived.

Elevators ignore celebrity. If an elevator breaks down, the rider's status—average joe or the Queen of England—makes no difference. After attending the 2010 film premiere,Janie Jonesactors.Josh Charles and Alessandro Nivola.boarded an elevator with many moviegoers.

Just before things went wrong, someone joked, “This is overloaded. We might die tonight.” A malfunction made the elevator fall four stories before stopping. Rescuers quickly saved the riders.