Long Live the King
By Claudia Mayfield
The walls are covered with Elvis. He’s on the ceiling, the floors, everything in the room themed with the king of rock and roll.
Near the town square in Holly Springs, Mississippi sits a house that holds the largest collection of Elvis Presley things in the world. With its name, Graceland Too, it has become a popular place for college students and locals to get a good thrill. Owner Paul McLoud will give a tour at anytime of the day or night.
“People can come whenever they want,” McLoud said. “The whole point is not to copy the real Graceland, it’s to resemble it.” The house was painted blue in honor of The King’s famous song Blue Christmas. It has four large columns with two white tigers on the side of the front door.
“When you walk in there is Elvis everywhere,” visitor Rachel Hyde said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” The walls are covered with photos of Elvis and other memorabilia. Over twenty trunks hold tapes of anything on TV that ever mentioned Elvis.
“It’s way creepy,” visitor Patrick Havird said. “The backyard looks like a junk yard.” The only lights in the backyard sit around a chair to give the impression of an electric chair and a row of 12 pink Cadillacs. McLoud said the chair is mainly to scare visitors.
The last part of the tour is a long hallway of photos of all the lifetime members at Graceland Too, starting in the 70s and making its way to present time. Once someone visits the house three times, they become a lifetime member and never have to pay again. “I don’t care if this place is like a hoarder’s shrine,” Hyde said. “I am so going to be a lifetime member.”
The cost to visit the house is 5 dollars a person.