The Loretto Staircase On Screen and In Print: TV, Film, and Books
- Reference list
- Sourced
- Reviewed Nov 2026
Short answer: the Loretto staircase has appeared in Unsolved Mysteries (1990), the 1998 CBS movie The Staircase, The UnXplained (2019), the drama Dark Winds (2022) and several books. The most useful books are Mary J. Straw Cook’s archival history (2002) and Ben Radford’s skeptical chapter in Mysterious New Mexico (2014).
Photo above: the front of the Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe. Credit: inkknife_2000, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
On screen
| Title | Year | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Unsolved Mysteries, “Miracle Staircase” (S3 E10) | 1990 | The Robert Stack series re-enacted the story for a national audience. |
| The Staircase (CBS TV movie) | 1998 | Drama with Barbara Hershey and William Petersen. Not the true-crime Staircase; see film vs Netflix. |
| The UnXplained, “Mysterious Structures” (S1 E2) | 2019 | Documentary series episode featuring the staircase. |
| Dark Winds, “Hooghandi” (S1 E4) | 2022 | The chapel is used as a setting in the AMC crime drama. |
| Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World, ep. 232 | 2022 | Long-form episode, “The Miraculous Spiral Staircase”, weighing legend and evidence. |
In print
| Book | Year | Why read it |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Bullock, Loretto and the Miraculous Staircase (Sunstone Press) | 1978 | An early book-length telling of the legend. |
| Ann Rinaldi, The Staircase | 2000 | Young-adult novel built on the tradition; linked to the 1998 film. |
| Mary J. Straw Cook, Loretto: The Sisters and Their Santa Fe Chapel (Museum of New Mexico Press) | 2002 | The archival research that names Frenchy Rochas as the probable builder. |
| Michael O’Brien, Voyage to Alpha Centauri | 2013 | Novel in which the chapel appears in a character’s memories of Santa Fe. |
| Ben Radford, Mysterious New Mexico (University of New Mexico Press), ch. 6 | 2014 | A careful skeptical analysis of the construction and the claims. |
Which to start with
- For the history: Cook (2002). It is the source behind most serious discussion of the builder.
- For the skeptical view: Radford (2014), and Joe Nickell’s 1998 Skeptical Inquirer article “Helix to Heaven”.
- For the legend: Bullock (1978) or the 1998 film.
- For a quick overview: our staircase overview.
The biggest source of confusion is not on this list: the true-crime The Staircase about Michael Peterson shares only its title.
Quick answers
Was the Loretto staircase on Unsolved Mysteries?
Yes. The episode “Miracle Staircase” (season 3, episode 10) aired in 1990.
What books are there about the Loretto staircase?
Key titles include Alice Bullock’s Loretto and the Miraculous Staircase (1978), Mary J. Straw Cook’s Loretto: The Sisters and Their Santa Fe Chapel (2002) and Ben Radford’s Mysterious New Mexico (2014).
Which book identifies the Loretto builder?
Mary J. Straw Cook’s Loretto: The Sisters and Their Santa Fe Chapel (2002) names François-Jean Rochas as the probable builder.
Is the Loretto Chapel in Dark Winds?
Yes. It is used as a setting in season 1, episode 4, “Hooghandi” (2022).
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Loretto Chapel” (popular culture and references).
- Wikipedia, “The Staircase (1998 film)”.
- Loretto Chapel, “Staircase”.
Keep exploring
Researched & fact-checked by the Loretto Volunteers Editorial Team
Loretto Volunteers is an independent research project documenting the history, architecture, and enduring mystery of the Loretto Chapel staircase. We work from primary and archival sources and show our evidence. Last reviewed: June 2026.
