TOP 5 MOST HAUNTED INSANE ASYLUMS IN THE WORLD Insane asylums are innately creepy places.
There’s an ever present connotation about asylums and mental hospitals that derives
from the 70s and 80s as places of torture and abuse.
And while its important to remember that many mental hospitals and institutions are places
of healing and compassion, there have been a handful throughout history that have a poor
track record, and have been shut down due to the crimes committed against the patients
who resided there.
Naturally, many of those which are now abandoned and have a dark history are said to be haunted,
and visitors who have gone to explore these eerie places have claimed to have heard things
from tormented voices or seen ghostly figures upon exploring the buildings.
So today, we’re discussing the top 5 most haunted insane asylums in the world.
Brace yourself, some of these places are a little hard to hear about.
5 Metropolitan State Hospital Located in Norwalk, California, this hospital
has roots back in 1915, when the California governor at the time allowed for the purchase
of land to build a state hospital specifically designed to care for individuals who had psychiatric
disabilities, which at the time, was on the rise.
At the time, it was self-sufficient, had its own farm and gardens, which kept costs at
a minimum.
It wasn’t until after World War 2 though that the hospital’s methods began to take
a turn for the worse.
New therapies and psychotropic medications were being used, and many of its former patients
claim that they way the hospital operated was similar to a prison.
While many of the stories about the hospital have been confirmed, there are a few tales
that have resonated with the public about it, particularly the one known as The Hospital
of Seven Teeth.
In 1978 a patient was said to have gone for a walk on the grounds but never returned,
having been murdered by a fellow patient named Melvin Wilson, who confessed to the police
in 1980.
He had dismembered her body and place it in three separate graves, and kept her teeth
as souvenirs.
The building was closed in 1992, with most of it demolished by 2009 minus the hospitals
administration building.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/six-abandoned-asylums-with-genuinely-chilling-backstori-512154481 4 Beechworth Lunatic Asylum
Beechworth is located in Australia, and was operational for 128 years before it was closed
in 1995.
According to the stories, over 9000 patients had died while being treated there, and those
who visit it today claim to see faces floating in the buildings windows.
It’s structure was interesting; they used a variation of wall type called the Ha-Ha
Walls to help keep patients inside the courtyard; these walls consisted of a trench dipping
down towards the wall so that it presented a taller looking wall to prevent anyone from
trying to escape, all while looking like regular walls on the outside so the asylum didn’t
give off the impression of a prison.
Getting out legally was difficult too.
Patients, who only required two signatures to enter, required 8 signatures on their paper
work in order to be discharged.
It’s also said that the man who used to transport the dead bodies out of the asylum
killed himself there, and that his ghost, along with a woman who was thrown out of a
window, still linger on the grounds.
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/abandoned-asylums-world-s-most-terrifying-haunted-asylums# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechworth_Asylum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kewhaha.jpg 3 Pennhurst Asylum
The Pennhurst Asylum is one of the most famous asylums in the world.
Located in Pennsylvania, it was initially known as the Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution
for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic, and was closed in 1987 after a slew of controversy.
In 1968, it was revealed in a five part news report that the conditions that the patients,
who were both physically and mentally disabled, were anything but up to standard.
And later in 1983, nine employees who worked there were indicted on a series of charges
that included beating patients (some of which were in wheelchairs) and arranging for patients
to fight and assault one another.
The stories of neglect, abuse and alleged murders have spawned many a tale of the building
being haunted.
The truth behind many of these stories or other heinous acts may never be known, either;
the institution was first commissioned in 1903.
After its closure, many of the patients belongings were left abandoned inside the building, and
tourist have often claimed to hear spooky things on the asylum’s grounds.
There’s even an alleged audio recording on voices shouting I’ll kill you, go away,
and why wont you leave, along with reports of objects moving around the building and
visitors being pushed while there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennhurst_State_School_and_Hospital 2 Trenton Psychiatric Hospital
The Trenton Psychiatric Hospital has a dark history, and it was the first public medical
hospital in the State of New Jersey, opening in 1848.
One of the staff members, Doctor Henry Cotton, the medical director, believed that infections
were related to mental aliments.
His theory, based on medical discoveries concerning the creation of syphilis, was that mental
illness was caused by bodily infections, so one had to remove the infected areas in order
to cure the mental illness.
He and his staff removed various body parts from patients that may become ‘infected’
which led to hundreds of fatalities and mutilations.
This includes stomachs, ovarries, testicles, gall bladders, you name it.
Often, he would carry on with these removals despite not having patients or their family’s
consent.
While he left the hospital in 1930 and died three years later, many of his practices,
including the removal of patients teeth, were continued until 1960.These days, parts of
the hospital are still in use, but other areas have been abandoned, and they’re terrifying
to look at.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenton_Psychiatric_Hospital https://io9.gizmodo.com/six-abandoned-asylums-with-genuinely-chilling-backstori-512154481
1 Danvers Lunatic Asylum Danvers, located in Massaschusetts, operated
not only as an asylum, but also as a prison.
Opening in 1878, it was used for mentally unstable criminals, and was known to be incredibly
unstaffed.
By the 1930s, it was reported that patients would often be found dead days later after
passing, and that procedures the likes of lobotomies and shock therapy were the norm
there.
Patients were restrained by straightjackets and heavy drug use was utilized to keep the
patients at bay.
This caused huge controversy back in the 60s which eventually led to major budget cuts.
To add insult to injury, the location of the Danvers Asylum was also were Salem Village
of the Salem Witch Trials occurred.
It’s also been an inspiration to many fictional asylums, including DC’s Arkham Asylum and
HP Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium.
It was even the location of the horror film Session 9.
There we have it!
Which of these places do you believe are actually haunted?
And what other asylums do you think should’ve made our list?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know your thoughts.
We covered quite a few American hospitals on our list, so let us know if you’d like
to see a part two so we can dive into other international hospitals as well!
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