Beware of What You See

Illinois

Alton Mental Health Hospital is still a functioning hospital. In the early 1900s, it was an institution known for its hard mistreatment of patients, subjecting them to electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and cold water treatments. Staff, patients, and visitors report hearing strange noises like doors slamming shut and whispers. A nurse on duty heard someone ask “Who’s that?” when no one was around. Orbs have been caught on camera featuring the pained face of a human male.

Kentucky

Waverly Hills Sanatorium started out as Waverly School in the late 1800s and became a hospital in 1908. It was built to accommodate between 40 and 50 tuberculosis patients. With the disease becoming an epidemic, the hospital had 400 patients. When a tuberculosis antibiotic was discovered, it closed down in 1961. The institution became known as “the most spiritually active place in the world.” Some terrifying reports of paranormal sightings revolve around the story of a nurse who hung herself by a light bulb wire after discovering she was pregnant out of wedlock by the owner of the sanatorium. More sightings are in the areas of the Death Tunnel, where dead bodies were disposed of out of sight from anyone. Various paranormal TV shows have spent time recording at Waverly Hills Sanatorium, including the cast of “Most Haunted”—one of whom had scratches inflicted upon their body during their visit.

Massachusetts

Built in 1878, Danvers State Lunatic Asylum is referred to as “The Witches Castle on the Hill.” It was originally built on a site in Salem Village, the first location of the Salem Witch Trials. As time went by, the hospital’s reputation suffered, and it began to deteriorate. Meant as a facility for 600 patients between 1940 and 1950, there were over 2,000 patients. As a result, many were left in complete isolation for days, and dead patients went unnoticed. In 1992, the asylum was renovated into apartments. Paranormal activity has been reported, with full-body apparitions seen, flickering lights, sounds of unexplained footsteps, and doors opening and closing on their own.

New Jersey

Starting out as the Newark City Home in 1873, the Essex Mountain Sanatorium was designed to serve as an orphanage and a place to reform badly behaved children. After a fire, the institution was transformed to take cared of tuberculosis patients. No longer in use in the 1970s, the vacant wards were used to take care of the overflow of mental patients from a nearby asylum and finally closed in 1977. Paranormal activity has been reported with disembodied footsteps running in the halls, wheelchairs moving by themselves, faces appearing at windows, the feeling of a presence following you around, and eerie voices shouting, “Get out!” It is obvious these ghostly apparitions wish to be alone.

New York

Starting off as the Genesee County Poor Farm in 1827, it later became the Rolling Hills Asylum. Its reputation is one of pure horror, with over 1,700 undocumented deaths and hundreds of unclaimed bodies buried on-site. The place became the Old Country Home & Infirmary in the 1950s and later was renovated into shops and an antique mall.

One of the strangest occurrences took place in 2007 when the Rolling Hills case manager, Suzie Yencer, was working on a public ghost hunt. The group was sitting in a circle in the basement, and as Suzie began to speak, a glow stick—the only form of light in the room—began to sway back and forth, a rocking horse started to move to and fro, and several people saw a hand suddenly appear and reach for a ball. The corridor on the second floor is referred to as Shadow Hallway, where many shadowy figures have been sighted walking through walls or crawling across the floor. A seven-foot-tall patient with gigantism is also commonly spotted in his room, where he spent most of his life alone.

Ohio

Opening its doors in 1874, the Athens Lunatic Asylum specialized in the treatment of mentally and criminally insane patients, admitted by the courts or their families. Soon this became an overcrowded institute using cruel practices of shock treatments, ice water baths, and lobotomies.

Among the horrifying stories is one of a woman named Margaret Schilling. In December of 1978, she was a patient at the institution and was playing hide and seek with the nurses. They got distracted and forgot about Margaret. In January 1979, a maintenance worker discovered her body. Today, an imprint of her body, clothes, and hair is clearly visible on the floor, that no amount of cleaning can fade away. Patients without families were buried in the asylum’s burial site. Today the cemetery is known for paranormal activity with ghost sightings and unexplained screams in the night.

Pennsylvania

Opening its doors in 1907, Byberry Mental Hospital started off as a working farm for the mentally ill. In the 1920s the institution became a fully-fledged mental hospital. Unfortunately, it was known for severe patient neglect and abuse. When funding ran out, patients had to survive with no clothing, insufficient food, and sewage-filled hallways. To add to the horror were padded cells, solitary confinement, electric shock treatments, and restraining devices. The state shut it down in 1990. Paranormal activity is known with sightings of ghostly figures and the like, such as growling. Physical scratches have appeared on visitors’ bodies.

West Virginia

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is known to be one of the scariest asylums in the world. In the 1950s over 2,400 patients were overcrowding the facility. Due to changes in the treatment of mental illness, the institution closed in 1994. Since the asylum accepted patients for trivial matters to more serious cases, among them murders, this resulted in mismatched patients residing together. During the two decades since the asylum closed, the staff who work there say ghostly spirits roam the halls. The manager claims to have seen 40 doors suddenly slam shut simultaneously, and visitors have seen the ghostly spirit of a boy in the corner of a room. Reports are of whispers, unusual smells, squeaking gurneys, and screams from what was once the electroshock room,

Utah

Old Tooele Hospital was a family house at one time and became the Country Poor House in 1913. Elderly people lived here with special needs. Then in 1953 the building became the Old Tooele Hospital. It closed down in 2001 and made its name known as the filming location for “The Stand” by Stephen King.

The site has become known for paranormal activity. Wes, an Alzheimer's patient, likes to remain in his old room. Other ghostly spirits include a young child and Samuel F. Lee, who originally built the house in 1897.