Terrifying Haunted Asylums From Around The World

Source: http://www.ranker.com/list/haunted-a...aunted_asylums

The history of insane asylums is plagued with terror and abuse. A multitude of asylum and psychiatric patients have lost their lives, dignity, and maybe even what was left of their minds at the hands of cruel and overcrowded confinement. Moreover, the "treatment" of mental illness in the past often involved horror-movie style methods.

It's no wonder that - like the real-life homes that became haunted in the wake of horrifying events - most of the creepy abandoned buildings that once housed hundreds of mental patients are now the hosts to many ghost stories and continuous paranormal activity. This list compiles just a few of these haunted institutions that can be found around the world.

The Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Where Over 3,000 Patients Died



The Beechworth Lunatic Asylum in Victoria, Australia dates back to 1867. Because more than 3,000 patients died there over a span of only 128 years, the place is a hotbed of paranormal activity.

One of the more frequently seen ghosts is believed to be that of Matron Sharpe. She has been seen walking into classrooms and former dorm areas, and she has been known to glide down a granite staircase on the premises. Legend has it that Sharpe was uncharacteristically compassionate towards patients at Beechworth, and even after her death, she could be spotted giving them comfort. Nurses "would report seeing the Matron sitting with patients who were due to have electro-shock treatment. Those who say they've witnessed this say the room was icy cold, but her presence was comforting."

Another ghost who haunts Beechworth is Tommy Kennedy, a patient who was eventually given a kitchen-hand position. Tommy died in the kitchen, which is now a space called the Bijou theater. People claim to feel someone pulling their clothes or poking their ribs within this theater, and Tommy is believed to be the culprit.

A more frightening haunt is that of a patient who disappeared and was found several weeks later in a tree. Max, the resident dog at the time, was discovered chewing on a leg near the entrance to the grounds. It was here that the lost patient was found - decomposed so badly that his leg had fallen off. The ghost of this patient is known to be seen haunting the Asylum entrance early in the morning.


The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Memorializes A Playful Ghost Girl



The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia admitted its first patients in 1864. The Asylum considered shock treatment and cage confinement to be normal practices. "Ice-pick" lobotomies, which involved a pronged device being shoved through the eye socket and into the brain, were also a preferred method of treatment at the Asylum.

Now that Trans-Allegheny is a public attraction, many visitors, guides, and investigators report having seen apparitions of patients, nurses, and doctors roaming the halls. The ominous shadows of Civil War soldiers can also be seen on the property. The most famous ghost of the Asylum is a young girl named Lily. She politely makes herself known to people by interacting with several toys in a paint-peeled room specifically dedicated to her.

However, Lily isn't the only child ghost at Trans-Allegheny. There have been many reports of children haunting the upper floors, trailing behind people around the building, and sometimes even following them home.


The Athens Lunatic Asylum Has A Permanent Patient Imprint



The Athens Lunatic Asylum, also known as "The Ridges," opened in 1874 in Athens, Ohio. The Asylum treated mentally and criminally insane patients. The accompanying cemetery is the burial site of many patients, and many people have reported ghost sightings and unidentifiable screams there.

A popular paranormal story linked to Athens involves a patient named Margaret Schilling. In December 1978, Margaret was playing hide and seek with nurses who eventually became distracted by demands of other patients. The nurses forgot about Margaret, and a year later her body was found by a maintenance worker. Apparently, an immovable imprint of Margaret's body, clothes, and hair remains visible on the floor despite decades of cleaning.


Pennhurst Asylum Is Home To The Spirits Of Disgruntled Children



Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, Pennsylvania was opened in 1908 as a home for mentally disabled children. It was overcrowded, scantily staffed, and poorly funded by the government - which led to overworked and desperate staff members practicing cruel punishments. Children were drugged, chained to their beds, isolated for extended amounts of time, and had all of their teeth pulled for biting. A reporter revealed the horrors of the Asylum in 1968, and it was shut down a few years later.

Though it is currently run as a haunted house attraction, previous caretakers of the property claim that the place is haunted by upset spirits. Some reports include the sound of footsteps, empty rooms emitting piercing screams, and slamming doors. Investigators of the property have experienced negative paranormal activity that may be linked to poltergeist, such as being touched or shoved and having objects thrown at them. One research team investigator was even scratched by an entity.

A little girl in a white dress is commonly witnessed, though nothing is known about her, and her apparition often disappears as quickly as it's seen.


ByBerry Mental Hospital Is Built Over Catacombs



Built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1906, ByBerry Mental Hospital began as a humble and meager institution, but its population had expanded quickly by the 1930s. Subsequently, many patients were forced to live in cramped, bare rooms with little to no direct socialization or supervision.

While the catacombs under the Asylum have paved the way for some intense stories, local legend has it that a former violent patient paces the tunnels, gripping a large knife. While the basis for this story is unknown, it may have been an apparition witnessed. It is also believed that satanic occultists have utilized the building for rituals, as the sounds of growling and the occurrence of welts and scratches have been reported.


The Waverly Hills Sanatorium Is Haunted By Suicidal Nurses



The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky was constructed in 1910 for the treatment of people with tuberculosis. Over the span of its operating years, around 63,000 patients died inside of Waverly Hills. This Sanatorium also has a special tunnel that was built for the express purpose of moving materials - like dead bodies - out of the building and down the hill it sits atop. The tunnel is now known as the "body chute," and many hauntings experienced at Waverly Hills are centered around the tunnel - whether they involve the ghosts of dead patients or of doctors who opened up and drained the patients before their transport in the chute. Many incidents involve strange shadows, closing doors, and ghostly apparitions.

One particular ghost who is known to haunt the Sanatorium is a uniformed nurse who is said to tell people to leave Room 502. Apparently, a pregnant and unmarried nurse had previously hung herself in that very room. Another nurse is said to have killed herself by jumping from the top of the Sanatorium after working in Room 502.


Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital Holds Many Rumors



Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital in South Korea is believed to have been the site of many deaths. Local lore claims that a string of mysterious deaths caused the facility to shut down, and the doctors themselves often went insane. While this information may or not be true, the hospital shutdown was directly due to sanitary and sewage issues.

Unwelcome trespassors and paranormal investigators have claimed to encounter bloody scratches, and the sight of glass shards being hurled across rooms and hallways. Shadows have been seen, and voices, moans, and screams have been heard throughout the dilapidated building.


The Rolling Hills Asylum Was A Poorhouse



Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany, New York was instituted as a poorhouse in 1826. At the time, the county kept people who couldn't take care of themselves in the poorhouses, and this included not only people with mental illnesses, but also outcasts, women, and children. Despite their reasons for being there, residents were referred to as inmates, and they tended to the land to feed themselves and the rest of the poorhouse. Around 1,700 bodies are estimated to be buried in unmarked graves behind Rolling Hills.

A notable ghost of Rolling Hills is a man named Roy. Roy was born with gigantism, which led him to have bulging facial features and unnaturally large extremities. His ashamed father left him at Rolling Hills when he was 12, and Roy died there at the age of 62 and the height of seven and a half feet. Many people report seeing his seven-foot shadow in hallways, and a few people even claim to have captured it in photographs.


The Norwich State Hospital For The Mentally Insane Housed Violent Criminals



The Norwich State Hospital For The Mentally Insane was built in Preston, Connecticut in 1904. The hospital housed patients suffering from everything from mental illness and tuberculosis to chemical dependency and violent tendencies. The hospital even housed criminally insane patients charged with murder and rape.

People claim to have heard intense screams that seemed to have come from humans and non-humans alike, as well as footsteps and the voices of children. Lights, shadows, and mists have been experienced. Wheelchairs and gurneys have been witnessed in motion, and human faces have even been seen in broken windows.


Part Of Lier Sykehus Still Functions As A Mental Hospital



Lier Sykehus was opened in Norway in 1926. The hospital was known for conducting experiments on patients that centered around the testing of new drugs. These drugs were believed to be so risky that even the pharmaceutical industry of the time refused to test them on humans. Most of the place has been abandoned since 1985, but while four of the buildings are completely abandoned, three still operate as a mental hospital.

Apparently, these patients share their space with paranormal activity such as apparitions and noises. While trespassers claim to see ghosts and shadows, not many solid accounts are available about Lier Sykehus. Nonetheless, it is considered one of the most haunted places in Norway.


The Saint John's Asylum Was The Site Of Many Patient Suicides



St John’s Asylum in Lincolnshire, England was built in 1852. Because of the way staff mistreated the patients and the painful procedures they administered - like electro-shock therapy - it is not surprising that many patients are believed to have committed suicide there. A well-known story is that a patient hung himself at the top of a particular set of stairs within the Asylum. Loud screams have been heard within the remains of the Asylum, and fires have been seen from the windows. A nearby pub has even reported seeing the ghosts of nurses and patients roaming about.

The Asylum was abandoned in 1990, and in 2010 a photo was shared by an anonymous group of people who snuck onto the property illegally. A white figure can be seen in one of the Asylum windows. Whether or not it's a real ghost remains unanswered, but the eeriness still remains.


The Buffalo State Asylum Is Full Of Screams



In 1880, the Buffalo State Asylum opened in New York. This facility's treatment of the mentally insane was comprised almost entirely of terrifying experiments, including but not limited to: cutting open patient's heads to isolate sections of their brains, electro-shock therapy, and placing patients in tubs of water for extended amounts of time. Most of the documented ghost activity there involves sounds, not sights.

A frequently reported sound is that of a blood curdling scream that travels from the end room of each wing, though nothing is ever found upon investigation of these screams.


Danvers State Hospital Has One Known Apparition



Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts was built in the 1880s to house mentally ill children. In the 1920s, the hospital staff began administering horrific treatments to the kids such as lobotomies, long-term restraint, and neglect. The hospital is mostly demolished today, and very few ghost hunters were able to enter the premises to collect any evidence while it was still intact. Mostly, phantom foot steps and eerie shadows have been experienced, but there has been one eyewitness account of an apparition. A woman named Jeralyn Levasseur claims to have seen a ghost when she lived there as a child. The ghost, an old and scowling woman, allegedly pulled the sheets from her bed but wasn't threatening.

One of the only places open to the public that has not been demolished is the Danvers State Hospital Cemetery. Hundreds of patients are buried in the cemetery, and their graves are marked by numbers, not names.


The Narrenturm Is Now The Anatomical-Pathological Museum



The Narrenturm in Vienna, Austria was built in 1783 to house the mentally ill. It was Europe's first insane asylum, but the idea of treatment didn't exist at this time, so most "patients" were simply incarcerated at Narrenturm. It closed as a psychiatric ward in 1866, and while it is implied that the space is haunted, there is limited information to solidify this.

Either way, the place is creepy. It currently houses the Anatomical-Pathological Museum, which has over 4,000 abnormalities on display such as: fetuses in jars, physical human abnormalities, and wax models of diseases.


The Haunted Alameda Insane Asylum Was Not Actually An Insane Asylum



The Alameda Insane Asylum in California was originally built in 1941 and used as a hospital/dental unit for military personnel. It was last used as a Navy FISC Administration Building, but was abandoned in the '90s. Alameda Insane Asylum was never actually an asylum, but became known as one due to hype during its abandoned state.

However, visitors to its location have reported paranormal activity such as disembodied voices, shrill screams, blinds opening and closing on their own, and a general feeling of uneasiness. Some people have even claimed to capturing ghostly apparitions and orbs on film.

Unfortunately, the building burnt down in 2009.