10 Creepy Hospitals and Asylums around the World
Introduction
 A hospital is an institution that provides healthcare and medical assistance to
those who need them. It is a symbol of safety, a catalyst of protection, and
sometimes an omen of death, depending on one's personal perspective. Through the
years, hospitals have been staples of everything creepy and paranormal. Stories
about dead patients, insane doctors, avenging spirits, walking corpses, headless
attendants, and every combination of scary adjectives and hospital-related nouns
have already spread like wildfire. The medical world would always try and dispel
this negative notion about hospitals, but the existence of these health
institutions isn’t really helping.
10) Norwich
State Hospital
Location: Preston, Connecticut and
Norwich, Connecticut
In 1904, a health institution housed 95 clinically insane and demented patients,
in hopes that they can cure at least half of them. That right there is a creepy
premise for a horror movie. Norwich State Hospital in Norwich-Preston
Connecticut became home for people who have mental problems. The founders used
methods of mechanical restraint and hydrotherapy, which is the staple procedure
on psycho flicks. The hospital managed to expand and housed more patients, but
pretty soon the patients started dying. Some started to commit suicide, while
some chose to kill others. Even the employee count decreased in a mysterious
way, as many would claim they saw ghosts. Some unlucky staff members fell victim
to the patients.
By CLK Hatcher,
via Wikimedia Commons
Scream Factor: Being in an asylum is a stressful thing indeed,
but not if you’re in Norwich. If an institution got dubbed ‘Home of the World’s
Criminally Insane Patients’, you know they’re not fooling around. One patient in
particular, even killed his own wife while escaping the institute. This place
was so infamous that when it finally closed down in 1971, people were actually
glad about it.
9) Metropolitan
State Hospital
Location: Waltham,
Massachusetts
Located in the city of Waltham, the Metropolitan State Hospital housed around
1,000 mentally-challenged patients before closing in 1992. After that, things
just went downhill. Rotting asbestos, mildewed plaster, broken ceilings, and the
perfectly-crafted-for-the-depressed-people architecture all managed to stink up
the place. John Travolta even set foot in it to shoot a film about children
being killed by contaminated water. Guess where the dirty water came from.
Scream Factor: Cadaver scavenger hunt! In 1978, patient Melvin
Wilson decided to kill his co-patient Anne Marie Davee. To make it more
interesting, he chopped her head off and buried her dismembered carcass in
different parts of the place. Wilson allegedly kept seven teeth of Davee,
possibly to repair his dentures, earning the hospital a moniker ‘Hospital of the
Seven Teeth’.
8) Severalls
Hospital
Location: Essex, UK
Severalls Hospital in Colchester, Essex, UK was the best place for lobotomy
enthusiasts to hang out. Back in the 40s, doctors could freely subject their
patients to fun eye-hammering activities. They would sometimes electrocute the
poor patients, maybe to see how much a human body twitches when tickled by
electricity. The practices in the institute have been deemed immoral and
inappropriate. After its closure in 1997, it has been vandalized and
occasionally burned, probably by drunks and former patients who would love to
see their little piece of hell destroyed and burned to the ground.
Scream Factor: The mere mention of ‘lobotomy’ is basically a
taboo in the Psychology world, so the fact that a place actually built for the
purpose of it is quite riveting. This just proves that crazy people need
treatment, not to be treated like plastic test dummies with no emotion and
reflexes.
7) Nocton Hall
Hospital
Location: Nocton, in Lincolnshire,
England
War is a topic that people don’t really agree on but at the same time you would
agree it’s inevitable. Whatever a person’s perspective on war is, most of us
would agree that war results in lots of damage and death. Nocton Hall Hospital
was one of the institutions that has seen and felt the effects of World War II.
A former manor home, Nocton Hall was chosen to be a hospital of American
soldiers recovering after the war. People who have stayed in the hospital
reported hearing a girl sobbing and telling the patients a certain devilish man
did something to her.
thorpe,
via Wikimedia Commons
Scream Factor: Picture this: you’re a wounded soldier who just
lost your arm in an explosion. You’re just lying in bed thinking of what things
you can now do without your left hand. Then out of nowhere, a ghostly girl
appeared at your feet and started crying all over the place. Of course you’ll
freak out, but you only have one arm, and it’s broken too! You can’t really shoo
her away, you don’t have a healthy arm to do it. What would you do?
6) An Old
Hospital In Pula, Croatia
 The above header is not a result of lazy research or bad Google skills. It is
exactly like that because the hospital actually has no name. A photographer
named Igor Zgrablic posted photos of his tour in this unknown Croatian hospital,
and the creepiness this man braved was not put to waste. The abandoned hospital
grounds will really drive a man insane. Small rooms, some consider them prison
cells, show evidence that patients actually stayed there. The photos were really
unsettling, and a personal tour would really make for a great adventure.
Scream Factor: Browsing through the portfolio of the unnamed
institute, there’s this picture of a girl who’s just staring at the camera. The
creepiness level of the place just went up. Ideas would spring out of your mind
that maybe her eyes would look somewhere else once you turn your back to her.
That’s a fun story about your Croatian trip you could tell your friends about.
5) Railroad
Hospital Also Known as Linda Vista
Location: Los Angeles, California
This allegedly haunted institute became popular among ghost enthusiasts in
America. LA’s Linda Vista started operation way back in 1905, providing patients
with fresh fruit, vegetables, and dairy products. Eventually, the business
declined and the hospital closed in 1991. Apparently, this became the invitation
spirits needed to enter and haunt the place. The hospital is basically a
labyrinth of rooms and hallways, and the decaying smell of wood and old stuff
would surely entice any undead being.
By Downtowngal (Own work),
via Wikimedia Commons
Scream Factor: If you take a tour of the hospital, you’ll
probably have the creeps too. There’s one room full of scribbles and notes that
patients apparently wrote as their sanity vanished into oblivion. A big ‘The End
Is Near’ painted in red seals the room’s overall design. The place became a
hotspot for urban explorers and ghost investigators, paving the way to the
abandoned hospital’s star in Hollywood as the perfect psycho-hospital
blockbuster.
4) Gonjiam
Psychiatric Hospital
Location: Korea
 Who knew the land of everything Korea would hide a sinister place behind
their grandeur? Considered as one of South Korea’s three main haunted places,
this hospital is complete with an equally creepy background story. Fifteen years
ago, this fully functioning institute suddenly closed because patients just
started dying randomly. These reported deaths lead to mysterious causes. To add
more flavor to the mystery, the doctors also started dying from unknown causes.
Hospital staff members can’t really explain the situation to the families and
that’s why authorities just decided to close it down.
Scream Factor: The prestige that this place is getting is
really something to brag about. CNN Go picked Gonjiam as one of the seven
freakiest places on Earth, with the likes of Chernobyl Amusement Park in Ukraine
and Aokigahara Forest of Japan. It even attracts tourists from around the world,
having an average of 1,000 visitors. Taking a tour of it, it really looks like
people did die mysteriously in the Gonjam hospital.
3) Beechworth
Lunatic Asylum
Location: Beechworth, a town of
Victoria, Australia
Considered as one of Australia’s most haunted locations, Beechworth has so many
stories to tell. For one, the institute lasted 128 years, so that’s pretty much
a story in itself. Another factor to consider is that over 9,000 patients met
their fate at this very frightening asylum – to be clear 9,000 patients died
here. Reports of mysterious disappearances have been recorded and subsequently
the stories have faded into nothingness. Members of the staff apparently kept
jars with human body parts in them, possibly as trophy for their hard work. A
mysterious fire burned the jars along with any other evidence out of existence.
Beechworth offers ghost tours to visitors who would want to meet a roster of
ghosts haunting the asylum.
Scream Factor: This hospital became a ghost theater as ghosts
just started casually appearing to guests having third eyes, catapulting the
ghosts to stardom. The roster of ghosts includes Matron Sharpe, the
compassionate nurse; Tommy Kennedy, the dead cook; Arthur, the hardworking
gardener; an attention-hungry girl, and a girl standing by the window, among
others. By the way, the founder believed that the moon is causing all the voices
in his head.
2) Clark Air
Base Hospital
Location: Luzon Island in the
Philippines
 Unlike the other hospitals on this list, Clark Air Base is off limits to
civilians. It used to be an American base during World War II. During Christmas
of 1941, the base was bombed by the Japanese, killing all the soldiers
celebrating the holidays on that fateful night. It was also an evacuation camp
for wounded American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The hospital has
experienced bloody encounters in the past, and it has also sheltered deaths in
its span of operation. To this day, the screams of former soldiers can still be
heard, and apparitions of roaming soldiers have also been reported.
Scream Factor: In the rich culture of the Philippines, it’s no
surprise that the country has places like this. Because Filipinos are
imaginative in nature, they can’t really let an opportunity to visit a haunted
place pass them by. The restricted access to the site only adds to the curiosity
and thrills that enthusiasts feel. Numerous paranormal investigations have been
attempted, and one day, maybe we’ll get a glimpse of the facility's bloody
history.
1)
Beelitz-Heilstatten Sanatorium
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
The ruins of Beelitz-Heilstatten in Germany are considered historically creepy,
you’ll find out why soon enough. In 1898, the sanatorium was built to
accommodate victims of the once-deadly-and-currently-still-dangerous disease
tuberculosis. Enter now World War I. The sanatorium was opened to treat
casualties of the war. In 1945, the USSR took control of the facility and was
used as a hospital for Soviet military hospital. But what made it creepy? Aside
from the eerie atmosphere in the site, the depressing sight of abandoned rooms
and operating tables, it all comes down to their most famous patient ever.
By Doris Antony, Berlin (Own work),
via Wikimedia Commons
Scream Factor: Their patient? Adolf Hitler. The guy who started
the Nazi Movement, the guy who plotted the cleansing of the world, the guy who
led the worst genocide in history, the man many claim to be the devil walking
among men, yes Adolf Hitler. A young Hitler was treated in this hospital when he
was shot in his thigh during the Battle of Somme.
Conclusion
To be honest, hospitals and asylums can be really creepy. Just thinking about an
institute’s history, background, and the kind of food patients eat and
treatments they undergo you can’t help but to cringe. Hospitals house a lot of
sadness, pain, misery, and that energy is believed to be the catalyst behind the
paranormal events that occur within their walls. Hospitals play a vital role in
a society, and creepy or not, as a developed society we will always rely on them
at some point during our lives. I guess make sure to pick one that is humane and
not plagued by a bunch of angry ghosts.
Halloween
15 Fascinating Facts about Halloween
Top 10 Most Haunted Places in the World
10 Creepy Hospitals and Asylums around the World
15 Fascinating Stories of Haunted Houses |
.jpg){kind=link}
