Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just a warning...  This is going to be one of those mushy posts.  It's Thanksgiving in the USA today, and I just want to say what I'm thankful for.  First off, I'm thankful for my amazing friends and family, who puts up with me even though we all know I should actually be in the institutions I investigate rather than just investigating them.  I'm also thankful for my husband; Tergg.  He's been sick for about five years, and he almost gave up.  I'm so thankful for the fact that he didn't.  He's my best friend in the whole world, and I'd have died without him.  So, this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for him toughing it out.  I'm thankful for the life we live, no matter how hard it can be sometimes.  

Stay Spooky,

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Medfield State Hospital

Medfield State Hospital, located in Medfield, Massachusetts, was built in 1892.  At the height of the hospital's reign, the property boasted 58 buildings on 900 acres of land.  Unlike now, where every complex needs town power and other immenities, Medfield generated it's own heat, light, and power.  This concept, to me at least, is amazing, thinking of how long ago the complex was built.  It's absolutely massive, and I had the privillage of walking the grounds all by myself on November 17, 2012.  

The photo to the right is Googlemaps' aerial view of the Medfield grounds.  The bottom-most building is gone now, part of the construction that's slowly beginning.  I just pray that Avalon isn't going to take this away as well.  I'm afraid to look it up because if I see that it is, I'm going to have a brain bleed.  

The Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge built asylum was brought into the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and closed down in April of 2003.  That same month, the shuttering of all the buildings began.  The hospital was finally closed down due to a decline in patients.  The buildings are currently defunct, but oh so lovely.  I was able to grab a piece of a brick, two large nails, and pieces of a large pillar from one of the first buildings I came to.  The pieces of pillar may or may not be asbestos, but I'm not worried.  As I've said before, out of everyone I know, I'd be the one that died of mesothelioma.  

An interesting piece of information on the asylum is that the grounds were used for filming in two big Hollywood movies.  The 2009 cult film The Box was filmed on the grounds, as well as the movie Shutter Island.  Shutter Island did quite a bit of their filming on the Medfield grounds.  Scenes in Cawley's office were shot on the second floor of the chapel during the late evening; lights were shone through the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The surrounding brick walls in the outside hospital scenes were actually painted plywood which served the dual purpose of acting as scenery and blocking the set from view of a local road; Hospital Rd. Originally, scenes were going to be shot at the old Worcester State Hospital grounds, but the filming would have gone on during the demolition of the surrounding buildings, which was impractical.

I know that the grounds will be demolished soon, although not the exact date.  Because of this, I'm going to try to get up there as much as I can.  I'm hoping to head up to the grounds the weekend after Thanksgiving, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to.  I've found some old and rusty pieces on the grounds, and I've already promised to grab some for my badass friend, Steph Sciullo.  She's an amazingly talented artist, and I can't wait to see what she does with them!! 

Stay Spooky!!

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Week Obscura!

A few months ago, Amusmental, myself, and my cousin went on a little hauntventure.  Amusmental had heard of a cemetery in New Hampshire called Vale End.  Now the geek in me immediately thought of Bag End... but I soon learned one had nothing at all to do with the other.  

I've read some things online about the "things" that supposedly haunt the place, and while the one time I was there and didn't see anything, I want to cover it.  I think it sounds pretty interesting, to say the least.  Now, I understand that two ghosts supposedly haunt the grounds.  There aren't any 100% credible sources about the situation, but from what I've read, it sounds intriguing.  I'll get into all that later, as this Friday, I'm heading there with Amusmental again, barring any blocking situations.  

This Saturday, Mum and I are heading back to Waltham to go gallivanting through Metropolitan State (again) and also to check out Fernald.  I'm calling it just Fernald, because typing out Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, previously known as the Walter E. Fernald State School, is just too fucking long.  Hopefully we can get some more pictures!

I'm lucky enough to have people around me who want to help me with my bizarre obsessions.  If I was alone, it wouldn't be nearly as fun.  Plus... I'd probably get arrested because other people are my filter.  Now, American Horror Story is on... and I have a boner for it!!

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Metropolitan State

Metropolitan State Hospital, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, was built in 1927.  It was once known as the state's largest and modern facility of it's type.  The Gaebler Children's Center for mentally ill youths was also on the grounds.  Now, most the 330 acres has been converted into apartment buildings, but the administration building (The Dr. William F. McLaughlin Building) and the hospital's cemetery are all that remain of the original layout.  When we were there, we weren't able to make it to the cemetery, but the next time we head up there, I'll be getting plenty of pictures for you all! 

Metro was shut down in the early 1990's, another victim of the country's reformation of mental institutions, however in my opinion, it would have been only a matter of time, with or without the reformation.  In 1978, inmate Melvin W. Wilson murdered and dismembered another inmate; a woman named Anne Marie Davee.  Wilson was caught with seven of Davee's teeth.  The macabre trophy was what would bring Wilson's demise.  The murder was slightly investigated, but nothing was really done about it until State Senator Jack Backman came into office.

Backman ordered a more thorough investigation, and when one was done, at least three burial spots and other tell tale signs of the murder were found.  The Davee murder case was added to 19 more reports of neglect in the hospital.  After this, the hospital was on the fast track for closing.  It shut down officially in January of 1992, and unlike most of the other state hospitals of New England, not all of the land was sold to apartment developers.
While a lot of the land is now modern apartments, a great deal is part of land protected from further development.  The administration building is next to the wooded area accessible by the public, and while its posted that entering is forbidden, you're more than welcome to walk around and take a good look.  The corner stone of the building is stolen (a fact that lead me to sticking my head inside to see...) But the rest of the building is quite well kept.  There are trails near the grounds connecting to the Western Greenway; a link to Rock Meadow, conservation land found in the neighboring town of Belmont.  According to plans, as I've not been able to confirm it, the rest of the land is going to be connected to the Middlesex County Hospital.  
Mum and I will be heading back to Metropolitan to check on the cemetery, and I have to admit that while Danvers is still my ultimate favorite, I've developed quite the soft spot for this old institution.  

Stay spooky!
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The Echos They Left Behind

Well, first and foremost, I'd like to apologize for the epic fail I had on my November 1 post.  I mistakenly said that November 1 was Guy Fawkes Day, when it's actually November 5.  A reader let me know about my error, and for that, thanks Swissy, for bringing it to my attention.  Now then... onto the creepy bits!

Finally, after so many years, I was able to see and to walk through the cemetery at Danvers State Hospital.  This past Saturday, Mum and I went to search for the resting spot of so many lost souls.  I'd gone to the Danvers grounds with Amusmental and Tergg a few times, and I'd thought I'd looked everywhere.  I couldn't find the cemetery anywhere, and I started to fear that the Avalon company had gotten rid of it.  

So, Saturday, with a cappuccino in hand, Mum and I headed off into the unknown.  Hawthorne Hill was so cold and windy, I thought Sandy had come back for a reminder of how horrible the weekend before had been...  We looked up and down the entire grounds, and couldn't see a thing.  More than discouraged, I used my phone to see if I could find any information on the place, and low and behold, I actually did!  Thanks to Odd Things I've Seen, Mum and I were able to finally located the secret cemetery.

If you want to know how to get there, here's an explanation (as best as I can explain...)

1. Looking at the Kirkbride, there is a little "monument" to your right. (It looks like a large podium, kinda...)

2. Start walking down the path from the monument, away from the Kirkbride building.

3. Stop walking when you're roughly right were Avalon Danvers ends, and Aria Condominiums begin.  There's a tiny, almost secret path down the hill there.

4. Head down the path, through overgrown weeds and what not, across a cornfield, and then finally... 
5. There's a rather large rock, engraved with the announcement as to what you're actually looking at.  Walk past that, and you've found it!

I was so happy.  I'd waited so long to see it, and I was finally standing in the middle of everything.  It was a bit overwhelming, honestly.  I took as many pictures as I could, and there's one that people might not understand.  There's a picture of a random stick.  It's not random, though.  After looking all over the grounds at least three times in total, I came back with Mum and on that one day, I just happened to notice a stick.  It was pointing away from the Kirkbride building, and for the hell of it, just because I could, I followed it.  I'm not Zac from Ghost Adventures, so I won't go into a huge speech, but I do think it was helping us along.  
There's so many more pictures, so I've made them their own page, which can easily be found towards the side here.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!!

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Monson State Hospital

As some of you know, one of the main reasons for my obsession with asylums and dilapidated beauty is because of my aunt.  Bertha Alice Eddy died in 1958 from pneumonia.  Presumably, the pneumonia was caused by poor living conditions and her treatment at Monson State Hospital.  At the time she was there, the facility was known as the Massachusetts Hospital for Epileptics.  I’ve always felt a connection to her, and thank her for bringing my attention to this world.

My grandfather Jimmy, Bertha's brother, hasn't been feeling well recently, and when he found out that Tergg and I were planning on heading to Monson, he got excited.  He'd not seen his little sister, or her grave since 1958, when she was laid to rest.  She was only 22 when she died.  Her death certificate said the cause of death was pneumonia, but according to records, there were many deaths attributed to this.

I've been doing some research over the internet, and I've found that the pneumonia that is supposedly the cause of almost all deaths from the hospital.  The pneumonia is actually more or less a side effect of the torturous "treatments" the patients suffered.  Collapsed lungs and hours in freezing cold baths were just some of the pain that the poor wards of the hospital suffered.  It's a terrifying thought, to think that my aunt could have gone through such trouble.  It's also a fact that I'll never tell my grandfather.  He thinks that his sister died from the natural death that accompanied pneumonia in the 1950's. 

The State Almshouse at Monson in Palmer, Massachusetts was opened in 1852.  It’s name was changed to The Massachusetts Hospital for Epileptics in 1895, but the main name that it’s referred to as is Monson State Hospital.  According to the minimal accounts on the hospital, the care for the patients there was more than horrible.  Quite a few reports comment on the deplorable conditions.  Torture to the point of killing was quite the normal occurrence, according to several sources I researched.  Another odd point of interest is that some accounts say the hospital is located in Palmer, Massachusetts, while other accounts say it's located in Monson, Massachusetts.

Monson State Hospital is located on hundreds of acres in scenic Palmer Massachusetts, near the Quabog River.  The beautiful location of the hospital makes the stories of torture and death sound more like legends, but according to the survivors and the ex-employees, the hospital was a place of nightmares.  
Whether because of having no interest in the place, or following the local rumors of it being haunted, Tergg and I couldn't find one person in the towns of Palmer or Monson that knew too much about the land.  There are security cameras, gates, and no trespassing signs all over the grounds.  Because of this, only the last two photographs in this post have been attributed to Tergg and I.  The first few older looking ones are from antique post cards, and the fourth picture is an image I found on the internet a while ago.  We tried our best to find anything we could, but sadly, made the return trip with nothing.  We weren't able to find the correct cemetery, let alone the grave where my aunt is supposed to be laid to rest.  This doesn't discourage me though; it just fuels my need to find out more information!

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Tower of London?!

Good question!  November 1 is Guy Fawkes Day, and I thought I’d give this post over to the Brits!    Guy Fawkes is a member of the famous (and failed) “Gunpowder Plot” of 1605.  The cool part (well, cool for me…) is that instead of being mutilated, Guy jumped off the scaffolding, with a rope round his neck, and snapped his neck instead.  Cheers!  His effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by a firework display.  I’ve been to one of these bonfires, and it’s awesome.  It’s not a bad memorial, if you ask me!  

But Six, what does this have to do with Asylum Obscura?!  Well, Westminster Palace, where Guy died, is one of, if not THE most known buildings in England.  While only a few stories of Guy Fawkes’ spirit being seen are floating around, there are many other specters supposedly being seen by throngs of people.  So, to all my UK friends, I’m going to tell a little bit of creepy history of the place.  It’s also the home to Big Ben and the Tower of London, a thought that, at least to me, is synonymous with creepy.

The Tower of London dates back to more than 900 years, and has the distinction of being England’s most haunted location, according to sources.  Anne Boleyn (one of the wives of King Henry VIII) is said to haunt the White Tour, wandering up and down the halls.  She’s also seen guarding her grave, under the alter at Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula.  Catherine Howard, another of Henry’s executed wives, can be heard screaming at the top of her lungs behind the door to the room she was imprisoned in until she got her head chopped off.

The saddest of the Tower Ghosts, are of little Prince Edward and his younger brother, Richard.  They were the sons of King Edward IV, and were declared illegitimate when their father died.  They were sent to the Tower when their uncle took the throne instead.  As soon as his coronation was over, King Richard III set to getting rid of the little Princes.  In the summer of 1483, the boys went missing, and were never seen alive again.  In 1674, the two tiny skeletons were found under a staircase in the White Tower, and the suspicions were confirmed; that they’d been killed there.

Numerous people have claimed to see the spirits of the children, crying, terrified in the rooms where they were locked away.  They’re often seen clutching one another in terror, dressed only in their white dressing gowns.  When worried guests see them and try to reach out to them, the specters disappear into the darkness, wailing pitifully.

I’m not wanting to make this a ghost hunting blog, but I thought it best to tell the above stories.  I’ve always been interested in England, almost as long as I’ve been interested in asylums and other abandoned places, so I thought it appropriate.  Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

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Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!  I know the poor girl is converted into condos now, but I wanted to do a little expose on Danvers State Hospital for my favorite holiday of the year!  Amusmental and I went up there a few months ago (during the Summer) and took some photos.  So, along with a brief history of the Castle, I'll be showing some before and after pictures...  Come along, then!

Danvers State Hospital, originally Gallows Hill during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, was built beginning in 1874.  It opened for patients in 1878.  Over it's 114 years, the hospital housed thousands of patients, accommodating 2,000 heads at times.  The hospital was only built to accommodate 600 at the very most, so conditions were more than deplorable.  

By the time I was old enough to get to the Castle, a nickname given to the hospital because of it's ominous, Gothic style beauty, the building wasn't only condemned, it was well into the process of becoming the newest set of Avalon condominiums.  Thankfully, when the Avalon company bought the land, they decided to keep at least the facade of the main Kirkbride building.  They tore everything else down, and gutted the beautiful Kirkbride, leaving only the front shell.  Unfortunately, once people pass the front doors; restored to the original look, that's all that's left of Danvers State Hospital.  In my opinion, the new "modern" look that the condos have adopted is nothing short of pathetic.  They could have at least given some resemblance of the older beauty, but they didn't even try...

Something that made me smile was the fact that the covered stairs, supposedly leading down to the cemetery, wasn't destroyed, but rather, refurbished.  The photo on the left is of the original covered stairs, and the one on the right is a recent photo.  (I got a bit filter happy, and haven't found the original yet...) It was exciting to walk down the stairs, and follow the path to what was supposed to be the memorial dedicated to and by the patients.  The memorial was destroyed, however, and hadn't been fixed.  I'm sure some of you are looking for the ghost stories floating around Danvers, but that would make this already long post too much longer.  I'll leave you with one more image; the photo I wanted to take since I can remember; the clocktower of the Kirkbride building.  The clock itself was remodeled, and the windows have been added again, but this the last remaining piece of the Castle on the Hill:

 Happy Halloween everyone!!

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There's a Hurricane A-commin'!!

That's right!  Just as the title says, there is indeed a hurricane coming.  Whether or not it's going to hit us, is a completely different matter.  I, being a lover of all things creepy and dark, am actually rather looking forward to it.  The last hurricane I really dealt with was when I was seven, and I slept through it.  We were on vacation, and the locals assumed I was a devil child because I slept through such a tumultuous night.  I mean, they were right, but that's not the point!  

According to Weather.com, our entire state (Massachusetts) is in the ACTION bit, which is apparently quite serious.  Tergg and I will be running to the store tomorrow to stock up on provisions (tea and soup, probably...  water as well if they have any haha) and then we'll be tucking in.  We have classes Monday morning, but according to everyone I've spoken with, they'll most likely be canceled.  In any event, I'll be writing my psychology paper tomorrow, so I don't get caught with my pants down.

Well, enough of the real world bullshit... let's talk Asylums!  Tergg and I were planning o n going to Palmer, MA, to see Monson State Hospital this weekend, but plans changed, and now we're heading there next weekend (hopefully) so I don't have new fantastic asylum pictures.  I do, however, have some lovely architecture shots from Kassassin's 25th birthday romp through Boston!  They're not asylums, but I find them quite interesting.  They're the other pictures floating around the post, if you're wondering...

Wednesday is Halloween, and to celebrate it, I'm going to do a little dedication post to Danvers State Hospital.  I'll be blogging in between terrifying little children, so long as Hurricane Sandy doesn't blow her load too hard.  Some towns are changing the trick or treating to tomorrow night, which will make me sad and hate filled.  If you read about burning cars, it's from Sandy...  Anyhow, the Danvers post will have some pictures that I took as well as older photos and photos from other asylum-philes.

Tergg and I went to one of my best friend's Halloween party tonight, and had a fucking blast!  I went as a 1950's lobotomy patient, and thought I'd share the photo!  Tergg went as Snorlax from Pokémon, though I doubt I was lucky enough to snag a photo of him...  I'll have to look for one later...  I do believe I've taken up enough bandwidth, so I'll say adieu and begin my psychology paper...  I am regretably wide awake, and still slightly drunk, so this should prove to be a very interesting paper. 

Worcester State Hospital

A few weekends ago, after a fantastic night at Rock and Shock in Worcester, MA, Tergg and I decided to take a trip over to Worcester State Mental Hospital.  It was only a few minutes from the DCU Center, and why not?  

As soon as we got there, I got chills.  I don't want to sound like a nerd, but I really did.  I've wanted to see Worcester State since I started researching New England mental hospitals.  There's a pretty interesting photo, taken while the hospital was still in use:

 

I was able to take some photos while Tergg and I were walking around the grounds.  We were unable to get into the buildings (only the Kirkbride building is still standing from the original main building.)  The impressive clock tower can be seen almost a mile away from the hospital, even today.  It's a beautiful sight, one that I hope to capture the next time we're there.  My goal is to document the hospital's beauty before it's fully "restored."

Worcester State was built in 1833.  It was originally two facilities; the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, and the Bloomingdale Asylum.  It remained open until 1991 when a fire swept through the facility on July 22.  Only the right most wing (Hooper Turret) and the administration building survived the blaze.  The Odd Fellows Home, a freestanding building, is also still standing, silently slipping into disrepair, apparently not part of the rennovations the rest of the grounds is undergoing.  During it's 158 years, Worcester State has housed thousands upon thousands of patients, and has the distinguished honor of being the nation's second oldest mental hospital.  (Eastern State in WV is the first.)  

The photos that Tergg and I took are from October 12, 2012, and I'll do my best to explain them!

Asylum Obscura

This being the first post, I thought I'd take the time to explain what this blog is for.  We're not "ghost hunters," or "paranormal investigators." We're simply a group of friends who love the darker side of New England.  Asylum Obscura is a group of friends (myself, my husband Tergg, and my best friends Amusmental, and Kassassin) who want to show that no matter how pristine and beautiful a place is, there is always a dark side to it.  That's the beauty that I see.  Where someone else sees a run down or abandoned building, I see a beautiful world waiting to explore.  

Yes, I'm aware that that sounds like a crock of shit.  I'm afraid I sound dangerously close to as big a chode as that Zak guy on Ghost Adventures, but it's true.  Everything is beautiful, be it for it's darkness or it's light.  This blog will focus on not only on the dark beauty, but the stories and possibly even the haunted history behind the images we capture.  I'll work on making sure that the history of the places we visit are also showcased, not just the images themselves.  Stay spooky!

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