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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