Exploring the Unknown: One if by Land Part 2

Mysterious Locations: One if by Land/Part Two

So many lunatics, so little time, am I right? But not to worry, people…there’s a place for that! Several, in fact. One such place in West Virginia even had lunatic in their name! Talk about slacking in the creativity department. I can picture it now—a bunch of egomaniacs discussing what catchy name they will put on the building to house the mentally ill.

“Hey!” says one guy, “I know! How about ‘Crazy Acres?”

“Nah, too generic. We need something that tells a bit about the patients here. How about, ‘Lunatic Lock-Up/ Because Safety is out First Concern?”

“Wait, wait! I got it! How does ‘Sometimes you feel like a nut?’ sound?

In the end, though, they settled on a much more sensitive name for their building (and for those of you who haven’t had their first cup of coffee, this right here? Sarcasm😁)

What is the name you ask? Why, it’s the ‘The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum,’ of course. Erected in the mid 1800’s, the facility began with an altruistic philosophy—eradicate the stigma of mental illness and introduce effective treatment protocols that would allow patients to lead a more normal life. But, as with many things that start with the best intentions, things went wonky. Twenty or thirty years after opening, the increased diagnoses of mental illness meant an enormous influx of patients at the facility. It was originally built to house 250 patients, by the time it closed, there were 10X that many patients. Overcrowded, understaffed, and unable to keep up with regular maintenance, the building became a run-down disgrace. There are tales of botched lobotomies, brutal beatings, starvation due to the increased numbers of people housed there, even the caging of human beings who were not ‘well-behaved.’ Is it any wonder why this building is considered one of the most haunted in the world?

Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Source: The Washington post

The asylum closed its doors to patients in 1994. In 2007, the new owners opened its doors for ghost hunting and ghost tours. I have to be honest here…this place is on my ‘must visit’ list. Right up there with the Winchester Mystery house and another visit to Gettysburg. (Who is up for a road trip?)

So, what kind of activity do we see here? There are reports of small children laughing, a woman named Lily who walks the halls, and a man named Jacob looking for his beer. (Aren’t we all?😜) In all, the tour guides there believe at least seven or eight patients who still walk, or glide, the halls of the Trans Alleghany Lunatic Asylum. Makes for an interesting work shift, don’t you think? And, speaking of crazy…

If I mentioned Room 217, a hedge maze, the Grady twins, and F.O. Stanley, what comes to mind? If you answered The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, or thought of Stephen King, you get a gold star. The Stanley Hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King’s ‘The Shining’. He came up with the idea for the novel after staying in the Stanley right before it was slated to close. That last night, he had a nightmare about his toddler son running down the halls, screaming and in danger. Now, I am sure there is more to this story, but he basically says that he had almost the whole thing written in his head by check-out.

Today, there are so many sightings, shadowed figures, and disembodied voices, that I could do an entire story on it. You name it, they have it…from Elizabeth, a ghostly presence in room 217 who apparently frowns on sex before marriage (and will come between people trying to see their own light show😉) to a piano in the concert hall that plays by itself, to a freaking vortex in the grand staircase. A vortex? How cool is that? Fun fact— rumor has it that the actor Jim Carrey stayed in the hotel (in room 217, actually) and ran screaming from the room, half nekkid and scared to death. I don’t care what they say; he isn’t dumb or dumber😝

Stanley Hotel. Source: The New York Times

Before I get to the very last on my list, an honorable mention (props, shout out, you-da-man) kind of awe goes out to a few places. The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana has been investigated, written about and filmed countless times, and for good reason…it is haunted as (insert curse-word here). A slave girl named Chloe, who is alleged to have tried to poison her lecherous master Clark Woodruff, but accidently killed his wife and children, was hanged, thrown into the Mississippi, and supposedly still haunts the plantation. As does, allegedly, the entire Woodruff family, a young Native American girl, and a man who was murdered in the home. In total, there are said to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 ghosts residing at Myrtle’s Plantation. And why not? It is a beautiful, antebellum styled home. Hell, I may haunt that place someday.

The other shout out goes to the Pine Barrens in my very own home state of New Jersey. The over one million acres of preserved woodlands span seven counties across the state. While the most famous supernatural creature to gain notoriety in the Pine Barrens is The Jersey Devil, rest assured, numerous eye-witnesses detail encounters with what are called The Ghosts of the Pine Barrens. See there? Yet again, you learned something! Included in the list of spirit residents are a young boy hit by a car who roams the woods, an African American doctor lynched for practicing medicine, and a young blonde woman who, like, died I guess.

Seriously, I couldn’t find any other info on her.

But, now on to my absolute favorite, one I have visited and would love to do so again. The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, now famous for its haunted tours, was once an infamous prison run by people who believed in putting the punishment back in the prison system. As such, prisoners were tortured in various ways. Many a man went mad simply because communication in any form was forbidden. That meant no talking, no singing, not so much as a whistle or a pipe bang to communicate with a fellow inmate. In addition, no contact with the outside world meant no radio, no visitors, newspapers. The lack of human companionship takes a tremendous toll on the psyche. In addition, there were certain barbaric punishments doled out for even the simplest of infractions. Inmates were denied meals, tied outside to a wall in winter and doused with water until ice formed, or simply chained to a wall for months at a time.

Eastern State is where Al Capone did a little time, where Charles Dickens visited and called the conditions ‘rigid, strict and hopeless,’ and where Inmate Leo Callahan (I swear, I’m not making up that last name😉) built a ladder and simply climbed away from the prison, never to be caught again.

PSA— Leo is still on the loose and considered armed and dangerous. Although he’s, like, 110 years old now so not much of a threat I would think. Unless he comes at you as a vengeful spirit, of course.

There you have it. You’ve explored the unknown, those creepy places on land that everyone talks about and is dying to see (poor choice of words there). Next time on Exploring the Unknown…Two if by Sea, where we will discover all things spooky on, near, or in the sea.

See you on the other side.

—Q