Inside the Legend: Asylum

There has always been torture in insane asylums. Most of this torture was unintentional, but nonetheless many that were “treated” during the early age of the insane asylums were possibly worse off than when they had first entered. Before 1750, attitudes towards the mentally ill were simplistic. Some even believed that those of mental health problems were being “possessed by devils”! A lot of this “treatment” included ice cold baths and ‘restraining chairs.’ The first asylums were little more than places where the mentally challenged were removed from mainstream society, in the same manner a jail would for criminals. The first known psychiatric hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital, was infamous for its harsh treatments of the insane; and in the 18th century they allowed visitors to pay a penny to observe their patients as a form of "freak show”. In the late 20th century drug-induced sleep, comas and even deliberately triggered epileptic fits were all tried on schizophrenics. The most controversial physical therapy of the 20th century was the lobotomy which involved drilling through the skull and destroying the frontal lobes of the brain. This often resulted in destroying the patients sense of judgment and social skills.

Upon first walking into the asylum, you see piles of rubble from the slowly cracking ceilings and desecrated walls. The floor is covered with broken glass from doors and windows. And every door is open or broken off and lying on the floor. The windows that once let in light are now boarded up. And beneath you there are dark tunnels linking the buildings. Welcome to Philadelphia State Hospital. Home to Satanists and dangerous homeless squatters. There are many beliefs that surround this asylum. Some claim that the asylum is now used for a gang ritual, in which a new joiner is lowered through a hole in the floorboards and left to hang there until they came back- sometimes they never did. While others claim that the asylum is now a meeting place for Satanists, where various animal sacrifices can be found. And for others the asylum is a hot spot of ghostly activity. One thing is certain, whether it be notorious rituals, ghosts, or homeless people, the Philadelphia State Hospital is not a place to be reckoned with.

Amityville is one of the most sensational and controversial cases of alleged evil presences. Perhaps even the most famous haunting in America! The house is located on 112 Ocean Avenue in Long Island, New York.

The below is based off information from Jay Anson’s novel: The Amityville Horror.

Ronald Dafeo was a troubled young man who had verbal and often physical disputes with his father. At the age of, 24, he still lived with his parents taking up residence in the basement. On the night of November 13th, 1974, Ronald Dafeo was possessed by an unknown spirit commanding him to murder his entire family. Taking a high powered rifle, he murdered his parents, two brothers, and two sisters one by one in their sleep. All of their bodies were found the same way, laying face down on their beds with NO SIGN of struggle! None of the family members, nor neighbors heard the gun shots.

On December 18th, 1975, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with their two sons and daughter. Due to the horrors ahead, they would only live at 112 Ocean Avenue for 28 days, bringing no belongings with them from their house and they never returned to pick anything up! George and Kathy were newly weds, their sons were part of Kathy’s previous marriage. George was your typical, warm and friendly family man who wanted to do the best for his wife and sons. But, once they entered the house strange things began to occur. Swarms of flies invaded the house- especially the windows, their daughter began to see an imaginary pig named Jodie, and George felt a sensational coldness that would never stop. Each night George would wake up at 3:15, to find the boat house doors open and swaying in the wind-no matter how many times he had locked them. When Father Mancusco came to investigate the house, he felt the presence of the great evil that lurked there. While blessing the house, to rid of the spirit, he was hit across the face by the spirit and ordered to leave the house "GET OUT". Eventually on the 28th day, the Lutz family ran out of the house- never to return again. No one knows what truly happened on the final night, the Lutz family never told. If you ask me, I personally believe that George (like Ronald Dafeo before him) was driven to the brink of insanity and went “the shining” on his family. Why else would the Lutzs never speak of what happened? I guess we will never truly know, but nonetheless Amityville is still one of the scariest hauntings I have ever heard.

From 1985 to 1987, the Smurl house in West Pittston, Pennsylvania became the scene for a horrific and terrifying haunting. The case received wide attention from the media. Although the house went through three exorcisms and investigations by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the demon refused to leave. The hauntings were recorded in a book and portrayed in a movie both named “The Haunted.”

ESP is defined as information that one receives from beyond the five senses: sight, smell, taste, and touch. It can provide the individual with information of the present, past and future; it is the skill to feel communications from people beyond the grave through medium-hood and seancing, spirit walking or people far away, through telepathy. The notion of extra-sensory-perception is a very old one, and in many ancient cultures it was taken for granted that certain people has such powers of perception, be it second sight, or the power to communicate with deities, ancestors, or spirits.


Orbs are energy anomalies recorded at some haunted sights. Orbs are only seen through infrared monitors, they can be recorded on photographic film but are not visible to the naked eye. When they appear, they show up in round or sometimes rectangular shapes. The study of orbs has grown with the initiation of ghost hunting technology.


Night is often associated with danger and evil, because bandits and dangerous animals can be concealed by darkness. The belief in magic often includes the idea that magic and magicians are more powerful at night. Similarly, mythical and folkloric creatures as vampires and werewolves are thought to be more active at night. In almost all cultures there exist stories and legends warning of the dangers of nighttime. It is also the only time of day known to bring about the most haunting occurances in supernatural locations.