Case file · Haunting
Danvers State Hospital
The Kirkbride-plan asylum on a hill in Danvers, Massachusetts, opened in 1878, closed in 1992 and was largely demolished in 2007. In between it became a byword for haunting.
1878 CE · 42.59, -70.97 · status: legend
The account
Overcrowding and harsh treatments in the 20th century fed its legend, and it was used as the setting of the horror film 'Session 9'. Stories of ghosts and of hidden tunnels attracted trespassers for years.
The sceptical view
The suffering of patients is documented; the ghost stories grew mainly after the hospital closed.