There are some places that deserve to be torn down because their walls have seen too much suffering. Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts is certainly one of them. Don’t let the name fool you- this was not a normal hospital. It was a “mental asylum”. It was opened in 1878, so you can imagine exactly what kind of asylum it was too. The place is rumoured to be where the practice of lobotomy started.
So, I’m rather glad this place is not around to sully the reputation or the beauty of New England any more. However, I wish I had one opportunity to see the place with my own eyes. After all, it’s the perfect haunted mansion. It has been featured in a number of horror films even. It was also a perfect spot for urban exploration- and it would have been a million dollar experience (after all, it would have been the creepiest place I would have set foot in).
Danvers State Hospital was actually the indirect inspiration for the famous Arkham Asylum that keeps turning up in the Batman universe. It was actually the direct inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham sanatorium in the short story “The Thing on the Doorstep”, which is where DC drew it’s inspiration for Arkham from.
The existence of Danvers State Hospital is sort of a reality check for me- such ugliness can and did exist in the middle of New England, which is certainly one of my favourite places in the world. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
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