I went on my first public tour of an asylum five years ago and something happened immediately upon stepping onto the grass-covered grounds, gazing at the massive and sprawling stone building for the first time. It was a spark of awe that, as I drank in the looming and heavy presence of this unique structure, turned into a humming electrical current through my body. It’s hard to explain, but I had a distinct visceral reaction to this asylum.
As hundreds of windows bore down upon me, dark, suspicious, watching, a whole new world burst open inside my brain. I was overcome with morbid curiosity I couldn’t control, becoming suspended, during that tour, between present, past, and imagination.
It was this profound interest and intrigue that led to the writing of a full length novel, and three more trips to this remarkable destination.
The novel is Generation Annihilation, releasing October 10th, 2023, and the asylum is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia.
The word asylum often evokes negative emotions like horror and terror. When I hear the word asylum, however, my mind goes in an entirely different direction: fascination and unyielding curiosity.
Can I sign up for a tour? More importantly, Is it haunted?
My interest in the macabre in general, and abandoned lunatic asylums more specifically, is not unique to me. The interest in asylums runs deep and wide in our culture. Why?
One reason is the fact that many abandoned asylums are thought to be haunted. Numerous most haunted places lists online have at least one asylum included, often more. Notable ghost-hunting experts and amateurs alike choose abandoned asylums as prime ghost-hunting grounds. Armed with their unique equipment, many of these hunters provide what they consider proof that ghosts do dwell within these buildings, which in turn sparks even more curiosity among those of us interested in the paranormal.
On top of that, the dark history of asylums is wrought with horrific events such as suicides, murder, and violence, not to mention gross unethical treatments, all of which evokes morbid curiosity and a belief that disgruntled souls linger within their walls to satisfy some ghostly need or mission. Is it revenge? Justice? A desperate need for human contact they are no longer privy to?
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is one asylum that pops up on most lists as being haunted, and the attention is richly deserved. The Travel Channel’s list of Top 10 Most Haunted Places in America (see link below) showcases this very asylum. Further, there is an episode on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Hunters devoted to exposing any ghosts that linger within this particular asylum’s massive stone walls (see link below). It’s gaining notoriety in the paranormal community, and gaining popularity in the dark tourism industry.
Since my first trip five years ago, which inspired Generation Annihilation, I have been on three other tours, one of which was in the middle of the night. The long and quiet corridors were submerged in the pitch-est of black, save for the guide’s meager flashlight. And I yearn to return for more. My next tour will be the overnight ghost-hunting tour. Will I be scared? You better believe it. Will I do it anyway? Oh, yes, please, and thank you.
I still recall the exact moment the idea for Generation Annihilation was born. I was on a daytime paranormal tour of the asylum when the guide led us through a door that opened onto a balcony. This balcony overlooked a ballroom where various activities took place once upon a time, like a multi-purpose room. For me, standing on that balcony, the vast, empty room I was overlooking became anything but empty in my mind. I saw drugged teenagers. Maniacal doctors. An evil world where what is considered best for the greater good is horrific for those used as sacrifice to achieve that greater good. We eventually moved on to another section of the asylum but part of my mind stayed on that balcony for the rest of the tour.
It might seem odd that, in today’s already tumultuous and uncertain world, I would gravitate toward the macabre. But interest in the darker side of life is pervasive in our culture. Halloween. Horror films. Stephen King. Why would people want to willingly be exposed to more horrors than what a daily viewing of our national news channels give us?
There are many theories as to why: the stimulation that comes with being scared; exposure to experiences that daily human life won’t allow (think zombies, demon possession, etc); and an ability to explore the darker side of the human psyche safely and with distance (see link below). For me, it’s a combination of all of these things.
I get bored with sweet and happy. I am a sweet person. I have a quick smile. A ready hand to help. A general kindness that makes up my baseline personality. Therefore, that’s the last thing I want to read or write about. I want dark. Gritty. Sinister.
My interest in the macabre, and specifically my fascination with the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, helps balance who I am. It also helps me create terrifying stories where I control the narrative. I know what’s going to happen to my characters, so even though I’m taking their experience to the brink of death, I know whether or not they’ll live. I’m the one in control. Not fate.
There is, simply, a portion of the population that gravitates toward the macabre, for a multitude of reasons. I, for one, am thankful I’m not alone in my interest in the darker side of life because that means that places like the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum will stay open to public tours for years to come. And allow me the time to take several more tours. Will another book come out of my next visit? Possibly. Or I’ll switch to a different venue of interest—haunted prisons.
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