Pennhurst State (November 2009)

I just watched the Pennhurst State episode and wow. That place is creepy just based on the history of the facility.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennhurst_State_School

"Pennhurst State School and Hospital, which sits on the border between Chester County and Montgomery County in Pennsylvania, was an institution for both the mentally and physically disabled. Pennhurst opened in 1908 with high hopes of helping disabled youths throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. However, Pennhurst's seemingly good intentions came under question starting in the 1970s when rumors of physical and sexual abuse arose."

There weren't enough staff members to take care of the number of patients. One room had 80 cribs filled with children who weren't being taught to walk simply because the attendants didn't have time to go to the closet and pull out mattresses to put down on the floor to protect the children who might fall.

Hundreds of the more mentally disabled and disturbed children were biters and a couple of attempts were made to teach them to stop. When those initial efforts failed, the children were strapped into a dentist's chair one by one, and every tooth in their mouths was pulled since that was the only sure way to protect the other children from the biters.

Pennhurst State School was closed in 1986 following several allegations of abuse.

So this is where Zak, Nick and Aaron found themselves this time and before they even made it into the building they heard a very loud bang and they were off and running trying to find the source of the sound. Very soon after entering the building they came across a large metal desk that appeared to have been toppled over against the wall of a hallway. Zak noticed that there were fresh trails in the dirt on the floor corresponding with where the legs of the desk would have skidded through that dirt in order to land where it did.

There were many unexplained voices and sounds, including eerie screams. A rock was thrown at the team and Zak ws hit by a heavy coat rack. Upon reviewing the footage and looking at where the coat rack started, and where Zack was when it hit him, I can't think of any possible way it could have done it on its own. I think this was the most exciting part of the entire episode because it seems completely inexplicable. I have no idea how it could have happened the way it did.

You really should check this episode for yourself. It's very interesting and well worth your time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfOYGy2RTY

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Assylum (Halloween 2009)

When I checked the mail the other day, I found an interesting package inside. It was a plain brown cardboard envelope from Travel Channel Media and my interest was immediately peaked.



I ripped the envelope open and was surprised to find a file folder. As a matter of fact, it looked just like a medical chart. And so it was - from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The file folder contained patient admittance forms for Zak Bagans, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin, our fearless (um, not so much) Ghost Adventurers. Apparently, even The Travel Channel thinks the boys have lost their minds on this case and have decided to have them committed.

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is located in Weston, West Virginia. It was constructed between 1858 and 1881, and is the second largest hand-cut stone masonry building in the entire world, with an astounding 2 1/2 miles of corridors! The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was opened to patients in 1864 and reached it's peak in the 1950s with 2400 patients in terribly overcrowded and poor conditions. And if that wasn't bad enough, patient-on-patient violence was commonplace, with the worst offenders being shackled in seclusion cells, and inmates were routinely subjected to brutal & primitive medical procedures, including "ice-pick" lobotomies.

Let's face it, a live, 7-hour investigation in this old, abandoned Lunatic Asylum doesn't really sound very smart. It does, however, sound like a heck of a good time, especially when it features Zak, Nick and Aaron.

This long episode was loads of fun to watch with lots of thrills and chills but what I'm really excited about is this week's show - the big reveal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tPN93kXJMY