Students creep around historic, haunted asylum
0Written By Madison Varney
Dr. LeAnne Epling and her History of Psychology class took a trip to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, W.Va. last Wednesday, Nov. 9. About 20 students from the class attended and received extra credit. The group toured the old asylum and learned about its history and ghost stories.
The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950’s with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994.
The Asylum has had apparition sightings, unexplainable voices and sounds, and other paranormal activity reported in the past by guests, staff, SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and Paranormal Challenge.
“I really loved how the asylum was kept original. Nothing was moved or replaced, almost like we went back in time,” said senior psychology major Mounia Sami.