The Haunted History of the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Ice-pick Lobotomies * Straight Jackets * Seclusion Cells * Ice Water Baths Sound like a scene from a horror movie? Welcome to the 19th century asylum located in Weston, West Virginia. It held the demented, the insane and the unfortunate. Come explore ghosts and haunted history with author Sherri Brake.
Built in the 1860's to house 250, the asylum in Weston was overcrowded with 2,400 patients by the 1950's. Barbaric treatments, unsanitary conditions coupled with scandals, murders and suicides made for a nightmarish situation. To some it was a haven from the streets, to others it was hell on earth.
Inside the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
This book documents the brutal reality of psychiatric treatment in 19th and 20th century America. The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum stands as one of the most notorious mental institutions in United States history. Originally designed with Gothic Revival architecture to accommodate 250 patients, the facility became dangerously overcrowded, housing nearly ten times its intended capacity by the mid-1950s.
The asylum's history reveals shocking medical practices including ice-pick lobotomies performed without proper anesthesia, extended confinement in seclusion cells, forced ice water bath treatments, and the routine use of straight jackets for restraint. These barbaric methods were standard protocol for treating patients diagnosed with mental illness during this dark period of psychiatric care.
Paranormal Investigation and Ghost Stories
Beyond its medical history, the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum has become a focal point for paranormal researchers and ghost hunters. The combination of tragic deaths, patient suffering, and documented murders within the asylum walls has created one of America's most actively investigated haunted locations. Author Sherri Brake brings her extensive experience as a paranormal investigator to this comprehensive examination of the asylum's supernatural reputation.
