The Trans-Alleghany Lunatic Asylum
In April of 2011 a team member and myself took a trip to Weston State Hospital; also know as the Trans Alleghany Lunatic Asylum in Weston West Virginia . This was a beautiful place to visit. It was a last minute stop on a
trip to the area, so unfortunately we were not able to do the night time ghost
tour that they offered; instead we opted for the day time historical tour. Just
FYI, their night time tours need to be booked months in advance, so if you plan
on taking a trip there, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make
reservations. The staff was so friendly and the tour was
very informative. We were able to visit 4 floors and the civil war wing. As we
were on the floor with the seclusion rooms, where the more violent patients
were kept, the guide told us we could split up and explore the floor on our own.
My team member and I went in one direction as the others on the tour went in the
opposite direction. There was nothing out of the ordinary at firsr; however there was a decidedly heavy feeling to the air on that floor. Towards the end of the tour as
we were all regrouping, the team member and I were lagging behind taking
pictures. Suddenly we heard a loud torturous scream. This is the best way I can
describe it, it sounded as if someone was being tortured. Both my team member
and I heard it at the same time; however no one else on the tour heard it. Now
to set the scene, we were the last group in there for the day, they were actually closing and our tour was running behind, so everyone else had already been ushered out of the building except for us and about 4 employees, all of which were on the main floor. We were on somewhere between the 3rd and 4th floors. In my opinion, I don’t think it was someone goofing around. I didn’t mention the scream to anyone else in the group. As we made our way back to the lobby,
the guide allowed us to look through the small museum of art work from the
patients. As we were walking around, some of the other people on the tour was
walking out and I heard one person mention to someone that on the floor we had
just left, he felt someone grab his arm and pinch him. As the tour wrapped up
and we were shown out I hung around and talked to some of the employees, I told
them about the scream I had heard, and they said, we hear that quite a
lot here. Then they started to tell me of some of their own personal
experiences. One of the tour guides was giving a tour and she was standing
around talking to someone in the crowd about the spirits there and directly in
between them a mist formed into the shape of a body, the man took a photo and
it was gone. On another tour, the guide was giving some historical facts to the
group and something took the shawl collar of her uniform and lifts it up and
off of her head and threw it on the floor. Another guide was just coming in for
the morning shift and opening everything up, she said she would always address
the spirits as if they were people that were still there. She welcomed all the
spirits and then she felt a hand gently brush her face, she said hello spirit
how are you and it brushed her face again, she then said I have to get to work
now are you done and she said it brushed her face once more and she didn’t feel
it again that day. Each person there has had experiences of some kind and
they all hold the spirits in the highest respects. They regard them as
friends and family and will quickly warn you to not provoke or taunt them,
after all, these were once people too, and their lives were bad enough without
being taunted in the afterlife. Once I got back to my hotel room I pulled up
videos on the internet of other investigations that had been done there, and I
came across the live Halloween special that was done by The Ghost Adventures
Crew. At one point they bring in volunteers and lock them in the seclusion
rooms on the same floor we were on, as they are getting ready to remove the
volunteers from those rooms, you hear a loud scream. That was the exact same
scream we heard. I showed the video to my other team mate that was with me and
they were equally amazed, it was the same scream. I was amazed. We are working on
planning a trip to go back to Weston State Hospital and actually do a night
time ghost tour, where we are allowed to bring our equipment in. The daytime tours
do not allow recording devices or anything other than a digital camera. I would
have loved to have been able to catch that scream on audio. This seemed to be a
great location and I believe with more time and a chance to check the place out
at night, there would be some great activity present.
http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com
trip to the area, so unfortunately we were not able to do the night time ghost
tour that they offered; instead we opted for the day time historical tour. Just
FYI, their night time tours need to be booked months in advance, so if you plan
on taking a trip there, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make
reservations. The staff was so friendly and the tour was
very informative. We were able to visit 4 floors and the civil war wing. As we
were on the floor with the seclusion rooms, where the more violent patients
were kept, the guide told us we could split up and explore the floor on our own.
My team member and I went in one direction as the others on the tour went in the
opposite direction. There was nothing out of the ordinary at firsr; however there was a decidedly heavy feeling to the air on that floor. Towards the end of the tour as
we were all regrouping, the team member and I were lagging behind taking
pictures. Suddenly we heard a loud torturous scream. This is the best way I can
describe it, it sounded as if someone was being tortured. Both my team member
and I heard it at the same time; however no one else on the tour heard it. Now
to set the scene, we were the last group in there for the day, they were actually closing and our tour was running behind, so everyone else had already been ushered out of the building except for us and about 4 employees, all of which were on the main floor. We were on somewhere between the 3rd and 4th floors. In my opinion, I don’t think it was someone goofing around. I didn’t mention the scream to anyone else in the group. As we made our way back to the lobby,
the guide allowed us to look through the small museum of art work from the
patients. As we were walking around, some of the other people on the tour was
walking out and I heard one person mention to someone that on the floor we had
just left, he felt someone grab his arm and pinch him. As the tour wrapped up
and we were shown out I hung around and talked to some of the employees, I told
them about the scream I had heard, and they said, we hear that quite a
lot here. Then they started to tell me of some of their own personal
experiences. One of the tour guides was giving a tour and she was standing
around talking to someone in the crowd about the spirits there and directly in
between them a mist formed into the shape of a body, the man took a photo and
it was gone. On another tour, the guide was giving some historical facts to the
group and something took the shawl collar of her uniform and lifts it up and
off of her head and threw it on the floor. Another guide was just coming in for
the morning shift and opening everything up, she said she would always address
the spirits as if they were people that were still there. She welcomed all the
spirits and then she felt a hand gently brush her face, she said hello spirit
how are you and it brushed her face again, she then said I have to get to work
now are you done and she said it brushed her face once more and she didn’t feel
it again that day. Each person there has had experiences of some kind and
they all hold the spirits in the highest respects. They regard them as
friends and family and will quickly warn you to not provoke or taunt them,
after all, these were once people too, and their lives were bad enough without
being taunted in the afterlife. Once I got back to my hotel room I pulled up
videos on the internet of other investigations that had been done there, and I
came across the live Halloween special that was done by The Ghost Adventures
Crew. At one point they bring in volunteers and lock them in the seclusion
rooms on the same floor we were on, as they are getting ready to remove the
volunteers from those rooms, you hear a loud scream. That was the exact same
scream we heard. I showed the video to my other team mate that was with me and
they were equally amazed, it was the same scream. I was amazed. We are working on
planning a trip to go back to Weston State Hospital and actually do a night
time ghost tour, where we are allowed to bring our equipment in. The daytime tours
do not allow recording devices or anything other than a digital camera. I would
have loved to have been able to catch that scream on audio. This seemed to be a
great location and I believe with more time and a chance to check the place out
at night, there would be some great activity present.
http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com
Return to TALa
In April of 2017 we returned to Trans-Alleghany for another visit. I am so impressed with the amount of renovation they have done, they are truly trying to save this piece of history. Two more floors have been completely restored since my last visit. We took the daytime paranormal tour this time, which consisted of a tour by a local investigator taking us around to the hot spots and telling us about the experiences and evidence that they had caught. We had the privilege of getting a private tour because no one else purchased tickets for that day. All was quiet until we made our way to the 4th floor men's ward. It began with loud bangs at one end of the hall, then as we made our way over there they were at the other end. They were definitely coming from inside the building and in the room with us. All the doors on the floor where open partially. As the guide was talking to us, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and turned just in time to see a door swing open. This was a breezy April day and all the windows where open including the one in that room so we chalked it up to the wind. However, the more we thought about it the more we wondered, why just that one door, if it was the wind then several of them should have opened or at least moved. We are still debating that one. As we moved into the next hallway, the guide was walking behind us and I walked up on a door that was just swinging back and forth on its hinges. I checked the room and all the windows where closed as were the ones in the other rooms. It was a heavy door that did not swing freely. As the guide caught up to us, unknowing of what had just happened, she proceeded to tell us of how that particular door liked to swing on its own. The rest of the tour was uneventful. The guide insisted that I try to come back for one of the night time tours. She said that it is extremely active at night. I have plans to make it back and this time actually rent the place for the night. This is the second trip where we have had amazing experiences during the day, I can only imagine how much the place comes "alive" at night.
In April of 2017 we returned to Trans-Alleghany for another visit. I am so impressed with the amount of renovation they have done, they are truly trying to save this piece of history. Two more floors have been completely restored since my last visit. We took the daytime paranormal tour this time, which consisted of a tour by a local investigator taking us around to the hot spots and telling us about the experiences and evidence that they had caught. We had the privilege of getting a private tour because no one else purchased tickets for that day. All was quiet until we made our way to the 4th floor men's ward. It began with loud bangs at one end of the hall, then as we made our way over there they were at the other end. They were definitely coming from inside the building and in the room with us. All the doors on the floor where open partially. As the guide was talking to us, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and turned just in time to see a door swing open. This was a breezy April day and all the windows where open including the one in that room so we chalked it up to the wind. However, the more we thought about it the more we wondered, why just that one door, if it was the wind then several of them should have opened or at least moved. We are still debating that one. As we moved into the next hallway, the guide was walking behind us and I walked up on a door that was just swinging back and forth on its hinges. I checked the room and all the windows where closed as were the ones in the other rooms. It was a heavy door that did not swing freely. As the guide caught up to us, unknowing of what had just happened, she proceeded to tell us of how that particular door liked to swing on its own. The rest of the tour was uneventful. The guide insisted that I try to come back for one of the night time tours. She said that it is extremely active at night. I have plans to make it back and this time actually rent the place for the night. This is the second trip where we have had amazing experiences during the day, I can only imagine how much the place comes "alive" at night.