Dark Asylum

There is just so much life behind those walls, all of the secrets of what could of went on there.. All of the dark things with the people that had hazy minds.

thats a very good pic, i have a couple of pic of one in
Atlanta GA call GMHI, i actually playin a big Atlanta based local band called
dark asylum thats how i found your site i would like to see more pic if possible later take care,

spidy
www.enterthedarkasylum.com

I went inside this place as a dare while I was attending Buffalo State College not too long ago. This place is magical. Very dark with shimmers of light poking threw in certain areas.

I attended Univ @ Buffalo..passed this place all the time..its wonderful at night...your shots are amazing Mott....

I live about 15 - 20 minutes away from this place and i would LOVE to go in it some day but..... I'm a chicken shit and i've herd stories from people who have been brave enough to go in there. I am a huge abandoned building fan so this site is like the best thing ever to me lol.

there is a drug and alcohol treatment center on the grounds.i think it used to be the old nurse dormitory.not quite as old as the hospital itself.i stayed there for 3 weeks.this building fascinates me.i could see the intact "wings"portion of it from my window.we walked around it daily.you could see where they changed from sandstone to brick,but the design itself stayed intact.i would love to run thru this place.i've heard there are tunnels underneath.i used to refer to the main building as i passed it as"the church of the insane"

My question? Why was this old mental asylums made similar to old gothic structures and castles? Why not a plain ordinary looking hospital? I love the designs though because these old abandoned asylums makes good ghost stories!

Deafangel:

http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/

As a kid I was scared poopless of this place, we'd drive by on our way someplace and it kinda has a greenish glow to it. Now I just want to go inside it, but there's the whole "got no balls" thing.

Ooooo, I went to Buffalo to stay w/ some relatives for a while and they lived only a few blocks away. As soon as I saw the place I knew i had to check it out.
Absolutley beautiful yet so dark and imposing.

Loooove the photography btw

Thanks Lynne, I apprecaite the link to the Kirkbride. I think these structures are so awesome!

I live in Amhearst now but i used to live on Grant Street Literally right across the street from the hospital. This was actually considered one of the more humane hospitals. My Great-Uncle went to the alcohol treatment centers in the front. It was a very nice facility. I can agree with others that when i first saw it when i was about 6 years old i was seriously freaked out. At night whent eh lights show only on the towers it looks like Dracula's Castle or something. One of the scariest looking buildings ever.

I live three blocks down, have a lot of art friends, who regularly break in to photograph it, etc. They take audio equiptment with them every time, because they always hear screams and echoes of its former occupancy. They have atleast one video of movement.

Anyone know how you can actually go there and perhaps look around?

I'm going thursday for some photography, hoping to find a way in.

if you research it enough your bound to find a way in, i havent gone yet but ive found 3 ways in

I used to live in the neighborhood. These photos gave me the same shivers I used to get when walking past.

I need to know something, if anybody can answer this, Was mental illness many years ago classified differently than it is now? I know we habe facillities today for people with mental problems but it just seems, to me anyway, that it was just so over-bearing years and years ago. Did thet put someone away for minor things? I guess there wasn't too much they could do for them back then, right?

check this out Nancy

http://www.uea.ac.uk/h.../patients_form_3.htm

Disappointment?!, jealousy?!

Last summer one of the towers was hit by lightning! I live about a mile away and heard it in the middle of the night. Wouldn't you have loved to catch that! Great photography!

Back from the Buffalo Central Terminal. This place is one of they most haunted place in Buffalo. In the back is the old playground where you can see the ghostly children playing. You can see mentally ill patients wandering though the halls and many rooms. Also what is scary is that all of the surical tools they used on the insane are all still in this building. I dare anyone to sneak in this building and spent the night. Why don't you try it Motts when you are back in the Buffalo area. Also go back to the Terminal. You will like it Motts, trust me.

This is a beautiful kirkbride. It's very imposing and harsh looking, especially with it's copper-topped turrets and sharply angled roof peaks that jab at the sky.

For some reason, it makes me think of Gotham City.

I use the Wellness Center that is on campus. I used to get freaked out when I walked by the old hospital. Now when I walk by I wonder if I am being watch by spirits. It's almost like I can feel the tortures of the residents.

[Thump - thump - thump . . . . ]

Somebody get a pillow....get a damned pillow!!!!

::Makes hushed soothing noises to Lynne::

Aw, t'anks, Jen! (rubs head and eats 274 aspirin)

Beautiful building looks haunted

I live in the suburbs around Buffalo and I took some photos of this building...amazing. no other words to describe it. I think they should tape a"Scariest Places on Earth" episode in there..ha, shove a family in there and see what happens. I wanna go in there so bad....but anyways (now i am done rambling) great photos, i love the way it's lit up..spooky.

I wouldn't mind go in there and hunt for ghosts all night. Besides this place is THE MOST HAUNTED PLACE in Buffalo. The place maybe a little dark in spooky but rember DARKNESS IS YOUR FRIEND. Don't wory about the ghosts because what can they do touch you, just appearing in front of your eyes, or just make some noise.

Also for the people who live in Buffalo, NY, I'm starting a paranormal team called NFPS. The website will be coming soon and we will investigate any type of paranormal expriences that you have.

Rock On People!

Actually, from what I've heard, there is not a single firsthand account of anything close to paranormal happening in that building. Just third hand things and such which amount to little more than urban legends.

Alex J man, I hate to say this but your kind of wrong. I heard some people were going to make a documentary on this place. When they got there, all this paranormal stuff started to happen. You can read about it and watch it on this website.

Just do a simple GOOGLE search. Just type in Haunted Buffalo Asylum Video. If you get to the website you'll read some info and you can watch the video for a cheap price.

Are you talking about ww.hauntedfilm.com? I don't have a credit card, so I've never gotten around to watching the video, but the little clips they show of supposed paranormal activity don't look like much more than stray spots on the lens.

This is great looking building !!!

I love the architecture !!!

Signed: An American Soldier in Germany.

yea its awsome

When I was a teenager hanging out on the "Elmwood Strip", we used to walk by this place and as we passed one of the main gates, a spooky, high-pitched noise would pierce our ears. The lore was that it was a dog-whistle type of thing designed to make the crazy crazier. Anyone else have this experience or is this just a bunch of kids talking themselves into scaredsilliness?

Thank U Lynne and acuteward for the links. I've added them to my favorites.
Mr. Motts, see what u do?? U bring out the best in us. THANK U !!!!

Ooooops forgot to comment on the pic. I can understand, from the looks of the place, why anybody would be scared to death upon passing by at nite. Looks verry Scarry. I'd be Scared!!!!

Last september I drove 6 hours just to take a walking tour of this place. Almost died behind the wheel on the way back, but it was completely worth it. Haha.

I don't think you could've attended Buff State and not have broken in at least once. An interesting fact about the psych center, it was the inspiration for Arcum Asylum in the Batman comics. Great shots

i went to school at buffalo state a few years ago and i always wanted to see the inside of it. How in tha hell do you get in there? can someone please tell me becuase i've seen video cameras in certain areas. is it all fenced in now or can you still enter? let me know!

I went in a couple years ago. It was absolutely amazing. I still like going for walks around there. I personally dont recommend trying to go in there anymore though. Besides the fact that it looks like theyve closed off most of the entrances. I know two people who got caught going in there on seperate occasions.

Be veweey, veweey quiet... I'm hunting a ghost wabbit...

my sisters friends broke in there and they found chains and handcuffs in the basement

I was born and raised on Pooley St. about a 15 minute walk from the Asylum. We used to play on the grounds all the time as kids. We ALWAYS had an eye on the windows, feeling like we were being watched. It scary and beautiful at the same time. I don't know if I would ever go in there...not alone at least.

im from blackrock and looking to start a team in buffalo ny if any one wants to meat up and do cases right me thank you for your time

I live about 20 min south of the city and i love going there just to take pictures and whatnot. A lot of the times i get pictures with orbs in them.

You can take a chance and sneak in if you want but i have to warn anyone who even thinks of doing that to be careful. Cops make a routine walk around the building quite frequently and a new security system was just installed last spring. anyone who gets caught, the charges are intense. If you feel like taking the chance, its all on you.

nice work man 10x

contact your local legislator about opening it for walk through tours and overnighters, also point out it would bring in lots of revenue. Volker hung up on me LOL

ive actually been inside there... I would never wish it upon anyone... it was at night and that place just has alot of bad things still going on inside it. the history on it though is really interesting. If any one gets a chance you should go to the buffalo library and look at the old news paper reals. theres real articles about like how they would burry 3 and 4 people in a coffin and lable it as 1 person to cover the sky rocketing death rate and extreme neglect.

I've been inside of there (legally) and, unfortunately, there is really no way they would be able to open it for tours any time soon, except for maybe the administration building. There are enough holes in the floors and bits of ceiling waiting to come down in even the safest sections that it would just be a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Ashlee, do you recall which years the stuff about overcrowding were from?

i live out side of buffalo and me and myfriends go into there every chance we get

i worked in the hospital for 8 years. iwas in the towers every day.iv been to the very top of the building,to the very bottom.a lot of good was done for patients dumped there by there familys.many lost souls but no ghosts.we in OT tried to make it as warm as possiable to live there .the use of shelterd workshops ,went a long way to helping patients live out side the hospital.

For those who have been allowed into the Asylum, I'm wondering who you contacted to gain access to the buildings. I've been searching for an address for ages and haven't found one. Any help would be much appreciated!

I was inside this place in 2002, there was a huge hole in the side of the building that you could climb up into. From there you could either go right which led downstairs or left which went to the hospital type rooms. We decided to go into the basement which is a series of tunnels. Nothing really supernatural happend except some chairs falling when we were heading back up. There was a homeless person living in the building adjacent to the asylum but said they dont go in there.

i have been in the forest st hosp in 2000 me and my buddy alan were walking up the front steps aqnd met some kids wearing older clothes and thiought it was a costume or something the said that they would show us the place if we were up for it walked the place oh man .. rocking chairs empty, rocking.. doors trying to close but the frame doesnt quite fit anymore talking crying and thats just on the first floor basement found a room with a very small door and went inside coundnt see anything i got cut on the pins in the walls from chains there were strips with spikes about 2 and a half feet long there was a tunnel from the basement that went to the burnt wing of the building and i swear there was a matinence guy in front of me i blinked and he was gone scared the crap out of me but i must say the towers are killer the one i coudnt find a way up but the left one there was a ladder i went up the veiw was breathtaking anywas the best part of the story is that when i got outside john and carter the guys on the front steps were gone they were right behind us and then gone true story and as far as i know buff state bought the building and is turning part of it into classrooms for the new exspansion plans this coming spring

Navi, the Richardson-Olmsted Corporation may be your best bet - http://www.richardson-olmsted.com. I went through them, but I was only able to get in in tandem with academic research that I was doing at the same time. They are able to go in for research purposes, and thus I managed to fit into that very small window of opportunity.

Alternately, I suppose you could try contacting the NYS Office of Mental Health (they being the ones who still own the building), but somehow I wouldn't expect much from them in this regard.

And, b14207, thank you so much for your entirely unoriginal supernatural claims. By the way, the doors shut very easily - they are, after all, all kept locked nowadays for somewhat obvious reasons. ...and if you knew anything about the ongoing restoration you would know that Buff State has not the slightest involvement (thus far).

Throughout my non-productive academic years, I supplimented my experiences with multiple ventures into this complex. I explored the buidling in tiny fractions, however never experienced any paranormal activity., just the typical random wheel chair, a messy records room and an attic that had nails protruding from every loose board. The towers has a series of ladders that leads to the roof, expore it! Just go

to denny b and all others who worked in hospitals with psychiatric patients: thank you very much for your dedication and service to so many people who often had no one else to care about them. You did so much with so little.

It saddens me to hear so many people today condemn the hospitals and the treatment they provided, talking about patients being mistreated and staff being cruel. What seems to be forgotten or not realized is that the people who worked in the hospitals were the same people who lived in the towns where the hospitals were located. They were our neighbors, parents of classmates, fellow church members, shopped at the same stores, went to the same parades and holiday celebrations, etc. Yet too often some of us are ready to think that these neighbors and friends became sadistic abusive tormentors of patients with mental illness when they went to work at the hospital??

I had a great-great-great aunt, Anna Hickey, who was a patient there in 1910 and died there in 1915.
Such a stark, terrible looking building. The poor dear never married and was 73 where she appeared on the 1910 census as a patient. Thanks for posting the photo.
It is really quite a historical building. I shudder to think of the lives spent there. The view of mental health and illness was far different then.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but all the stories are just that. Stories.

And for those wanting to get in, as of now, the Board of Directors for the Richardson-Olmstead Corporation say no. No one, other than possibly a journalist.

And please, for all that's holy, don't try and sneak in. You will get caught, and the fine is a minimum $10,000 and minimum 1 year in state prison; due to it being a historic landmark it's assumed you were destroying it.

I drove around it a few months back for the first time, and it was the scariest thing that i have ever seen. I totally felt like I was being watched by someone in the towers. I kept looking through the windows expecting to see a ghost or something. Such a scary place.

a couple years ago me and 2 friends of mine went to take a look at the buffalo psych center.. we walked around but something drew us to the front doors.... we started to smell a sulfur smell and got the hell outta there.. .lol

hey man that shits illegal

yeah, there's no way you can get in there now. I wouldn't risk it.

So what's going to happen to the buildings.
I like the idea of a fund raiser fund to restore it. We shouldn't let it die.

(Wow double word error)
I'd love to be able to puchase this place.
A friend of mine works in the new buiding and told me it was about 160 million.

i actually live in buffalo ny and visited it last night. unfortunatly you cant go inside, the place is constatly patrolled by police at hours of the day. mainly bc its located practically on buff state campus so alot of douch bags break in and graffiti it. but theres another part of the ward that actually gets used...this place is huge and has an awesome history.

I'll admit I'm a little confused. There is hard proof that patients were experimented on in ways that would wander so far into the realm of illegal/gross misconduct that it's sick. In this country, all over the place...
I see comments on this about how patients at this hospital were not treated like that. What makes this hospital different from the others?
I mean, I'm not saying this was all malicious...at the time people just didn't have the knowledge we do now on said topic.

i lived right across the street from there (on abbottsford) and i convinced a couple friends of mine that we should go inside but we got caught before we can enter the building. i wish we could've gotten inside, this building amazes, me i have tons of pictures i took myself of this place.

if anyone hears of a walking tour of the inside of this building please e-mail me at figg5150@yahoo.com i will fly up there to attend.

So, I'm about to go there next weekend (the weekend after Halloween) what should I expect?

Uh, well, if you try to sneak in you can expect to get arrested; they're pretty good at protecting the place. It's quite ok to take a leisurely stroll around the perimeter of the complex and enjoy the view. But try to get any closer than that and your trip will end very badly.

I live near enough to it and I've always wanted to get inside it. Apparently my art teadher told us they give off tours! My older brother and sister said they've been in there themselves too. I really wanna get inside. I take photography at school and I could get some sick pcis of this place...

me and my buddies spent a few hours in there last night

They used to give tours, but not since 2003. Even the group running the restoration only has very, very limited access these days.

Any way you can investigate this place please email me at jrlpepper22@aol.com

I want to visit this place so badly, but I don't live that close it it. About 23 minutes actually. Ugh. I would LOVE to get inside and get some good pictures otf it. A tour would be amazing!!

Anyone been in there before...?

I was past the fense when a cop came up and kicked me and a friend of mine out of the area. I go into places like this, but none as scary. I would love to go to a place like this, but its owned by the campus now so i wouldnt reccomend trying to get in

I live not even a block from the asylum, I can see it from my front door. It is an absolutely gorgeous building. H.H. Richardson was a master of his craft.

im tryin to get into it sometime next weekend but im not sure how tight the security is. i noticed today that a squad car drives by it every half hour and theres atleast 2 men on foot at all times. but thats just an observation. and the only real entrance without being noticed is to climn over about a 20 foot fence surronded by wood. or break down a wooden door if you could put it back up quickly.

I'm DYING to get in here for some photos and what not. Does anyone know if security is super tight? Or does anyone know who I would contact to maybe get in?

Does anyone know where I can find patient records or old newspaper articles about the place? I'm kind of obsessed with it, and I'm writing a paper for school on it but its so hard to find the info i need on google, its really all about the architecture (which is amazing, but not what I'm looking for).

My great-grandmother (originally from Ireland) was am inmate here from 1903 until 1912. She never made it out- died of tuberculosis at age 53. She was committed by her husband right after she had his 6th child at age 44. She was apparently violent and dangerous, heard voices, and had delusions (equivalent of today's paranoid schizophrenia).
I wonder where they buried her? Does anyone know if they have a patient graveyard there?
brandt09@charter.net

So I want to visit this place next weekend. I like buildings and these kinds of things. I am going to take lots of pictures :)

I'm seriously thinking about gathering a group of people (like 3 or 5) and going there at night with flash lights and camera's. I know my boyfriend would love to go with me cause he loves going into places he's not supposed to haha. And I know another friend of mine would go and possibly my sister and her boyfriend. I realllly wanna go inside and check it out!

I REALLY want to get inside! But I cant think of any of my friends that would wanna go with me :( none of them have that intense curiosity like I do. Sigh.

i've been there twice already, but the thought of taking pics never cross my mind. i might have to do that the next time when i'm up there. who knows i might come across something unusal.

Crywebb - patient records from 1880-1970ish are still extant, but they are at the state archives in Albany and the HIPAA Act renders them confidential in perpetuity.

Nancy,
I have worked in state hospitals, still am, for over 25 years. Years ago, they did not have the same diagnosis's that they have now. They did not have the meds they have today either. They used restraint's and other cruel means to handle a difficult patient. My experience is that, years ago, pt's were admitted for some really stupid reasons, for example, a husband could put his wife in an asylum just because he did not want her in the house anymore. And they admitted many many women for those exact reasons. They also would put homeless people, but not necessarily mentally ill, in the asylums too. Now days there are so many patient rights that it is hard to abuse a pt and get away with it. It still does happen tho. The trouble now days is that you really can't put your hands on a pt if they are out of control and dangerous to themselves or others without a good chance of losing your job if you do. It is really a difficult thing because to let a pt thrash about or assault a staff member is more cruel in my book than to give them a good shot of thorazine to put them out. There are way too many assaults against staff and the pt gets no consequences for their behavior. Laws are good and all, but they need to do something with the outcomes after a staff gets assaulted.

Everyone talks about the outsanding architecture of this asylum. It is agreed apon that it is beautiful and eerily creepy. The abuses that took place behind the walls of this structure, in the curvatures and hidden areas during the 1950s to patients (boys and girls) was cruel and inhumane. Some of the staff should have been committed and housed in the area for the most violent. I could just imagine what it mus have been prior to the 1950s. SCARY!

Sorry I didn't put my real name. I sorta of afraid. I guess you can call me a coward at times but I do love the paranormal. This is the first time I heard about this place. It's cool. I feel sad for all the souls in there though. It looks really cool and scary at the same time. I like it!

I live down the street from the Hospital, and to my knowledge there are no tours or anything open to the public there. I called the hospital a couple moths ago to see if I could possibly get a tour or somethign and the man i spoke too said there is nothing open to the public, the only way to actually go insede is if you are on the commitee, or you are a nursing sudent of Buffalo State. BUt i do agree is highly intriging, the mystery of it is what is one of the main draws of the facility not to mention the architecture of the building.

we would love to check this old place out . our link discoveryParanormal.org this is our ithaca ny tv show we welcome people on our show if we can investigate as a group

Ive been inside the womens ward ( the area that was not remodeled) 3 seperate times but alas that was 10 years ago and security is much tighter now. There was literally a huge hole in the fence u just waited for the right time n went in, then there was a hole in the wall into the basement where u would find lockers with names, you had to go through the basement to go up into the building, i am a sensitive and you are welcome to beleive. What you like however there are many trapped souls here. We explored from basement to attic. Very interesting. And many "spots" where dark energy stil resides. Now im not saying these are demons, i dont believe in such but i do beleive in spirits, ive communicated with, seen, and tried to help many move on. This, in my opinion, is the creepiest place ive been in my life. Im not talking about like in movies with ghostly smoke and mirrors, but if you have the gift and Are open, u will sense, feel, hear, and sometimes see them in here. I say creepy because human nature when we feel something dark it is creepy, however the dark energy i always felt was a sort of sadness and sometimess anger, possibly at they way they were treated in life, possibly by being abandoned by their loved ones to pass over in this place. All i know is as interesting and enjoyable a time we had, it is in fact very dangerous, unless they did some major work in these areas there is no way they could legitimiately have tours safely. It is a shame. Now mind you that was 2002 i cant imagine now! But rest assured, this sensitive experienced much inside that building, its nothing to poke fun at or try to get responses from by being disprespectful to (if u were to get inside) but if you're open, u may sense, see, or feel what still resides. So sad... The overwhelming feeling of sadness that was there. But structually astounding also. A beautiful piece of Buffalo history!

It will be open to the public Thursday, 9/27 from 5:30-9:30pm. It is part of the Museums By Moonlight event.

Id like to get inside this building. Does anybody know how to get in? Also I heard that there is security cameras all around and inside. Is this true?

I was there roughly 2yrs ago... 2011ish.

The security consists of 2 men... one walks in a very limited area (more like stands there... underneath some generator-powered football field type lights), and the other gentleman rides around in a golfcart. If you truly wanted to get in, time it w/ the guy in the golfcar. Theres openings in fences, fence-doors open enough to sneak in... and you can jump the fence in the back.

I went w/ 3 other people. Scary stuff happened. The freakiest thing was there was a crow walking around in the backside... theres very very little lighting back there. Me and 3 others were watching this crow for several minutes, wondering why he's walking around and not flying. 2 of my friends walked away. Me and another friend stayed behind. We were watching this crow walking closer and closer to us. He was roughly 20ft out or so. My friends say "hey, check this out" to us... they were roughly 50ft to our left, while facing the fence. When me and my friend turned back one last time to investigate the weird walking crow that appeared injured, it vanished. It never cawed, it didn't fly away (would have heard or seen it), and was nowhere to be seen. My 3 friends couldn't find it either.

And to prove that I'm not lying, the man on the golfcart (who was SUPER cool and friendly.. just begged us to please not try going inside the fencing..) is the one who POINTED OUT the crow to us before we even noticed it. He was driving around and said "hey, you should see this injured crow on the backside... its been there for some time now". So he had seen it too. Until it just vanished.

ca ma ro man ma tt @ ya hoo .com remove the spaces to contact me.

also, back to the security thing. I really am NOT sure if there are cameras.. but if I had to bet on it, I'd be there aren't. BUT, there is a super weird building kinda in between both parts of the asylum thats always lit up... like its being used on the inside... but when I was there from 10pm ish to midnight-1am, I cant fathom somebody would be working in the building.

Theres one guard that stays in the front, by the parking lot... theres some generators w/ football field style floodlights ligthing the area up

The secon guard drives a golf cart. I spoke w/ the guards for a long period of time. They have a high turnover rate; guards get spooked and never come back. Also, they claim they see random windows lighthing up in the facility, they see faces in windows, etc.

There are windows towards the back side... you can look in. Old medical chars, beds, sewing machines... creepy stuff.

The creepiest part of the asylum is towards the backside, w/ minimal lighting, theres a little shack style building. Its surrounded heavily by brush/bushes.... I tried hard to go in, but for some reason that little shack thats fortified by mother nature was terribly frightening. Nobody else would step forward and investigate w/ me.