Administration Stairwell

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beautiful, and how creepy are the angels going up to meet the devil.

anna

Tue 10-25-2005

Another admin building, another beautiful stairwell. Deja vu anyone?

rich_edwards79

Wed 10-26-2005

Great stairway shot! More beautiful workmanship too.

Jude

Wed 10-26-2005

i love the angle. almost tim burton/ish

Ron

Wed 10-26-2005

Mr. Motts, please don't mind this long-ish post, but this picture just made me think of the lyrics to a song. (God Bless Our Dead Marines by Thee Silver Mt. Zion and the Tralala Band.)

They put angels in the electric chairs,
Straight up angels in the electric chair,
They put angels in the electric chair,
Straight up angels in the electric chair.

And no-one knew,
Or no-one cared,
But burning stars lit up their hair,
And burning stars lit up their hair,
And they crawled to heaven on golden stairs.

Kassie

Thu 10-27-2005

Fantastic shot! It looks like the devil himself punched in the top of the knewel post.

Fri 10-28-2005

Scary - completely scary. - not to mention sad.

RoxieZ

Tue 11-01-2005

Ok... what the heck does that say up there? Stuff like that drives me nuts!

StacyMarie

Wed 11-02-2005

It looks like "Have another twin", but does that make any sence?

Puddleboy

Wed 11-02-2005

Here I am, I'm in Google looking for something (that I can't find) and all I got on my mind is that picture. (LOL) Soooo, back to Opacity to get the pic and blow it up. Well, I quickly saw that the top word is 'wave', not 'have'. The bottom word is still a problem. Enlarged it looked more like 'twirn'. Now it even makes ~less~ sence. (LOL)

Puddleboy

Thu 11-03-2005

I blew up the image and got "have another turn". That sounds pretty close, I think.

Ron

Thu 11-03-2005

or 'wave another turn' (?)

I still don't get it, or the meaning of the drawing. Are the angels walking away from the devil or walking towards him?

Puddleboy

Thu 11-03-2005

towards i think. they look sad.

Ron

Thu 11-03-2005

wow, thats really deep

Jackie

Sat 11-05-2005

Of all the pictures I have seen at this site, this is the one that stays with me even when I close my eyes.

StareGirl

Sun 11-06-2005

I'm going for "You've another sinner" or "We've another sinner." What say you?

Lynne

Sun 11-06-2005

I think Lynne is right. "You've Another Sinner" looks right from what i see. I Know it say "You've another"

Ian

Sun 11-13-2005

"You're another sinner" is the only thing (so far) that makes any sence...but...at first glance, it still looks like "have another twin" (LOL & GRRR)

Puddleboy

Sun 11-13-2005

I have to read nursing logs and staff event forms from my section of campus for my thrice weekly risk management meetings, plus I have to read all the nursing logs once a month (for 500 folks). It is generally the highlight of my day trying to figure out exactly what people wrote, as what I like to PRETEND they say is always a lot funnier than what they ACTUALLY say. It is especially difficult to interpret if someone misspells a word or uses an abbreviation I'm not expecting.

God save the poor people who have to read physicians' handwriting, however. 8-(

Lynne

Sun 11-13-2005

No, the last word definately has a T at the beginning. I'd say "Have another turn". Besides, I think it's just petty vandalism.

Judderman

Fri 11-18-2005

And the angels are being eaten by the devil, I see.

Judderman

Fri 11-18-2005

So they're standing in line to be eaten. Perhaps they've sinned and now await purification. Being eaten by the devil is a way to pay for their sins. But that's all I can think of. "Have another turn" makes sense now.

Judderman

Fri 11-18-2005

It makes perfectly good sence.

A top o thee ol' PB hat for this new and startling revelation.

I thank you!!

Puddleboy

Sat 11-19-2005

And now we need to know ~what~ inspired the artist to draw this picture.

This may never be known, unless we hear from the artist him (her?) self.

Puddleboy

Sat 11-19-2005

No prob, PB. As for ispiration, my guess was that this was a poetic man or woman, probably a squatter, with an aerosol spray can and a lot of boredom.

But, as you said, we may never know, unless we hear from the artist him (her?) self.

Judderman

Sat 11-19-2005

If the angles are going to the devil, shouldn't they be going down the stairs?

psycadellic one

Sat 11-19-2005

Trying to view this picture, through the artist's eyes. I would say that he's showing the Devil as God.

Could also mean that some 'goings on' upstairs caused people to lose their virginity.

Puddleboy

Sat 11-19-2005

Judderman, It looks like a very easy picture to draw. The devilish image is very close to one I once drew. I would like to duplicate this picture on something more meaningful.

Puddleboy

Sat 11-19-2005

psycadellic one,

If the Devil tries them for their crimes, would they be try-angles?

I'm just asking.

Lynne

Sat 11-19-2005

HOW ABOUT ASCENDING ANGELS RESISTING THE DEVILS TEMPTATION? WISH I COULD MAKE OUT THAT LAST WORD, WHATS IT SAY MR. MOTTS

psycadellic one

Sat 11-19-2005

Another interesting revelation...They do seem to be walking ~away~ from the Devil...

They're also very sad, so that rules out the 'losing the virginity' theory. (LOL)

Puddleboy

Sat 11-19-2005

for some reason this image reminds me of 'Lucifer over London' by Current 93. What a stunning shot.

robbie

Wed 11-30-2005

Hey motts what is up with music playing inside and what part of the hospital feels the most haunted

jflorida

Thu 12-01-2005

I already left a comment on here
but I keep coming back to this picture, its so moving
thanx again Motts

Jackie

Sat 12-24-2005

My mother and I walked thease stairs many times. The admin building was where I spent a lot of my time, waiting for my mother. When I think back, I was prety much able to have the run of the place, or at least I thaught so. A mother wouldnt dream of letting her child run free in a mental hospital today, but things were different then, I never got in to anyplace that I shouldnt have. I remember wandering the halls, the various workers all seemed to know who I was, as did many of the residents. I would often run my matchbox cars up and down thease very rails oblivious to everything that surounded me.

Brad

Tue 12-27-2005

Brad,
Since you grew up here, could you tell me what was orinally on top of each knewel post originally?

Misti

Mon 01-16-2006

Nice pic! Creepy grafitti with the angels following satan.

Andy

Sun 01-22-2006

This is cool. The sharp angles in the banisters have an amazing effect, and the angels have a creepily childish feel to them. It's very profound; this pic should be in a museum somewhere.

maiira

Mon 02-06-2006

ever notice the "jelly bean man" under the stairwell?

boston

Sun 02-12-2006

When I worked there us housekeeping staff would polish that stairway until it shined like gold. The walls were always freshly painted, nothing was let go at all. The staff took pride in the place, mopping floors, cleaning. We used to get help from the patients too! I'm pretty sure that is the stairway that will not get torn down (is in the Kirkbride center building). Hope they restore it with feeling . . .

drBob

Sat 02-18-2006

The writing on the wall says "Have Another Tomorrow" If you look closely the writing on the last word extends under the head of the first angel, meaning that 'Turn' is too short a word to fit in there.

Rory

Mon 02-27-2006

thats the stair well from the movie session 9 where the 2 people are talking about gordon hitting his wife

tylerl

Sat 03-04-2006

Oh god. I may be mistaken but that looks like the stairwell my brother came down wrapped in a sheet believing he was the second coming oif christ. I was about 8 yrs old and scared outta my mind. My brother was shizophrenic,manic., etc.

kara

Wed 04-12-2006

Wow someone definatly spent some time "drawing" in there huh?
That's a crazy concept....with the angels and all.

Wed 04-12-2006

I think these were drawn on two seperate occasions, ie the differences in painting textures. I think the angels are right. Whoever was there, was sensing the sadness of the people there.
I hope ALL the spirits come out to haunt the new laptoppers that buy here. I also wonder how many accidents will happen during construction?????? Happy Haunting

Thu 04-13-2006

Ignoring the words, this is my take on the art:
Taking into account the fact that it is the stairs to the administration, it would seem as though the angels, the souls, are ascending the stairs to try reach salvation. People who are declared "insane" are often seen to be evil or useless members of society. Misunderstood, they search for the cure for their "disease", but often find that hospitals do nothing than make things worse.
The angels would be the "crazy" people going to get help, but it turns out the help is only more evil.

KaTang

Mon 04-17-2006

[tightly squeezing eyes shut, jamming both fingers in ears]

~~~LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!!!!~~~

Thank goodness I can't hear or see a thing! :-)

Lynne

Mon 04-17-2006

very creepy picture. the graffiti is almost terrifying. awesome angle.

Jess

Mon 05-01-2006

i think it says "have another tomorrow" too. i read through all of the comments and kept referring to the picture, which is great by the way. they're all good opinions. i wish we could know for sure.

sara legend

Sat 05-06-2006

its amazing how grafiti can be so beautiful at times....

niki

Mon 05-15-2006

I noticed the crosses on the knobs of the staircase railing. Very awespiring picture. I think someone had fun and a reavalation day as the did the graffittii. It's still a form of art after all...

Great photo. Perfect black and white.

Sam

Fri 05-19-2006

I think those crosses once held newel posts. They would be attractive enough to steal for sure.

Big ED

Sun 05-21-2006

another pic i cant get over this is like looking at pics of the titanic. it was beautiful and now its gone.

pam _ spaulding 2000

Sat 05-27-2006

What sadness walks these hallways! The newer homes today will never ever have the archetecture they had then.

Nancy

Sun 05-28-2006

i dont believe this is "beutifull graffiti" ... i dont believe its art. but in a way it is because its a picure or a visual that u see that makes u think. thats what art is, isnt it? i dont think the person that did this is the most "artistic" person in the world, but they still got there piont across. thats what i respect about it.

snazo

Fri 06-09-2006

I see the work of punks with spray cans.

Van Gogo

Fri 06-09-2006

My interpretation is that the angels are the victim of the devil. The angels, it seems, represents the patients, almost as if they were victims. The devil is meant to represent the caretakers, nurses, people who sent them there as the devil. They are being lead up the stairs to the devil, as the patients were lead up the stairs to their wards; and, if you notice... one is laying down with, I believe, X's in his eyes, almost as if the devil slayed him. I blew up the image of the writing and got "Wave/Have Another Turn". I don't get that, though.

Sat 07-01-2006

Oh, and they all have frowning faces.. like I assume someone being committed might...

Sat 07-01-2006

hey guys..i was actually on this site yesterday and was curious as to what it said at the top where the devil is..and i actually was on someone elses site that had a closer view of this in color..and it says "Have another twinkie" not wave or ahve another twin

amanda

Sun 07-23-2006

Then that's even funnier! 8`-)

Lynne

Sun 07-23-2006

Oh, dude, you're right! You can see the "k" between the top angel's halo & body! And their little bodies do kinda look like twinkies, don't they? Wow, I was just about ready to start looking for some deeply subversive subpsychological meaning to this, when all it really is is the work of a bunch of pot-heads with spraycans and the munchies for twinkies. . .

GirlJaye

Wed 07-26-2006

clearly and alusion to child abuse ...

Jmack

Thu 07-27-2006

Yeah, and what IS up with the jellybean man, anyway?

GirlJaye

Thu 07-27-2006

YOU WANT THE STORY ??? former patient been there from 10 to 16 until he was adopted by a rich family ... he returned to the place when he was 25, he wanted to show to people what happened there. Some menbers of the administration aliciated children with candys in return of sexual favors. One of the former members of the administration was also found dead tied up to a chair in his house where he was forced to eat twinkies till he died , on the table in from of him was written " sweet death " with the same handwritting that is presently seen on the stairs to his now abandoned office ... DAMN !!! must stop seing all these movies

Jmack

Sat 07-29-2006

Wow. this is one of my favorite pictures. i keep coming back to this one. i just found this site. very nice. and yes i notice the jelly bean man under the stairs.

Heather

Wed 08-02-2006

They do seem very angelic, and very sad, but have you noticed that their wings arn't angel wings, but 'demon' or 'bat' wings.
Have another tomorrow seems right

Chelsea

Thu 09-14-2006

Could that be the staircase to heaven?

Donzi

Mon 11-06-2006

this is a REALLY informative document i found online. It's like of a summary of various statistics of danvers state for the whole year of 1940. i came across this while trying to do research on my great-grandmother, who i just recently about 3 months ago) found out was admitted to danvers for a nervous break down and severe depression. i just thought that maybe mr. motts would find this interesting or whoever else. i know i did. especially around pages 12-15. let me know if the link doesn't work, but it should. here it is

http://www.abandonedas...uals/danvers1940.pdf

jenell

Thu 11-09-2006

Jenell,that is great information.It gives a glimpse into Danvers in 1940.I would like to see the numbers for 1960 to compare.

William

Thu 11-09-2006

here is another annual report for danvers state dating 1924. check out page 8. it talks about a particular patients struggle and sad demise. these reports are pretty interesting i think. you should google or yahoo them. i've found various years out there.

http://www.abandonedas...uals/danvers1924.pdf

jenell

Mon 11-20-2006

Jenell I find myself having read these reports thinking wow I knew some of the people some I just met when I was a kid Or I knew their children

Olive Estey was there literally for freakin ever. Dr Hagopian became Superintendent eventually. I went to school with his son.

Big ED

Mon 11-20-2006

this must be haunted in any means

P. A. F.

Thu 12-07-2006

I believe it says "you've another i want", all the "angels" are going into the "devils" mouth,it wants "another". right under the halo is a "T", although it looks like a "K". It's not twin, it's "I" "WANT",it's just screwed up because the "artist" was spraying it at a slant , and they were more than likely drunk, or 13 , or both.

gishikin

Tue 01-09-2007

i have seen this up close it says have another twinkie. im not kidding.

Tue 01-09-2007

I think that it is a disgrace that housing is to be built on-top of St. Margarets Hospital

PoP- mAn

Tue 01-09-2007

i think this picture represents the administration as the devil and the angels represent the patients that were sentthere.

amy i think so to

How strange that in the 1940 report the asylum has only one psychiatrist and all those medical staff lol some psychiatric care

Kim

Tue 09-18-2007

Thats really scary, I wouldnt go there even if they payed me a million dollas!!!The angels are nice but the other thing! Scary!!!!!!!=(

Zuleika colon

Thu 10-04-2007

Again, another brilliant picture.
I cared for a woman that lived in Danvers for years. She was so messed up ,beyond repair..constant flashback and boughts of rage and terror that I have never seen before. Taking a look at these pictures gives me a better understanding of what her life must of been like .. so thank you for that.

Kim C

Fri 11-02-2007

It really DOES say "Have another Twinkie"!!! There's a close up photograph of this wall at this site: http://www.abandonedbu...danvers_pictures.htm

Eerie!

Props for the photos, though, Motts. Beautiful, tragic images. Thank you.

Suzanne

Fri 11-16-2007

I Dont know who said it but theyre right the angels do have a very erie/childish feeling

very sad!

Ducky

Mon 12-24-2007

Seeing this picture reminds me of a section of the book "project 17" by Laurie Faria Stolarz.
It said, " Someone's drawn a row of pissed- off angles, seventeen of them- their backs are numbered- climbing up the wall, hearding for their doom. Their's a picture of a devil at the very top."
It sends chills down my spine...

TRiX

Thu 01-17-2008

I have one of those banisters. The guy I'm dating (I mentioned him in another comment) lives not even 5 minutes away from DSH and he took me there because he knows it's my favorite of the MA state hospitals. We were looking around the patient cemetery, and I found one of those banisters in the woods, so I grabbed it. I found a brick too, which I'm pretty sure also came from the kirk.

abandonedNH

Sun 02-10-2008

i live near this place the stories are numerous if you ever get a chance to read project 17 read it it talks about the weird things that go on there many people have died there and if you went in you never came out...

peachey39

Fri 05-09-2008

i read the book Project 17 and all i can think about is this insane asylum....
and my friend read the book after me and she was looking at the pics on the internet and found this pic of the angels on the stairwell...now all i do is get on this site...especially if i have any free time at school....i'm surprised the teachers haven't tried to send me to the counselor....but this has got to be the most beautiful pic i've seen.....i love it and wish they would not have demolished the hospital.....

sweetcheek_marie

Thu 05-15-2008

Anyone else get a Strong sense, of "I think i've been there before?"

Jake Violet

Sat 11-08-2008

Wow, i read the book project 17 i never thought the mural of the angels leading up to the devil was real......creepy.

Katie

Fri 07-03-2009

OMG! i loe the book Project 17, and i thought everything in it was created in the amazing mind of the author! i had NO idea she got many of her ideas from FACTS. i thought Danvers state, or the angels were even eral. geez i feel stupid!

Chloe W

Wed 07-08-2009

Hey, I too read Project 17, and I thought Danvers was made up as well. I thought the angels were a beautiful metaphor for Christine, though. Glad to know they did exist at one time, sad to know theyre destroyed.

AmythystAngel

Mon 07-13-2009

Anyone read project 17? I believe (i could be wrong) that, that story took place in danvers hospital. The whole time they talk about the number 7. In one part of the story they talk about seven angels going up the wall. Creepy. i have chills.

Madz

Mon 12-14-2009

it was the nuber 17

Thu 02-04-2010

its so strange to think about all of this, we are learning about this stuff in my pysch class and it doesnt seem real until you actually go there. A few of my friends and myself are thinking of driving out there. i would love to major in something like this in college but im not sure they even have a major for this stuff!

Bridget

Wed 04-14-2010

I usually hate tagging and graffiti in places like this, but I love the sequence of angels sadly going up the stairs, it's quite poignant in a place like this.

poisonalice

Sat 11-13-2010

Ignoring the graffiti, the workmanship on the banister & railings is impressive. The act of destroying & defacing something just because you can perplexes me to no end.

Larry D

Mon 12-27-2010

i see them walking....
not a hater
explain
l8r

DARKCHILD30319....20

Thu 01-13-2011

The Angles are a nice touch to the pictures. Like most people that lived in this hospital saw this place like hell. So thinks as the pople living here are the angles and the devil are the docors.... i think

P-D-M-R-M

Thu 07-07-2011

holy pile a poo. this was also in the book project 17. there were 17 angels going up to meet the devil..... fmeeeehhh

Sat 10-22-2011

last word looks like jumper

jdbs

Tue 01-24-2012

Because you have entered one or more links in your comment, please answer this security question to help our efforts to fight automated advertising. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Question:	Is the color of the sky blue or green?
Answer:

Date Shot:	June 2005	Image ID#:	3331
Date Posted:	Tue, October 25th 2005	Camera:	Canon 300D Rebel

Location Name:	Danvers State Hospital
Current Status:	Renovated
Built:	1874	Closed:	1992
Opened:	1878	Demolished / Renovated:	2006
Location Age:	138 years	Abandonment:	14 years

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Administration Stairwell

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