haunted hospital scary stories

Although it was mostly abandoned in 1985, Lier Sykehus is still partially operational. It's home to patients who live side-by-side with ghosts and report lots of strange noises and shadows. Conditions are most likely better now, but from 1945 to 1974, the hospital had a reputation for experimenting on patients. Lier Syekhus offered up its residents for drug tests that pharmaceutical companies were hesitant to perform on humans.

Built in 1891, Sai Ying Pun was originally used for nurses' housing until WWII. The building was badly damaged by fires, but the facade remains. It is now the site of an apartment complex. Also known as the "High Street Ghost House," Sai Ying Pun has no shortage of paranormal activity. Two of the most common sightings are a headless ghost who runs through the halls and a demonic man dressed in traditional Chinese garb. He usually bursts into flames on the second floor.

In 1940, the remains of an estate called Nocton Hall were converted into a hospital for the Royal Air Force. It was later expanded to become a general hospital and officially opened in 1947. It was in operation until 1995. Back when Nocton Hall was a home, it was said to be haunted by the ghost of a young servant girl who had been murdered by the owner's son after he got her pregnant. Her spirit would appear sobbing at the foot of beds, talking about a "devilish man who had done this to her." A "Grey Lady" has also been spotted roaming the halls.

Pennhurst State School and Hospital was built in 1908 as a state school for the physically and mentally disabled. It was enormous and housed more than 10,000 students at a time. The facility quickly gained a bad reputation after several residents came forward with reports of neglect and abuse. The building was shut down in 1986, and everything in it was left behind, including medical equipment and patients' belongings. Paranormal activity has been reported from the abandoned hospital, including voices, strange footsteps, and items being hurled across the room. Take a peek inside with the Ghost Finders investigative team to see for yourself.

Kuhn Memorial Hospital was opened in 1830 in response to a smallpox outbreak. It later tended to Civil War soldiers and lost several staff members during the Yellow Fever outbreak in 1878. The hospital remained open until 1989. It was boarded up by the 1990s, but several paranormal investigation teams have made it inside. There have been reports of full body apparitions and shadow figures creeping through the halls. In 2015, a team of paranormal investigators discovered the dead body of a missing woman inside Kuhn. She appeared to have been murdered.

The Alton Mental Health Center is still operational and not open for paranormal investigations, but some creepy stories have made their way to the outside world. The hospital, which is a series of buildings connected by tunnels, opened in 1916. Patients were subjected to lobotomies and electroshock therapy. Today, many patients and staff report hearing voices throughout the hospital and in the tunnels. A nurse working in a secluded part of the building once heard a man behind her ask, "Who's that?" She responded, but nobody was there. The same exact thing happened to another nurse later that night.

St. Bartholomew's is the oldest hospital in London, dating back to 1123. It's still operational today. Inside, there is an elevator known as the "coffin lift," which sometimes takes passengers to the basement all on its own. Once down there, the lights go out, and the elevator won't move. The passenger is usually forced to pull open the gated doors and walk back upstairs, and, the entire time, there is the sensation that the elevator is following up each level. It's usually waiting on the main floor, doors open and lights on, when the passenger arrives. Rumor has it that the ghost of a nurse who was murdered by a deranged patient in the basement is having a little fun with her fellow nurses.

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital has all the makings of a terrifying horror story, and that's precisely why it's one of the scariest haunted hospitals on Earth. Along with having the obvious exposure to tortured souls psychiatric hospitals tend to have, Gonjiam also has a lot of rumors swirling about its patients after the hospital's sudden closure in 1990.  According to those who remember the place, Gonjiam was known for having an abnormally high death rate with its patients. Legend has it that patients would suddenly die in their beds, and when staff would come to clean up the body, they'd find the corpses sitting at their desks.  Many people allege that the owner of Gonjiam was actually keeping patients hostage, and that grieving families asking for the bodies was what caused him to decide to close the hospital down prematurely.  Skeptics will point out that there are a lot of sewage problems that made Gonjiam close down, rather than a murderous doctor. How...

At first glance, it's hard to think of this picturesque Italian island as being one of the scariest haunted hospitals in the world. In fact, most people probably would think it to be a nice island getaway.  However, since the entire island was a quarantine zone during the Bubonic Plague's time in Europe, it definitely fits the bill. If that isn't "hospital" enough, then the mental hospital erected on the island here during the 1920s definitely will make you think otherwise.  The hospital itself was a nightmare, with one particular doctor being known for performing wicked experiments on patients—often with no anesthetic, sanitization, or interest in actually keeping the patient alive.  Rumor has it that karma got to the doctor, and he began to suffer from all the tortures the dead put him through. Eventually, he flung himself from the hospital's belltower, killing himself in hopes to free himself from the torture. (Hint: It didn't and he still hau...

Rolling Hills Asylum was part poorhouse, and part mental asylum—and all hellish. Truthfully, it wasn't so much a hospital as it was a repository for anyone who was deemed to be unfit for society for one reason or another. Since its inception in 1827, Rolling Hills Asylum saw over 1,700 documented deaths.  Considering that the insane were treated brutally during the 19th century, it's unsurprising that many potentially sane people who were admitted ended up going crazy. Patients here were known to undergo torturous treatments and also be left barely clothed in the middle of winter. Due to overcrowding, most orderlies would turn a blind eye when inmates—erm, patients, would get into fights. A lot of people who died at Rolling Hills were believed to have been killed by fellow patients or at times, even by staff members who had a vendetta.  By the 1970s, the hospital had to be shut down due to the lack of patients and the poor living conditions. But, it seems like ...

Much like other American hospitals on this list, what makes the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum so terrifying is the sheer amount of recklessness and barbarism that it's seen during its time as both a tuberculosis sanatorium and psychiatric hospital. (It's also one of the most popular haunted hospital tour venues in America for that reason.)  Even before it started, bloodshed was the name of the game. Civil War soldiers were killed on its grounds, even before the building and layout were fully erected. Perhaps that was an omen for things to come—or, perhaps that's just the way things were.  Either way, Trans-Allegheny ended up becoming home to more violence than anyone could have seen coming for the next century or so. Sadly, it seems to have left a mark on the aura of the area that keeps the dead there.  At the height of its use, West Virginia's Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum became infamous for being home to extreme overcrowding, staff...

Sai Ying Pun Psychiatry Hospital is one of Asia's scariest haunted hospitals—and rumor has it, it's also the inspiration for at least one or two horror films. This is a mental hospital that had been in action for over 100 years, and seemed to be the focal point of all of Hong Kong's anguish during its time in use.  Along with having all the typical grief that a mental hospital would have, Sai Ying Pun Psychiatry Hospital also had the misfortune of being taken over by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Much like Old Chiangi, the soldiers used it as a place to house prisoners of war.  According to local legend, Sai Ying Pun was used as an execution ground during the war. And, even though it went back into action, it never quite shed the vibe of grief, dread, and hatred that it gained during the war.  The ghosts that have been seen run the gamut from decapitated people walking through the hallways, to shadow people, to voices that plead for their liv...

Let's just be real: the US doesn't have a good record when it comes to healthcare, especially when it deals with mental health. With Taunton State Hospital, you have a perfect example of  why  being mentally ill was a death sentence in the past.  Much like other haunted hostpitals, Taunton State had all the makings of a perfect slice of hell. The doctors were given free reign over patients, and that often meant that they would be subjected to cruel and inhumane experimental treatments—often in hopes that the doctors would find the next miracle cure for mental health.  Rumors constantly swirl about what  really  happened in Taunton. Many people believe that some of the doctors used peoples' bodies for Satanic rituals, or that those who broke into the hospital after its closure decided to do so instead.  All that we really know is that Taunton had two female serial killers, Lizzie Borden and Jane Toppan, as residents. We also know that doctors...

If you haven't figured it out, a lot of the scariest haunted hospitals in the world are former psychiatric hospitals. To a point, this makes sense. Psychiatric hospitals house people who have tortured minds and equally tortured souls.  Severalls Hospital was, for a very long time, the leading hospital for electroshock therapies and lobotomies in all of the UK. This was a place where psychiatrists reigned supreme—and any kind of rule that mandated kindness or empathy towards the patients was thrown out the window.  Many of the people who were given "treatments" at Severalls weren't mentally ill at all. In fact, there have been records where everything from moody teenagers to women who gave birth out of wedlock were given these treatments against their will. Many were never the same again, and some even died during their stay.  This hospital was also affected by tragedy in World War II. 38 women were killed in Severalls due to German bombings, with many more...

Australia is filled with terrifying wildlife that seems to be designed to kill things. So, it comes as no surprise that you might die of fright when you check out their contribution to the scariest haunted hospitals in the world: Beechworth Lunatic Asylum.  For over 125 years, Beechworth was the home to some of Straya's most unstable, violent, and tortured criminals. It was a place that was infamous for abusive staff members, as well as a number of very mysterious disappearances that were surreptitiously brushed under the rug.  The lore tells that there were very few nurses and aides who were actually kind to the patients. Matron Sharpe was one of them, and might just be one of the only comforting ghosts in the area.  The hall that once housed those deemed "hopeless," as well as those who were deemed "suitable for electroshock," on the other hand, still brings chills to those who go there. Rumors have it that the disappearances that were reported were...

Old Changi Hospital is not a name most people will know in the West, but in Asia, it's synonymous with being one of the scariest haunted hospitals in the world. This hospital gained its notoriety for tragedy when it was turned into a Japanese prison camp during World War II.  During the height of the war, the Japanese military used Old Changi as a place to torture anyone that was deemed even remotely anti-Japanese. It also allegedly housed the headquarters of the  Kempeitai —Japan's secret police faction.  No one really knows what kinds of torture happened at Old Changi. Rumors of decapitation, rape, dismemberment, and more all have swirled over the decades. However, it's safe to say that the ruthlessness of the  Kempeitai  probably meant that few ever survived.  After the war, Old Changi Hospital was given back to the British, where it served soldiers for a couple of years. Those who were treated claimed that they felt a strange pall o...

Few places have as dark a history as Waverly Hills Sanatorium, and that's what makes it one of the scariest haunted hospitals in the world. This sanatorium was designed to house tuberculosis patients and have the most cutting-edge treatment options the world had ever seen.  However, treatments often centered around "fresh air exposure," even during the winter. Other treatments included ballooning one's lungs, or even removing a lung entirely. The majority of the treatments didn't work and at times, even would get the live-in staff sick. This led to a ridiculously high death rate among patients, and a reputation of being a place "no one left alive."  At one point, people were dying so rapidly that they had to create an underground tunnel to cart the bodies out without having patients see them. To try to avoid horrifying grieving family members, they'd use tanning beds to make it appear as if the patients were recovering.  Once TB rates di...