Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Halloween Review

I do not believe in ghosts; however, visiting the Trans-Allegheny Asylum in Weston, WV made me question that statement.

From September 25^th to October 31^st this year, the asylum put on their haunted house “Bedlam”. On Saturday, October 17, 2020, I traveled nearly two hours to the Weston State Hospital, a 160-year-old institution once used to house and treat those with mental illnesses in the mid-1800s. Originally, the institution was built to hold around 250 patients; however, it was eventually crammed with around 2,700 total patients at once. The sheer amount of people who resided here was already terrifying in itself.

While there, I went through the haunted house- a building that once held tuberculosis patients in its halls- and I also did the three different flashlight tours through the main buildings of the institution.

Arrival

              I arrived on the grounds at around 4:00 PM- two hours before the haunted house was to open. Truthfully, arriving this early wasn’t my idea but rather my two friends that went with me; I’m so glad we arrived so early, considering the long lines that formed later in the evening.

As we arrived, there was a station for incoming guests to be temperature-checked in their cars. Once cleared, we parked and were somewhat surprised by the lack of people. There were around 7 other small groups of people, but we did not see any employees other than the woman checking temperatures. This was, of course, understandable due to our early arrival.

There was plenty of signage for COVID-19 regulations and six-feet-apart tape spaced throughout the entire outdoor grounds. Aside from this, guests, employees, and monsters alike were required to wear masks both inside and outside of the buildings. If someone was seen without a mask, they were immediately approached by security or another staff member and told to put on their mask fully or leave; I only witnessed this once throughout the entire evening, as everyone else had their masks on.

Overall, the directions as to where to buy which tickets and what each ticket covered was a little confusing without any employees to help. The main ticket info was at the front of the line, so we sort of had to guess where to buy which ticket and what was offered until we were next in line. Side note: we attempted to ask the lady taking our temperatures, but she genuinely didn’t seem very interested in answering our questions, and it took a few attempts to finally get a helpful answer out of her. We also tried to call a few days prior and ask where we would pick up the haunted house tickets that we had ordered online, but nobody had answered. A couple of other guests we met there said the same thing.

Aside from that hiccup, it went smoothly, and we got the tickets we needed when the employees showed up at around 6:00 PM.

Bedlam: The Haunted House

Photo by Sarah Robertson              My group had ordered VIP tickets, so we picked our tickets up at the souvenir booth right next to the haunted house building. As we then waited in line for the house to open, a couple of costumed characters roamed the grounds, ready to scare you if you weren’t paying attention; this happened to me at least twice.

There were two “nurses” and a security guard/bouncer that led the VIP and general admission lines up to the haunted house. One thing that I thought was cool of them was that they let a few general admission people go first so that those that paid extra for the VIP tickets went in with the actors inside warmed up and ready to scare.

I won’t spoil the inner scares of the haunted house, but overall, it was good. It didn’t have anything exceptionally different from other haunted houses I have been to, but the actors inside were extremely enthusiastic and fantastic at their designated characters! I was afraid that, due to COVID, it’d be lackluster, but I think they did a wonderful job with what they were able to do within the haunted house.

The Flashlight Tours

              There were three different 30-minute flashlight tours offered, each covering different wards within the main building. These tickets are ‘first-come, first-serve’ and only sold on-site; you cannot get these tickets online. Each ticket costs $10, and honestly, that is an amazing price for what you get. You are allowed to take photos with flash and use your phone flashlight, but you are not permitted to take any video/audio recordings during the tour. Additionally, you will have different tour guides for each tour you do, so the experiences and styles are always different.

The three flashlight tours were Strange Happenings, The Dark Side, and Shadow People. I did Strange Happenings first, and I, unfortunately, don’t remember which wards this one led us through; I was too busy watching the extremely dark shadows of the room. Within those halls, you certainly feel watched…

Another great thing that they did was that once you finished a tour- if you had tickets to one or both of the other flashlight tours- they allowed you to stay in the asylum’s lobby and join the next group for the tour you had a ticket for rather than going back outside to the lines. At most, we waited three minutes between tours, which was fantastic!

The Dark Side tour went through the women’s ward and the wards for the criminal/more violent patients the asylum held. This was my favorite tour- both due to our tour guide as well as the terrifying stories that came with the wards we walked through.

The last tour of the night, Shadow People, took us around the back of the main building. We passed the forensics building, maintenance, and walked through the first floors of the morgue and another building of which I missed the use. The tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly, and she even let us stand in absolute darkness within the building that held the morgue- the darkest darkness I’ve ever experienced.

Honestly, I would 100% do the flashlight tours again or even just the historic tours that they offer during the daytime. I personally find the history, though extremely sad and gruesome, to be interesting as well. There certainly is a sense of sorrow that comes with touring such a building. Though the haunted house was all in good fun, the flashlight tours brought to light the grim past of the institution.

Photo by Sarah Robertson

Conclusion/Overall Review

After hearing stories of the children and mentally ill patients that were kept there and some of the events that unfolded, it’s difficult to not feel the physical weight of the dark history. The haunted house was great, as it was lengthy and used a lot of large robotic functions throughout, but the actors/actresses are really what made it shine. The flashlight tours were my personal favorite part of the night and left me wondering and wanting to hear more.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the trip, and I plan to go back in the future for more tours. I cannot wait to see what The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum has in store for next year!