The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Part I

I have traveled I-79 between Morgantown and WV-19 many times. Paul pointed out that part of that journey takes me right by the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum located in Weston, WV. I had seen the exit signs for Weston but didn't realize just how close this place was to this recurring trip I take. I figured it was high time I checked it out for myself. I was sure to engage my spiritual team in protecting me from anything that might be unwanted (always a good plan) whilst I practiced opening myself up as much as possible when interacting with the spiritual realm. I was surprised to find that I didn't start getting tingly or swirly when I laid eyes on the building, but then again the town of Weston itself has a lot of spirit activity, so I was likely already getting inundated by the time I reached the property.

I arrived shortly after they opened at 11:30 and signed up for the 12 pm paranormal tour. Being the middle of the week, I was fortunate enough to be the only person on the tour that day. I had some time before the tour began, and once I was given a badge I was told I was welcome to walk around the museum exhibits on the first floor. I wandered through some of the exhibits that talked about life on the property, including mention that it had to function as its own self-sustaining operation, so it came complete with a farm to feed the patients. I wandered across the alcove and toward a room that had some old wheelchairs. As I approached, someone dashed out of the room and ran right through me. I got dizzy and had to steady myself before I continued toward the room. The spirit energy was so strong there - the ghosts hanging out definitely did not want me to come in. In fact they pushed me back out of the room. 

    I took the cue and found a seat on a bench outside the room. I got out my notebook and jotted down some notes. Two women and a man's presence in this room next to me. They had no desire or intention of speaking with me. Whether it was because they knew I could sense them there and they were taken by surprise I can't say. What I can say is that after a few minutes of sitting and sensing, one of the female ghosts poked her head out the door and looked at me. I guess she decided I was okay after all. She stepped out into the hall hesitantly, but she started telling me her story. She was 82 years old when she passed, and had been in the asylum for 40 years of her life. She had (at least) two children - her daughter who sadly passed at a young age from measles - and a son. She was so bereft with grief and lingering post-partum depression that she never recovered. Her son committed her to the asylum. She appeared very small and frail. Her gray hair pulled back into a low bun at the back of her head. By this point I needed to make use of the facilities before my tour was scheduled to begin, so I bid her farewell and told her I would return to talk to her after my tour was finished. 

    Speaking of the facilities, the ladies room is a single room -  long with the toilet on the far end of the room from the door. I walked in and locked the door. Lo and behold, a male ghost poked his head through the wall and looked at me. Upon noticing that I saw him, he ducked back out. I spoke to him directly and told him that I saw him. He does this with every woman that comes in to use the facility. I called him a perv and asked him if he liked getting his jollies off of watching us use the toilet. I'm nearly certain he's the same ghost that asks women to join him in the shower up in the men's ward. He comes down during the day when public tours are being run to entertain himself. Then makes requests of women paranormal investigators at night. Gross. 

    The tour started on the second floor of the building with the staff quarters. I was told about how the staff lived and worked in the building, and one corner was reserved for the Superintendent (I don't remember if this was the right word for it). I was told "we don't go in there. we don't like him." As I walked through some of the living spaces, I encountered a nurse sitting in one of the living rooms. As I approached her, she told me "leave me alone! I'm on a break!" I relayed this to my tour guide. She confirmed that this is where the staff would go hang out when they weren't on duty. I was told of a nurse that hangs out in the area named Marie. Perhaps she was the one that told me off. lol. 

I was next taken into the women's ward. Several stories here of patients that wander the halls and give signs to investigators of their presence. Including a woman who was seen sitting at the end of the hall in the fetal position rocking back and forth. This seems to be a common position of female ghosts who had been in some sort of distress. I encountered Jessica and the unknown third female ghost in Pine in the same position. I sensed this ghost was still around, so I followed my senses until I found her hiding in a stall in one of the bathrooms. She had severe depression. Her parents had her committed to the asylum. I've found that communication with ghosts in this state of mind is difficult; almost as if their Earthly affliction followed them in to the afterlife. I asked this ghost her name. I got the name "Jenny" followed by an immediate response "but don't call me that." Layla had a similar response about her given name - she didn't want to be called by that name and preferred something else. In this ghost's case, she wanted to be called "Mary Sue." I was given the impression of it being a female who had some importance to her while she was living. Either a sister or a really close friend. I asked her if she wanted to go home, and she said yes. So I told her I was going to step out of the room with the stalls - the room was very cramped and I've felt the energy of portals before - I didn't know where one would open and I didn't want to be that close. Once again I called upon AA Michael to assist with this spirit's crossing. A portal opened at the end of the room near where Mary Sue was hiding. Whomever was Mary Sue's close person didn't come through the portal. In this case, AA Michael walked through with her. I took a moment of quiet reflection and left the room. The tour guide had given me the space to deal with this ghost. I explained what happened, what I was told, and let her know that she won't see this particular ghost in the building anymore. 

    There were so many wings and wards to the asylum that I didn't take notes on everything. I just listened to the stories of the paranormal findings. It was only when I had something particularly noteworthy that I would jot down something to remind me of my experience there. The next stop I took notes on was on the 'violent men's ward'. I immediately got a sense of multiple stabbings taking place on this wing. Toward one end of the wing were the isolation cells, which were eventually turned into individual offices for people working in the building. I suppose if you have no sense of the spirit realm it might be an acceptable spot to work, but I personally would be overwhelmed by the residual energy. My tour guide Kaylie mentioned that she had a particularly gruesome dark story about the last isolation cell on the wing. I asked that she not tell me until I got a sense of what was going on. I walked it and sat down- saw a pool of blood on the floor. I told her "I see a lot of blood in here." I was in the room where the patient, Dean, was brutally murdered by two other inmates. I will spare the details, but needless to say it was likely a horrific last 24 hours for this patient's life. Kaylie expressed remorse that every tour that comes through Dean's room retells the story of his death. She felt like it must be traumatic for him. Dean didn't feel that way. In fact, what I got from him was that he was just happy that the tour guides take the time to come into the room and color with him. Dean has a certain innocent, childlike quality about him. The repeated re-telling of his traumatic death phased him not.