True Ghost Stories: Real Haunted Hospitals and Mental Asylums

by Zachery Knowles

Looking for a Scare? Then Read These 13 Spine-chilling Stories For people who believe in the paranormal—ghosts, spirits, and other unexplainable encounters—most will agree that old hospitals and asylums are the most haunted places you can visit. With thirteen chilling chapters, Haunted Hospitals delves into the history of the most infamous asylums, sanitariums and hospitals on Earth, unlocking their dark histories and detailing their paranormal activities. Take Waverly Hills Sanatorium, home to Mary, the apparition of a little girl who “wasn’t normal.” Left behind after a disease cut her young life short, Mary went from innocent in life to something more horrific in death. Then there’s Old Changi military hospital, where a history of wartime bloodbaths still stains the old abandoned halls—leaving behind chilling images in the minds of trespassers. Or what about any of the other haunted hospitals contained within, where apparitions, disembodied voices, and strange occurrences are commonplace. With overcrowding and barbaric medical procedures being practiced, these buildings were the torture houses of the 20th century, and the eeriest haunts of the 21st. Haunted Hospitals unlocks the dark histories of the most chilling abandoned hospitals from around the world. Every chapter describes the eerie and often frightening details of the best ghostly encounters. Are these sightings based on myth or true horrors? Only you can decide. Ready to scare yourself senseless? Scroll to the top of the page and hit buy!

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Paranormal, History, Ghosts, Ghost Stories, Mystery

89 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2015

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not enough content.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one! I like that each chapter has the history along with the different expierences.

[Julie dearden · Rating 1 out of 5]

But boring

Not really researched very well., He could have put more building s in,sounds just like he s watched ghost adventures.

[Alessandra Benini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but very short stories on the backstory of some mental asylums around the world. It skims the surface of the stories of these haunted places, and it seems most of them share very similar narratives. Although it doesn’t dive deep at all on the disturbing history and consequent earth bound spirits of these dwellings, it managed to scare me enough to choose not to read it at night. (In fact, while I was reading one quiet evening at home, I started hearing noises that I thought were caused by my cat, only to find him snoozing on the couch next to me. A backpack noisily fell from a chair, without anyone around who might have pushed it). I know this probably doesn’t have anything to do with the book, and I wrestled with the thought of including it in this review, but nothing had ever happened like it to me in my house and I thought maybe reading about these things attracted some kind of activity. I don’t know. Anyway, scary but very entertaining book.

[K.M. Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read by this author, but I'm interested in the paranormal world so I thought I'd give this a go. It was short, interesting, and kept me reading. I thought it was going to be more personal accounts from the author, but it was more informative than I thought it would be. But a good, quick read for any paranormal lover.

[kirsty alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spooky cant wait to read more true ghost stories

[Claire Weglowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, spooky and truthful

[chloe ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a nice easy read for one sitting. The history behind some of these hospitals/asylums was pretty interesting too.

[Maria Bartle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information about each hospital was good, but the book was not about any actual haunting activity.

[Samantha Panther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short at 84 pages but a nice quick read.

[Amber Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. I love all things paranormal and really enjoyed this book.

[Rebecca Herrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

This book was okay, but was vague. Little or no proof was offered. These stories were second handed, and not well researched.

[Essey Of Da Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't scary. Some of the stories were so unbelievable that they were just ridiculous. There were many times where what the author was trying to give as "fact" was so absurd. The author tried to let people believe that the staff of one of the places actually did Satanic rituals and possibly sacrificed patients, as that was the "only" explanation for the Satanic symbols in the basement. I hate to tell the author, but there are a LOT of other explanations.

I could tell that the author did very little research on the places. There was just enough info to make you think that he did his research, but I knew of quite a few of the places and what the author gave as what really happened, was at best rumor. It's one thing to tell people about that the rumors and superstition of a place, it's quite another to pretty much let them sound like actually happened.

The thing that upset me the most, was the fact that there is a lot of history in the places that were chosen, and that history wasn't touched upon. Or if it was, it was very quick and the author moved on to more "scary" things. Everything was for shock value and for the scare. In all honesty, I found none of this book scary. Also, there were a lot better places that could have been chosen. The places that were chosen seemed rather random at times and didn't make much sense.

[Julie Kwiat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is another great entry in the true hauntings series from Zachery Knowles. Each one covers a different type and this book covers some of the haunted hospitals and asylums. All were sad places to begin with and had much death and suffering. However my favourite entry was Waverly Hills Sanatorium. This story really creeped me out so I actually did a lot of research to see if this was a real haunted place. The more I researched the more stories and incidents I read about. Turns out that this location is one of the most haunted places IN THE WORLD. I’m a mix between a sceptic and a believer. I have yet to see any proof of a haunting or spirits but reading about Waverly Hills really makes me want to put a haunted house visit on my bucket list. I’d give this book 3 stars.

[Dwayne Fry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I work in an institution for the mentally ill and I have had a number of paranormal experiences through my whole life, so a book like this is naturally going to pique my interest.

The history of mental health is heartbreaking. I did not take the time to research the histories of the various hospitals and institutions that were discussed in this book, but I do know the history is full of torture and abuse, much like what is reported in this book.

While I enjoyed it, I honestly found the stories about the unthinkable abuse while these places were still in operation to be a lot more horrifying than the ghost stories. This book really supports a truth I have known for many years: The living are a lot more dangerous than the dead.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Given to me as a Christmas present I kind of read it pics by piece over the holiday and enjoyed each story. Rather than try to generate stories of ghosts etc the author gives you a break down of each hospital, how they got there, what's happened in them and the condition they are in now (if still standing) with a brief overview of the paranormal activity reported there. A well researched and good read, I'll definitely look at his other books.

[Jason Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were too many grammatical errors, but the information regarding the locations was interesting. I feel like I've seen all of these locations in Ghost Adventures, when I used to watch it. Some photos would have made it nicer. There was one section that contained a contradiction. I wish I could remember where it was located. Unfortunately, I cannot recall. I should have written it down, at the time.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was intriguing and I truly enjoyed the short read. While I did enjoy learning of the paranormal, some chapters severely lacked it and instead served as a history lesson. This is fine since I enjoy learning about these locations, but I wanted more details on the hauntings, ghosts, etc. I felt like that could have been included much more; there could have been more details, more accounts, rather an extensive history section. Regardless, this was a fun little read and I enjoyed it.

[Cheri Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative!

I know of another state hospital that should have been in this book. Maybe a future one? Milledgeville, Georgia's state hospital. It definitely is haunted. I believe it's all closed down now.
Trans-Alleghany asylum on 666 acres of land? What does that tell you right away. Evil place!!!
I enjoyed this book very much! Will definitely read the others by this author!

[Glen Pettifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book too short

This was an easy read book that explained some of the history which is what I'm interested in. It's too short and is finished quickly. However it has given me an interest enough to read the other books.
I recommend this book but be prepared for a day read book. And the paperback version is a lot for a thin book. Even so still a good read.

[Lindsey Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read.

I've read many books of this type, I personally found this one to be one of the better written one's. Especially as the author gave some historical counts to the buildings mentioned and also stated facts about the building. Would recommend to any other reader who is into the paranormal.

[Wendy Westervelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written

This is a great read for anyone into the stories of haunted asylums and hospitals. For some reason they have always intrigued me. What I like most about this book is Zachary tells not just about the hauntings, but the history of the location also. It gives you the sense of why the location became haunted and almost makes you feel like you were there.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read other books by this author, and I keep hoping they get better, but never do. There's hardly any research done. They feel like stories he heard from Old Man Jenkins down the road and wrote down. I've really tried to give this author a chance, but I think this book was the last straw for me.

[chrstphre campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

merely a collection of marginally haunting tales…

… that are so bland & tepid, that they must be truish… ( ? )
It could have been greatly improved upon with some nice lush, but Not sensationalist illustrations ( ? ) pictures of The institutions, portraits of The doctors, patients & other personalities ( accurate or otherwise ! )
?

[Janet Brabin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary

I enjoyed this book very much. I work in a hospital that is supposedly haunted but have never heard or seen anything myself there are lots of my colleagues who have stories to tell. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a scary story.

[Debbie Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the author presented each case. It was an unbiased accounting with some of the reported hauntings and history of the buildings. I will certainly look forward to reading more from this author.

[Christine Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been better if the author went more in depth on some of the hauntings. He focused more on the history of the places. Don’t get me wrong...it was cool hearing some of the history but, I wanted to hear about the hauntings more.

[Francis Wiget ii]

Vagueness

Another book long on vague stories and short on documentation or even specifics. Disappointing. Not scary as the entries are all "some people reported" or "some visitors claimed".

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Although each story is short, a brief summary of each place, the information is very interesting. It seems well researched and well written, the authors enthusiasm for the topic really shows. It would be nice to have pictures of some of the buildings.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. While it may be only a 84 pager, I did learn about buildings I’ve never heard of before. I, also, loved the fact that Waverly is the first chapter. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for years.