Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals

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In this week's episode, I talk to Nate Buchanan of Eerie Tours at Aradale Mental Hospital. Find out how he got started in the ghost tour industry, what drew him to Aradale, what stories get covered on the tour, and where YOU can learn more and take the tour yourself!

For more information about Eerie Tours: https://www.eerietours.com.au/tours/aradale-ghost-tour/

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In this episode, we discuss the history of Kew Lunatic Asylum (1871-1988), near Melbourne. Find out why the hospital stayed open for so long, even when administration called for its closure several years after opening. Learn about the story of one patient who gained international notoriety for all the wrong reasons.

All sources are listed in the episode transcript.

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Episode 40 discusses the history and people of J Ward, a special unit of Ararat/Aradale Mental Hospital devoted to the treatment of the criminally insane. Learn about the early beginnings when it was built as a goldfields jail and how it became a part of the Lunacy Department. Learn about why two inmates from J Ward remain in the Guinness Book of World Records. Finally, learn about how you can visit J Ward today.

All sources will be listed in the episode transcript.

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In this episode, we discuss what led to Ararat Mental Hospital finally closing in 1993, as well as what has become of the hospital in the years following its closure.

All sources listed at the end of the episode transcript. Special thanks to David Waldron for allowing me to use his book Aradale: The Making of a Haunted Asylum. 

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In this episode, we almost finish the history of Ararat/Aradale Mental Hospital. We begin by discussing deinstitutionalization around the world and in Victoria more specifically. Learn about the one man who changed legislation to keep him locked up.

All sources will be listed at the end of the episode transcript. Special shout out to David Waldron for allowing me to use his book Aradale: The Making of a Haunted Asylum (authors David Waldron, Sharn Waldron, and Nathaniel Buchanan).

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Episode 37 discusses the history of Ararat Hospital for the Insane and how it later became Ararat Mental Hospital and, unofficially, Aradale Mental Hospital. Learn about daily life at the hospital, as well as the attempts to improve morale among staff.

All of my sources are cited at the end of the episode transcript.

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In this episode, we look at the early history (approx. 1865-1905) of Ararat Lunatic Asylum in Ararat (Victoria) Australia, and how the Victorian gold rush played a role in the creation of asylums. Learn about how increased immigration factored in to the creation of new laws and discrimination around the colony.

All sources are listed at the end of the episode transcript.

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In this episode, we look at everything spooky from Denbigh Asylum, starting back in the 16th century with the legend of why the grounds are believed to be cursed. Hear stories from a former staff member about an "experimental" treatment turned tragic and unexplainable phenomena.

All sources are listed in the episode transcript. The two primary stories are taken from the book Ghost Stories from the North Wales Asylum by Peter Glynn.

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In this episode, Sarah reads the story "The Quietude" by Simon Thirsk from the book Dangerous Asylums, edited by Rob Mimpriss, which is based on real-life events. The narrator is the brother of a patient at Denbigh Asylum and tells the buildup to his brother's insanity diagnosis and the lasting repercussions this had on his family.

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Episode 33 tells the stories of three patients who resided at Denbigh Asylum, as told in the book Dangerous Asylums, edited by Rob Mimpriss. The stories are written by Welsh writers and are entitled "The Elves and the Shoemaker" (by Carys Bray), "Going Back" (Manon Steffan Ros), and "Imagining Angels" (by Glenda Beagan). 

Trigger warning for child death, suicidal ideation, and death by suicide in this episode.

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