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Pennhurst Asylum
Built for the 'feeble-minded,' Pennhurst became a house of horrors. Abuse, neglect, and experiments on residents were exposed in a 1968 documentary. Thousands suffered. It closed in 1987. The screams never stopped. Neither did the footsteps.
1908 - Present
Spring City, Pennsylvania, USA
2000+ witnesses
Pennhurst’s horrors created one of America’s most haunted places.
The Purpose
What it was:
- “Eastern State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic”
- Eugenics experiment
- Housed disabled people
- Isolated from society
- Self-sufficient colony
The Abuse
What happened:
- Restraints common
- Experimentation
- Isolation cells
- Overcrowding
- Staff violence
The Expose
1968:
- Bill Baldini documentary
- “Suffer the Little Children”
- Shocked nation
- Reform demanded
- Took decades
The Closure
1987:
- Finally closed
- Landmark lawsuits
- Residents’ rights established
- Buildings abandoned
- Decay began
The Haunting
What’s there now:
- Shadow figures
- Screaming
- Equipment moves
- Full apparitions
- Residual suffering
Today
Current status:
- Halloween attraction
- Ghost tours
- Paranormal investigations
- Controversial use
- History preserved?