Asylum

MY TOP 5 ASYLUMS By Madeleine Roux While writing ASYLUM, I turned to some of the following hospitals and institutions for inspiration, to bring in that real world touch. Some of the stories and histories I stumbled across were almost too intense and gruesome to be believed. I. Norwich State Hospital for the Insane Preston, Connecticut 1904 ― 1996 When most people think of an asylum, they probably picture a giant looming mansion that looks something like Norwich State Hospital for the Insane. It has one of those iconic, red brick exteriors with columns and a steep roof. The hospital is also notable for its maze of underground passageways. It’s considered by creep and ghost aficionados to be extremely haunted. Several shows have featured the hospital, including the popular series Ghost Hunters . II. Whittingham Asylum Lancashire, England 1869 ― 1995 Whittingham Asylum, charming and even quaint on the outside, makes the list if only for its sheer size. Whittingham was virtually a miniature city, and its expansive grounds included a brewery, post office, and even its own brass band. It was also the sight of some seriously scary allegations, with an inquiry in the 1960s that included reports of cruelty and fraud, complaints that were kept quiet with threats. Reportedly, some wards were infested with vermin, while others were left freezing cold. There were even rumors of a “wet towel treatment” involving a cold, wet towel wrapped around the patient’s neck until they passed out. III. Waverly Hills Sanatorium Louisville, Kentucky 1910 ― 1962 The architecturally stunning Waverly Hills was built to house a sudden influx of tuberculosis patients in the county, but closed after only fifty years when medical advances rendered the facility obsolete. Considered to be one of the most haunted hospitals in the eastern United States, it has played host to scores of reality TV shows about the paranormal, including Scariest Places on Earth and Ghost Hunters . It gets creepier―there are currently plans to renovate the hospital into a hotel for those looking to have a spooky spot to stay. IV. Lier Mental Hospital Buskerud County, Norway 1926 ― 1986 Perhaps the scariest thing about Lier Mental Hospital is its murky involvement in experimentation linked to pharmaceutical companies from the United States. This postwar hospital was used for experimentation and research into lobotomies, LSD, electroshock therapy and more. V. Topeka State Hospital Topeka, Kansas 1872 ― 1997 Topeka State Hospital may look cute and charming on the outside, but on the inside it was home to some unbelievably dark rumors. By far the creepiest allegations leveled against the hospital? (Brace yourself, it’s pretty gross.) There are stories of patients strapped down for so long that their skin began to grow around the straps. Yeesh. Nowadays, you can sometimes hear music playing from inside the abandoned hospital and spot shadows peering out at the windows. Heather Brewer Interviews Madeleine Roux HB: The imagery was so vivid in ASYLUM and the photographs throughout were just gorgeous―was it based on anywhere you’ve visited personally? MR: The admittedly limited travel I’ve done in Europe included some incredible ruins and castles. There’s a feeling you get in those places, a sort of wonder and terror that you just don’t feel in new buildings. I tried to draw on those memories for Brookline. I also grew up in an old Victorian farmhouse, and . . . I don’t want to say it’s haunted but there were certainly times it felt haunted. To this day, when I visit my parents, I feel eyes on me at night in the hallway. The hairs on the back of your neck go up and you can sense there’s history there present with you. I wanted that same feeling to come through with Brookline. HB: I felt really connected to Dan Crawford, your main character. What part of your fabulous mind did he come from? MR: I was kind of a weird kid. I loved school. I wasn’t so much a loner as a gigantic nerd, always with my nose in a book or writing my own scripts and stories. There’s a good bit of my own insecurities and childhood memories in Dan; that same geek pride mixed with a constant fear that maybe life would be easier if I veered more toward the mainstream. Writing a male perspective is intimidating in the sense that I wanted it to feel authentic, so I would stop every once in a while and ask a friend if it was reading correctly to them. Having honest buddies helped, it always does for writing. They weren’t shy about saying, “I’m sorry but no guy would do/think/act that way, try again.” HB: Has horror always appealed to you? If not, why now, why this story? If so . . . well . . . same question. MR: The first two novels I did had a certain creep factor, too, since they were about zombies and survival. The irony here is that I’m a huge wuss when it comes to scary movies. I spent most of Cabin In the Woods whimpering in someone else’s lap. I’m not good with scary movies or gore or anything like that, but I find myself drawn to that kind of story again and again. It’s like I know it’s going to keep me up all night but I can’t help myself. I think that’s probably common, though . . . . We all test ourselves now and again, see where our boundaries and limits are. I get a kick out of pushing those limits for myself and exploring the darker parts of my imagination. My life isn’t all that adventurous, so writing darker stories gives me a chance to indulge in the more morbid thoughts that cross my mind. HB: I know you probably get asked this a lot, but what’s your favorite piece of writing advice for the writers out there? MR: It comes from Neil Gaiman and is infuriatingly straightforward and simple. “How do you do it? You do it. You write. You finish what you write.” And it’s true. As I’m sure you know, there’s no magic button. Sometimes you can’t write a sentence and other times you can’t stop, but just sitting down and making yourself do it is the key. You have to practice. You have to do the work, over and over. He also has another great piece of advice somewhere (I’m an unabashed Neil fangirl, I can’t help it) about getting out and living life, and not feeling upset or pressured if you don’t have a huge well of experience to draw on. The best inspiration comes from falling in love, falling out of it, getting your heart broken, just being present and showing up, you know? You won’t have anything to draw from if you guard yourself too closely. You have to risk life changing you in order to have something there to write about. HB: What’s next from the shadowed mind of Madeleine Roux? What are you working on, and when can I have it? :) MR: I’m notorious for starting new projects and then abandoning them, but I’ve had a gritty YA fantasy series cooking in my head for a while now. I’ve been taking down tons of notes for it and I’ve even started a few chapters, so right now I hope that has wings and takes off. You can have it the second I manage to get it all down! From Publishers Weekly Horror author Roux makes a strong YA debut with this creepy tale of a haunted asylum and the teenagers who are drawn to it. When Dan Crawford attends a summer program at New Hampshire College, he ends up housed in Brookline, a former asylum now being turned into a dorm. Along with fellow students Abby and Jordan, he starts exploring the basement of the dorm, where (conveniently) old records are stored. As they investigate, the students are plagued by horrifying dreams, and Dan starts to have blackouts, discovering strange unsent texts and emails and learning about conversations that he doesn't remember. Students are being attacked in the dorms, and as Dan begins to unravel his own ties to the asylum, he wonders if he might be responsible for the crimes. Roux (aided by unsettling photo illustrations of abandoned asylums and tormented patients) creates an entertaining and occasionally brutal horror story that reveals the enduring impact of buried trauma and terror on a place. Open questions at the end invite a sequel, though there's also a good sense of closure. Ages 14-up. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. From School Library Journal Gr 9 Up—Dan is thrilled to be spending the summer before his senior year at the New Hampshire College Prep program, where he'll have a chance to meet other studious teenagers. He doesn't mind that his dorm, Brookline, was once an asylum for the criminally insane. In fact, Dan is curious about the institution's history and begins exploring Brookline's old passageways at night. At first, Dan and his best friends at NHCP, Abby and Jordan, think it's fun to sneak around in the dark and look at old patient records, but soon the things they find begin to frighten them. Dan starts receiving ominous notes, and he is plagued by nightmares in which he sees Brookline as if he were really there, all those years ago. When people start dying, Dan is convinced that the killer's identity is buried in his dorm's darkest history and that his own strange connection to the institution may be the key to stopping the murders. Eerie black-and-white pictures throughout the book add to the creep factor of this story, but unfortunately many images are redundant photographs of Dan's notes, while others seem unrelated to the text. The plot drives forward too quickly, with some circumstances and events feeling forced. Dan meets Abby and Jordan on his first day, for instance, and within hours they carry on with the rapport of lifelong friends. Mystery lovers will be disappointed with the lack of answers and explanations here. Hand this one to horror fans who don't mind a few loose ends.—Liz Overberg, Darlington School, Rome, GA From Booklist Sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford is thrilled to be attending the summer program for gifted students at New Hampshire College, but he’s shocked to find that he’s been housed in a dorm that was formerly an asylum for the criminally insane. Although Dan’s roommate is a bit odd, he makes good friends with attractive, spunky Abby and acerbic Jordan, and together the three investigate things that clearly should be left alone, including the forbidden areas of the building, to which Dan finds himself irresistibly drawn. Roux’s cinematic story includes genuinely creepy black-and-white found photographs of decaying abandoned asylums as well as unsettling drawings and altered photographs. The plentiful illustrations both advance the story line and immeasurably contribute to the spooky atmosphere. With its abundant jump scares, horror readers and fans of the TV show American Horror Story will delight in the fast-paced (if predictable) plot. Although it feels a little forced, the diversity among the characters (Asian, Latina, gay, rich, poor, rural, and urban) is a nice touch. Short sentences and many cliff-hangers will appeal to reluctant readers. Grades 7-10. --Debbie Carton “Days after reading Asylum, I’m still haunted by the images that Madeleine Roux’s words conjured. I just want to curl up inside her skull and exist for a while in its dark, twisted magnificence. Brilliant!” — Heather Brewer, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod “Page-turning. Fans of ‘found footage’ horror will enjoy this visually creepy take on the haunted-institution setting.” — Kirkus Reviews “The plentiful illustrations both advance the story line and immeasurably contribute to the spooky atmosphere. With its abundant jump scares, horror readers and fans of the TV show American Horror Story will delight in the fast-paced plot.” — Booklist “Illustrations used in this book are from actual asylums, and the author builds the tension nicely as Dan receives what may be messages from an inmate. A good choice for readers who enjoy books with scary situations that lead to a solid climax.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) “A strong YA debut. Roux (aided by unsettling photo illustrations of abandoned asylums and tormented patients) creates an entertaining and occasionally brutal horror story that reveals the enduring impact of buried trauma and terror on a place.” — Publishers Weekly “Madeleine Roux’s Asylum takes the fondest dream of our collective nerdy childhood and handily turns it into the scariest collective nightmare.” -- Tor.com — Tor.com “I started reading this one at my desk in broad daylight and still got goose bumps.” -- Glamour — Glamour Once you get in, there's no getting out. For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, a summer program for gifted students is the chance of a lifetime. No one else at his high school gets his weird fascinations with history and science, but at the New Hampshire College Prep program, such quirks are all but required. Dan arrives to find that the usual summer housing has been closed, forcing students to stay in the crumbling Brookline dorm—formerly a psychiatric hospital. As Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan start exploring Brookline's twisty halls and hidden basement, they uncover disturbing secrets about what really went on here . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because it turns out Brookline was no ordinary psych ward. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried. Featuring haunting found photographs from real asylums, this mind-bending reading experience blurs the lines between past and present, friendship and obsession, genius and insanity. Madeleine Roux is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series, and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed . She has made contributions to Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington with her partner and beloved pups. Read more