I didn’t do haunted houses as a kid. I’m not especially fond of scary things. Then… I met Vikki. (For those of you playing along at home, I am Vikki’s husband.)
Vikki grew up going to haunted houses. Halloween is one of her favorite seasons.
Obviously, I wanted to impress the girl. I finally convinced myself that going to a haunted house is kinda like going to a show. It’s similar to attending a production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
They’re performers. Costumes. Makeup. Props. A blood-splattered clown isn’t really going to chase me with a chainsaw. We’re not really in danger.
Cool. That made sense. We visit haunted houses every October. It’s a fun time. (Plus… I get to hold hands with a ridiculously pretty girl. In the dark. Win-win.)
That said, I believe ghosts are real. Ghosts. Spirits. Entities. Genuine hauntings and haunted houses couldn’t be more diverse. Completely different.
In my research for our Louisville expedition, I discovered the existence of Waverly Hills.
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened in 1926 as a facility to treat the burgeoning tuberculosis epidemic in the Louisville area. In 1962, it was converted to a geriatric care center before being closed by the state of Kentucky in 1982.
It is widely recognized as one of the most haunted sites in the world and has been featured on GHOST HUNTERS, GHOST ADVENTURES and PARANORMAL LOCKDOWN, among others.
By all means, let’s go!
Paranormal tours are recommended for folks 13 and older.
Sophia and Miles, our bouncing baby girl and boy, are not yet 13. What to do?
We’ll go anyway. They’ll be with us. It will be fine. (They’ve begged to join us on our Halloween haunted house adventures for years and we’ve repeatedly denied their requests. We think they’re too young and we don’t want to scar them for life.)
Might as well start them out at one of the most famous haunted destinations in the world. (If they can handle a real-life encounter, Spookywoods or Woods Of Terror or wherever ought to be a breeze!)
I kid you not… clouds were closing in, rolls of thunder echoed in the distance and lightning was visible on the horizon.
The perfect night.
Reservations are a must and should be scheduled several months in advance.
There is no handicapped accessibility. The tour incorporates a seemingly endless number of stairs, there is no seating and it’s damn hot, even with an 8:00 PM start time.
(It’s an abandoned hospital. Set aside any notion of air conditioning.)
A paranormal tour lasts two hours. Go to the bathroom before you start. No food or beverages on the tour. No flash photography. No video or audio recording is permitted. You can have a small flashlight to help navigate the pitch-black stairwells.
Most importantly, don’t leave the group.
I think that does it for the rules.
Sophia and Miles were excited. And nervous. Vikki was eager to begin. I was curious.
The tour is cool.
We learned about Audrey & Lois, William & Sadie, Timmy and Sarah. We visited the morgue, the body chute, the operating room, the children’s ward, room 502 and the hyper-active fourth floor.
The big question: Did we see anything?
Sophia will tell you it was a ghost-free night.
Vikki didn’t encounter whatever she was hoping to find.
Miles is utterly convinced he saw faces and shadows.
As for me, well…
I watched a small, blue ball roll across the floor in the children’s ward.
The windows were knocked out long ago. Could it have been the wind? Perhaps, but I didn’t feel a breeze.
I saw two orbs of light on the fourth floor. A reflection? Maybe.
More than anything, I sensed a heaviness in the air. I didn’t like it. There is a darkness on the property.
I’m not necessarily scared of ghosts. They’re like people. Some spirits are good. Some spirits are not-so-good. Sometimes, they’re lost. Lonely. Maybe they enjoy where they are and they feel their work is not finished.
At Waverly Hills, I felt enormous sadness. Some bad things have happened in the crumbling rooms. Whether those incidents took place in a tuberculosis ward or a geriatric center or an abandoned building, I don’t know.
The building is falling apart. Graffiti decorates every wall.
From my understanding, the current owners are trying to raise funds to restore the structure.
To do what needs to be done, the project will require millions of dollars. Generating hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars through ticket sales and asking a group of volunteers to bring ladders and help hang sheetrock in the dining room won’t get it done.
It’s an enormous undertaking. No question.
Waverly Hills presents a gigantic opportunity for the right group. It can happen. I hope the property is restored.
For me, the tour was less than I hoped for. The evening is dictated by the personal experiences of the guide.
If Waverly Hills is one of the most haunted sites in the world, treat it as such.
It should be a world-class experience and it wasn’t. Fewer excuses and more mystery would be a good beginning. Waverly Hills should not be presented as a personal playground for adults searching for a hobby.
The massive thunder and lightning storm was an impressive bonus, but everybody won’t be afforded that luxury.
I’m glad we did it and the stories were terrific, but it’s unlikely I’d go again.
Jeffrey Griffin 