Haunted American History

The Haunted House With a Ghost on Staff: Asylum 49 (Utah)

Haunted American History

Show Notes

In Tooele, Utah, there's a haunted attraction that never had to pretend it was an abandoned hospital...because it actually was one. Asylum 49 occupies the former Tooele Valley Hospital, built on land that had previously served as the county poor farm. For years, its full-contact haunted house operated on one side of a wall while elderly residents lived in an active care facility on the other. But employees soon began reporting things no actor was responsible for: slamming doors, shadow figures, children in empty hospital rooms, and a little girl in a white nightgown who supposedly frightened the people hired to frighten everyone else.

Tonight, we explore the history and legends of Asylum 49—and the bizarre complications that arise when a commercial haunted house claims its most convincing performers aren't actually on the payroll.

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