No Visitors Allowed: The Haunted Halls of Abandoned Hospitals

Lately, I’ve been to the hospital quite a bit: this is what it’s like when someone close to you undergoes a rather complex treatment in the hospital. I found myself wandering the hospital corridors for days, and my horrific instincts started working overtime. I tried to imagine the hospital as a location for a scary movie. The truth is, it’s not that hard because almost every one of us knows of cases where a hospital visit turns into a real horror movie.

We’re not just talking about life-saving diagnoses and treatments, which, by their very nature, sometimes put patients in danger of death. In hospitals, you will find huge buildings with endless corridors that turn orientation into a navigation task that is more reminiscent of an army patrol. You can encounter tragic sights in almost every room and hear the cries of pain of patients. On one of my recent visits to the hospital, for example, I even encountered an elderly woman who repeated the same sentence in Russian for several hours (“They don’t see the horror,” if you can rely on Google’s translation), as if she were a haunted character in “The Shining.”

Hospitals also have another side, no less frightening. The moment when they are abandoned, for various reasons, and become something that looks like a location for a horror movie (and as you will see later, there are enough horror movies in which the plot is set in the corridors of an abandoned hospital). In the case of abandoned hospitals and other medical institutions, you can add the gray and somewhat creepy hospital appearance to the horror equation, with signs of neglect or outdated medical equipment left behind, as the imagination also works overtime. What is more natural than to make a place where death lurks around every corner, and sometimes even wins, to a place where a ghost story, imaginary or not, takes place?

As in the case of other scary abandoned places we have reviewed on this website, abandoned hospitals can also have a touristic side – mainly alternative tourism, some would say “dark,” which attracts thrill seekers, artists, photographers, historians, and so on.

Why Do Hospitals Get Abandoned?

Like most other abandoned buildings, in the case of an empty hospital, a wide range of possible reasons can be identified that led to its state. Sometimes, it is a combination of several reasons, some of them traumatic and some more natural, such as:

🏥 Technological and Medical Advancements: Hospitals, by their very nature, must progress in tandem with technology and continually improve methods of diagnosis and treatment. The problem is that old hospitals struggle to meet the changing and increasingly stringent requirements, quickly becoming outdated. Buildings constructed in the 20th century or earlier must undergo a profound transformation to remain relevant in the 21st century. Sometimes, this task is complex, even impossible, from economic, logistical, architectural, and other perspectives.

🏥 Economic Problems: You don’t have to be the Minister of Health or manage a hospital to know that maintaining such facilities is complex and requires substantial budgets. The high maintenance costs of such a large building, advanced technological equipment, and a diverse workforce in all health professions and related fields have created an equation in which hospital costs may exceed their gross revenue. Despite the tendency to view hospitals as a public service, they also have an economic model. If the hospital is not profitable, it may very well be closed.

🏥 Health System Reforms: It would be complex and irrelevant to detail how the health system works on our site, especially since there are differences between countries and periods. The bottom line is that changes in public health policy, such as the shift to community care instead of long-term hospitalization (which is happening, for example, in the mental health field in recent years), may lead to the closure of many hospitals.

🏥 Demographic Changes: We are all familiar with the hospital crisis in many locations across the globe (for example, developing countries) and the fact that there are not enough hospitals in peripheral communities. Such a scenario may result in the inability to receive treatment or at least the need for a journey of several hours on the roads, and sometimes even by air. Various demographic and geographical changes, such as population migration from certain areas to others (for example, from city centers to the periphery), may increase the need for hospitals in specific areas and decrease it in others. Hence, you guessed it, the road to the abandonment of hospitals that become less in demand may be short.

🏥 Natural Disasters or Historical Events: Wars, massive fires, earthquakes, or other natural disasters may force people to abandon hospitals. The reason is that such catastrophes can cause irreparable damage, or at the very least, astronomically expensive and unprofitable damage.

Why Are Abandoned Hospitals Scary?

Suppose you have ever visited an abandoned or empty hospital at night or grew up watching horror movies set inside a haunted hospital. In that case, you can probably relate to their frightening side. Although each case is unique, we can argue that the special atmosphere of abandoned hospitals also stems from the contrast between what was once a place full of life (hopefully) and bustling with activity and its current role as a place of deathly silence, sometimes literally. You can add another contrast between healing and saving lives, on the one hand, and their current state as crumbling and neglected structures, creating a surreal, even creepy feeling. Even if they are not hospitals that have conducted cruel experiments on humans, as we have already seen in more than one horror movie, hospitals may contain a history of pain, suffering, and, of course, death.

The setting of abandoned hospitals is reminiscent of horror movies in more ways than one. The long corridors, the lack of lighting, the neglect, and the damage of time give their signs: dust accumulating in every good corner, mold on the walls, rust, and other elements are far from the clean and grim image of hospitals. For example, you can find traditional medical equipment, sometimes old and nostalgic, such as wheelchairs, treatment and restraint beds, surgical instruments, and antique machines.

The architectural design of hospitals, for example, with its numerous rooms and passages, can create a sense of disorientation that contributes to feelings of fear. Getting lost in an abandoned place is almost always scary; abandoned medical facilities may take this a few steps further.

The Creepy Story Of Ghost Hospitals

Not surprisingly, a mythology of ghosts has developed around abandoned hospitals worldwide. The feeling of being alone in a vast place that once housed thousands of people or feeling the deathly silence in a place where patients fought for their lives, can make the imagination work overtime.

If you’ve seen horror movies on the subject, you probably know that medical facilities of all kinds – from public hospitals to institutions for the treatment of mental illness or lost cases – may be a location of supernatural activity. The belief is that the spirits of people who died in the hospital (and unfortunately, this happens around the clock) are still within the hospital walls in some way.

This is one of the reasons why some abandoned hospitals have become tourist sites, or at least places that attract those who like their tourism dark, scary, and sometimes even illegal.

Why Is It Dangerous To Visit Abandoned Hospitals?

In many cases, entering a ghost hospital constitutes trespassing and may be considered a criminal offense, as these buildings typically belong to public or private entities. It is equally crucial that entering them can be dangerous. After all, we are talking about old and often crumbling buildings, from the risk of parts collapsing to encountering hazardous materials, such as toxic substances, broken glass, and so on.

Of course, over the years, we have come across several stories, true or not, that seem to have come out of a horror movie (or at least were convincingly fabricated). For example, in 2008, two students entered the abandoned Pennhurst State School and Hospital in Pennsylvania, a place with a history of abuse of patients by the medical staff. In what seems like a hospital version of “The Blair Witch Project,” the two disappeared without a trace. Of course, there is no proof that this story happened, and it could be a hoax. In any case, the past horrific events in this hospital during its 79 years of operation were reportedly the basis for the plot of the second season of “American Horror Story,” which many consider the best.

It’s hard to define how many abandoned hospitals are there in the world, but many are famous for several reasons; some even offer organized and guided tours. The Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital near Berlin was established in the early 20th century and is known today as “Hitler’s Hospital.” Initially, it achieved tremendous success in treating Tuberculosis, an epidemic that had severely affected the residents of Berlin and the surrounding area. During World War I, when Adolf Hitler was injured, he got here for treatment. The terrible dictator turned Beelitz-Heilstätten into a Nazi hospital during World War II, but it was abandoned towards the end of the 1970s. It gained fame when it served as one of the locations for the film “The Pianist” with Oscar winner Adrien Brody and later became a full-fledged tourist attraction.

Above the hospital, a metal walkway offers a walking path through the treetops. Inside, some tours allow you to see everything that remains of the once-magnificent hospital, including the treatment rooms and equipment, the dining halls, and the branching corridors. There is also an observation tower here, which offers a breathtaking view of the Berlin area.

Horror Movies About Abandoned Hospitals

There are cases where only a few scenes of a film or a subplot occur in an abandoned hospital. In movies like James Wan’s “Malignant” (2021), a somewhat strange and underrated film starring Annabelle Wallis (“Annabelle,” “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Mummy”), we saw a scene that takes place in a ghost hospital. The 2003 Japanese film “One Missed Call,” which was adapted into an awful American film in 2008, also features a very effective moment in an abandoned facility. And there are, of course, many other examples.

Here, we will refer to films where the entire plot, or at least a large part, takes place inside an empty hospital. There, you can meet ghosts of past patients, murderous cannibals, and other surprises.

Here are some horror movies about abandoned hospitals:

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

“House on Haunted Hill“ is a remake of the classic 1959 horror film of the same name, taking the plot in a slightly more supernatural direction. The film by William Malone (“Scared to Death,” “FeardotCom,” “Parasomnia”) offers, first of all, an impressive cast, such as  Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, Peter Gallagher, and others. “House on Haunted Hill” is the first film produced by “Dark Castle Entertainment,” which has become a very significant name in horror cinema since then, with films such as “Thirteen Ghosts“ (2001), “Ghost Ship“ (2002), “Gothika“ (2003), “House of Wax“ (2005), “Orphan“ (2009)“ and the sequel “Orphan: First Kill” (2022), “The Apparition” (2012), “Seance“ (2021) and many others.

At the center of the “House on Haunted Hill” plot, you will find a group of strangers invited to a party in an abandoned house previously used as a psychiatric hospital. A tycoon offers anyone who survives the night a million dollars, but the problem is that the race for the million passes through ghosts, jump scares, and other horrific incidents. You could argue that “House on Haunted Hill“ is an average film. Still, it is undoubtedly enjoyable and offers some great scenes, including one responsible for several childhood traumas of horror fans and Young people in the 90s.

Session 9 (2001)

“Session 9,” directed by Brad Anderson (“Fractured,” “The Mechanic,” “The Call,” “Blood”), is a psychological horror film set in the Danvers State Hospital – a real psychiatric hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, which opened in 1878 and closed permanently in 1992. The plot of “Session 9” concerns an asbestos removal team led by Gordon (Peter Mullan), who receives a mission to evacuate the abandoned institution. Very soon, strange events begin to occur, blurring the boundaries between past and present and between reality and imagination.

“Session 9,” which combines audio recordings of a former patient with dissociative identity disorder, received overall very positive reviews thanks to a tight script that explores the human psyche instead of going for the easy solution of gore and cheap scares, impressive acting by the cast and also a realistic atmosphere in a certain sense.

Grave Encounters (2011)

Grave Encounters is one of the gems of the Found Footage genre, or rather, a relatively rare case in which the genre justifies itself, avoiding the standard of cheap and annoying manipulation that mainly causes headaches instead of scares, and allowing for a more engaging experience.

The film by The Vicious Brothers (“Extraterrestrial,” “It Stains the Sands Red,” “Spiral”) is about the crew of a TV show called “Grave Encounters”. They document creepy and supposedly haunted places and, in this case, an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Very quickly, strange horror incidents begin to occur – you know, doors slamming loudly, weird noises, invisible figures throwing people in the air, scary ghosts that do not want the crew to leave the place alive, and so on – but surprisingly, it presents them effectively.

Some define “Grave Encounters“ as a cult film. The film was a low-budget production, but it generated a lot of buzz upon its release, largely thanks to a viral trailer, and was released in theaters on a limited basis. The positive reviews and its relative success on streaming led to a sequel, “Grave Encounters 2“ (2012), which was a bit less successful but still enjoyable.

Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011)

“Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings“ is the fourth in the franchise about the murderous mutant cannibals, or rather, a prequel to the first three films. It is the origin story of the cannibals we have come to know and love – “Three Fingers,” “One Eye,” and “Saw Tooth“ – so named because one of them has three fingers, another has one eye, and the third has sharp teeth.

The starting point of “Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings” is 1974, when the Hillicker brothers, who are hospitalized in a sanatorium (a long-term medical institution) in West Virginia, manage to escape, free the other inmates, and kill the institution’s staff. Almost three decades later, a group of foolish young people, most good-looking but very stupid, arrive in the area to spend a wild weekend in an isolated cabin. They get caught in a blizzard and find shelter in an abandoned building. Unfortunately for them, they discover that it is not exactly abandoned, and that there may be cannibals nearby.

“Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings“ offers the formula that made the franchise so beloved among horror fans, even if the level of this film (well, like most “Wrong Turn“ films) is mediocre at best. You’ll find some jump scares, disturbing cannibal murders, and sex scenes (including a lesbian scene) on the one hand, but also a problematic script and terrible acting by some of the cast.

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