I decided early Monday morning (while at work) that I definitely was not going to work the following day. I knew that it was going to snow. And lately, I’ve been so unmotivated to do the work thing. So, I stayed up pretty late (for me) that night with my housemate, Sarah. We were just talking and laughing… and it didn’t take much coercing to get her to take the next day off too. Nice. Little did I know however, that before she went to sleep, she put a note on my housemate Micah’s door that read something like “You’re not going to work tomorrow. It’s a mandatory snow day!” (Ok… I made up the verbiage. That’s not what it said, but thats the gist.)
I awoke yesterday morning to the sounds of my housemates gleefully talking about the mandatory snow day that we’ve declared for the household. I joined the ruckus and all seemed right with the world. The snow was falling calmly but steadily. It was beautiful outside and I wanted to be a part of it. Micah and I decided that an outdoor adventure was in order. Shortly there after, we left on an excursion… armed with little more than a thirst for exploration and one digital camera apiece.
Our adventure lead us to the Northampton State Hospital. Also know as the ABANDONED INSANE ASYLUM. Yep… you read that correctly. In Northampton, Massachusetts, there is an abandoned hospital for the mentally ill. It’s one of the creepiest and most frightening places that I have ever been to. The hospital itself, appears as if it was plucked straight out of a horror movie. It stands atop a hill, tall and bold against the gray sky (imagine the hotel from the Shining… but much less ornate). Despite its decay, the external structure seems sound (the rotting interior is another story). Its perimeter winds and snakes across the premises, creating hidden alcoves and expansive courtyards.
Abandoned insane asylum? Come on… seems too good to be true, I know… but it is true.
The main building is surrounded by two layers of chain link fence (to keep punks like us out). Thanks to some earlier expeditions by other adventurous souls, there are holes in the fencing. You have to search for them… but they are there. Once you penetrate the outer defenses, you can actually get to the building (it’s even creepier up close… when you can see its nuances and intricacies). Every single first and second floor window and door is either boarded or barred. We tried in many places to pull the boards off, but to no avail. They were firmly bolted into place. Despite the hulking masses of muscle that describe Micah and I, we just couldn’t budge them. That is, until we found one that had been mostly removed.
The board mechanism was more of a plug than a simple covering. It fit entirely into the window cavity rather than just covering the hole. This one in particular was out of its home and on the ground. Unfortunately, it was frozen into the ground and still mostly covering the window. Try as we may, Micah and I could not get it out of the way. Micah however, was able to maneuver his body through the tiny and awkward space that was available. I watched him do this. Trust me, it defied all logic. I have no idea how he got himself through. But he did. And I couldn’t. We decided that he’d do some spelunking, and I’d continue to look for another way in. Shortly after we parted ways… like 10 seconds later, Micah called to me from inside of the building. He had found a wide open window, a mere 15 feet behind where we were struggling to get in. I can’t believe we hadn’t seen it from the outside. We must have walked right passed it.
The window touched the ground… it was a basement window and it lead underneath the hospital. It was narrow, but big enough for a body to pass through. It even had stairs right to the side of the window. It was the ideal entrance. And I entered. And once inside, it felt as though I had been swallowed whole by the asylum itself. The utter blackness of the basement was overpowering. What little light the window let in was absorbed and thoroughly devoured by the darkness. And it was dark… pitch black.
I mentioned earlier that one of the only objects that we brought on our adventure, was a digital camera for each of us. It was great that we had those devices. The flash was our only means of seeing in the dark. Every ten seconds or so, one of us would take a random photo in the total darkness. The underground labyrinth would illuminate for a fraction of a second. Sometimes there would be a wall in front of us. Sometimes a door. Sometimes there would be a corridor. We needed to find stairs. We had to get out of the basement. And we were going pretty deep too. I was starting to wonder if we would be able to find our way back. But lo and behold, after many turns, a few dead ends, and the most frightening corridor, we found stairs. They were ice covered from a leaking hole in the ceiling. And they were treacherous. But they were stairs. And they went up… ascending us out of darkness.
I think it’s best to tell the rest of the story with the photos Micah and I took along the way. Enjoy…
A few things to note: These photos have not been photoshopped or cropped in any way. They have been resized. They are in no particular order. This is not all of them. Clicking on any of the photos will launch the bigger versions. Click here to see all of the photos that I took. Click here to see all of the photos that Micah took. (These are fairly large files) And finally, I just want to stress that all of the basement shots that you see were taken in TOTAL darkness. Which is why some of the photos are tilted and positioned poorly. Every photo in the basement was taken just so the flash would go off and we could see. Getting actual usable photos was a bonus! And, as it turns out, some of the blind basement photos are my favorites…
going out… chair at the bottom of the stairs.
going in… using the camera as our flash light. this was pitch black.
3rd floor. creepy curtains.
searching for a way out of the basement. pitch black.
searching for a way out of the basement. pitch black.
searching for a way out of the basement. pitch black.
searching for a way out of the basement. pitch black.
3rd floor. this haze seemed to follow us around. however, it only showed up on film.
searching for a way out of the basement. pitch black.
3rd floor.
first floor.
on the way out (i think). again, this was pitch black.
3rd floor. the haze follows.
3rd floor. gaping hole.
this is the window i came through.
hospital. first view.
on the way out.
following micah. searching for stairs.
incriminating shot of micah.
searching for stairs. following micah. there’s that haze again.
i love this shot. this was in the pitch black. i had no idea that micah was standing there when i took the shot. very blair witch…
micah. clearly going insane.
no trespassing?
a noose?
on the way out. that’s my arm.
an exterior shot.
see those towers? micah was in one of them taking this photo.
me. pondering the meaning of that sign.
outside toilet?
3rd floor. creepy door.
me. in attic. looking surprisingly chipper.
me. 1st floor. with the haze.
me. 3rd floor. the haze.
finding our way out.
and finally.. the big scary door.
Before I let you flee in horror, I’d like to comment on the haze. I’ve read that ghost hunters go to supposedly haunted places and take a bunch of random photos. Apparently, these ghostly hazes only show up on film. You can’t see them until you look at the photos. Micah and I both did not see the haze during the journey. Only when we opened our photos later did we notice it. The haze showed up on both of our cameras. The haze showed up in well lit shots as well as the pitch black ones. There are more shots of the haze here and here.
Ok. Thinking back, the most amazing thing about this adventure is the fact that neither one of us bled, walked away limping, or was arrested. Possessed by the souls of the insane… maybe. But at least we didn’t spend the night in jail.
(Instead, we spent the day in an insane asylum. Yea!)
Well, it’s Saturday and I’m hanging out in JavaNet. Surprise surprise. What makes today’s JavaNet excursion post-worthy is the fact that I’m sitting in a brand new location… directly under some local artist’s sculpture. It’s a sort of found-art/trash-art hanging face, with a wide open mouth, elongated nose piece, and a chain link goatee. Really interesting. Really cool. I’m proud to sit underneath it. The one exception to it’s coolness is that I’m pretty sure that it’s throwing up on me… at a frequency of about every ten minutes. Yeah, every ten minutes or so, I feel crud fall from its direction and land on my head. I look up at it and I’m pretty sure that I see it stifling a sinister chuckle. I told the dude sitting next to me that, “I think this sculpture is throwing up on me.” He smiled, nodded, and slid his chair a few inches away. I guess that I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to sit next to the target of art puke either.
That’s right. You heard me. Now, click 
This Valentine’s Day will be spent listening to 
I just finished up one of the most satisfying lunches that I have ever had. In fact, it was so satisfying that I simply must blog about it.
Today, I found that the 
I have two more links that I’d like to share. Why? Because, damn it, I can’t bring myself to do any actual work today. (Who are you calling a slacker?)
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