12. Screams Were Heard At Night
In truly nightmarish imagery, former patients and undercover investigators have described the nighttime noises of their stays in state-run asylums. One woman who stayed for ten days undercover, Nellie Bly, stated that multiple women screamed throughout the night in her ward. One woman reportedly begged and prayed for death throughout the night while another woman, in a different room, repeatedly shouted “murder!” She reported that the wards were shockingly loud at night, with many patients yelling or screaming on and off throughout the night.
Taylor Benjamin, also known as John the Baptist, reportedly spent every night screaming in the weeks leading up to his death at a New Orleans asylum. A doctor’s report said he, “slept very little if any at night, [and] was constantly screaming.” One cannot imagine a more horrific scene than hundreds of involuntarily committed people, many of whom were likely quite sane, trapped in such a nightmarish environment. In addition to the screams, one inmate reported that patients were allowed to wander the halls at will throughout the night. He stated one night he awoke to find two other patients merely standing in his room, staring at him. He awoke another night to see a patient tucking in his sheets.