The Haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium | Ep. 104

This week, we travel to Louisville, Kentucky, and discuss one of the most haunted locations in the United States.

Originally a hospital for folks suffering from tuberculosis, a wide range of treatments were conducted on patients and thousands of patients died during the Waverly Hills Sanatorium’s medical tenure.

They even turned a supplies tunnel into a body chute to transport dead patients late at night. Now, countless paranormal investigators have combed the many hallways of Waverly Hills Sanatorium and claim it is haunted by various ghosts and entities, such as Tommy, the Creeper, the Shy Lady, and the Screaming Lady.

But, is it true? Listen now!

Waverly Hills Sanatorium: The Real Story of the Most Famous Insane Asylum in America

Waverly Hills Sanatorium: The Real Story of the Most Famous Insane Asylum in America

Are there any haunted places you wouldn’t visit?

Are hospitals more likely to have spirits roaming the halls?

What’s up Bizarros!? This week we dive into one of the most haunted places in America, Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

What is Waverly Hills?

Waverly Hills Sanatorium is considered one of the most haunted places in the world, with multiple ghosts known to roam the halls.

With that said, let’s get into some of the history.

The History Of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Waverly Hills Sanatorium is located in Kentucky. Southwestern Louisville/Jefferson County, specifically.

It was once the area of a schoolhouse but because of events occurring the land needed to be used differently.

It opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital due to the severe outbreak of tuberculosis.

So, two things before we move on.

What is a Sanatorium?

A sanatorium is a medical facility that specializes in housing and treating folks with long-term illnesses. 

It was big before the discovery of antibiotics. They assumed that good nutrition and rest away from other folks gave the sufferer’s immune system the best chance to beat their ailment.

Which sounds like every parent’s dream. Full nights of sleep and naps during the day.

And…

2. What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that generally affects a person’s lungs but can impact other parts of the body.

Common symptoms of TB include fever, coughing with blood, drastic weight loss, and night sweats. It can travel from one person to the next through the air and is known as “consumption” and the “white plague”

It’s dangerous and I saw reports that even in 2020 it was the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease behind COVID.

Again, Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened in July of 1910 to house thousands and thousands of folks suffering from TB.

It was known to hold up to 400 people at one time.

The widespread outbreak of TB in this area is thought to be due to all of the wetlands along the Ohio River which is a fantastic location for bacteria.

The City Hospital was being created and they decided they did not want to include TB patients for fear of spreading the outbreak to other sick or injured patients, so the Board of Tuberculosis Hospital was given $25K to build a hospital specifically for folks suffering from TB.

And thus – Waverly Hills Sanatorium was born.

In August of 1912, all the TB patients from the original City Hospital were transported to Waverly Hills.

It was reported that Waverly Hills has its own vegetation, farming, and livestock to make the sanatorium self-reliant.

But, it actually sounds more like isolation because they required nurses and doctors to sever contact with the outside world for all intents and purposes.

They were given very strict and limited outside time, but to reduce the spread of TB they were pretty much confined to Wavery Hills.

Over the years Wavery Hills experienced a few expansions, such as a hospital for advanced cases and a children’s pavilion, and vast open-air areas.

They thought, with it being a lung infection, that fresh air would help.

The Sanatorium functioned as a TB hospital for about 50 years until it shut down in 1961 with the advancement of antibiotics.

It is estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 people died in those 50 years and were subjected to painful treatments such as electroshock therapy and experimental surgeries that sometimes led to collapsed lungs.

Apparently placing heavy sandbags on the patient’s chest was common. 

The idea was that the sandbags gave the patient’s lungs something to use to build up strength – kind of like weight training for your muscles.

I think it was almost kind of like a death sentence to get diagnosed with something as serious as TB back then. 

So there were a lot of experiments for the greater good and tests done that probably were done in desperation for the “greater good.” (Sounds like Hot Fuzz)

One procedure they would perform involved having infected parts of the lung removed and sometimes the entire lung.

Another involved the removal of several rib bones from the chest wall to collapse a lung. 

Naturally, between the procedures and TB itself, death was a pretty common occurrence at Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

This leads us to one of the more popular things known about the sanatorium.

Death was an everyday occurrence here, with bodies piling up and shipped out daily, and to be sent to Waverly Hills was a one-way ticket, a veritable death sentence.

The Body Chute

There is an underground tunnel that goes from Waverly Hills’ main entrance to the bottom of a hill, about 500 feet straight down.

Originally the tunnel was used to receive supplies in the winter. As the name describes – they were on a “hill,” and in the snow, it could be tough to get supplies and they were also trying to limit contact with the outside.

However, doctors at Waverly Hill started using this tunnel as a way to get rid of all of the dead bodies without being seen.

In their mind, seeing folks continually dying would kill the patient’s hope. So, instead – late at night – they would wheel the bodies through what some people now call the “death tunnel” to keep up the morale.

Let’s get to some of the spookiness surrounding The Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

Reportedly haunted by staff and patients who were once wheeled through the tunnel. Paranormal investigators claim to capture voices and see dark figures in the tunnel during their investigation.

Hauntings At Waverly Hills Sanatorium

And Let me just say – it didn’t take very long researching to come up with a lot of pictures. And by pictures – I mean tons of pictures of people capturing shadows and bodies.

Like – real iPhone pics people took during ghost tours. It’s super creepy.

Let’s get some of the generalizations out. Here are the types of experiences and encounters that are common at Waverly Hills:

-Shadow figures

-Apparitions of patients, nurses, and doctors

-moving objects

-orbs and lights

-intense cold spots

-doors opening

-locked doors unlocking themselves and opening

-EVPs

-disembodied screams

-electronic equipment going haywire

-people being touched and pushed

-headaches

-nausea

 Sounds like an infomercial ad.

Now, to specifics – let’s talk about Timmy.

Timmy

One common spirit that is witnessed at Waverly Hills is a young boy named Timmy. 

A patient that passed away in the sanatorium looks about 6 or 7 years old and some visitors will bring toy balls and invite Timmy to play with them.

Every now and then when someone rolls the ball within seconds it will roll right back to them.

The Screaming Lady

There is said to be an elderly, screaming lady that wanders the halls of Waverly Hills. Her origin, like Timmy, isn’t really known.

Although, it’s assumed she was a patient.

The Shy Woman

I’m pretty sure I actually saw a picture of her while researching, which was super creepy. The shy woman is called shy because you never see her full body or face.

She simply peeks around doors and corners – if you happen to actually catch a glimpse of her, that is.

The Creeper at Waverly Hills Sanatorium

This guy is said to be a dark and violent presence who crawls around on all fours and climbs ceilings and walls.

You definitely would not want to see that. Some people who witness the creeper don’t think it’s a human spirit actually. They say the dread you feel is actually more demonic. 

Room 502 At Waverly Hills

Apparently, the 5th floor for whatever reason is where they kept the majority of the mentally disturbed patients.

One room on the 5th floor that is said to have a very dark, anguished feeling when you walk in is Room 502.

This is expected to be the case because of a nurse that committed suicide. The story is that a doctor impregnated a nurse, but instead of wanting to become a family he wanted nothing to do with her.

This devastated the nurse and made her hang herself from an exposed pipe inside room 502.

People claim this room reeks of sorrow and it’s almost impossible to stay in there for long periods of time.

The Roof Of The Sanatorium

The roof is said to be immensely haunted, as well. I have a story from an encounter that was reported on the website True Ghost Tales.

 “My friends and I went out on the roof and just hung out thinking about the stories we heard about the place when we began to see figures moving around in the dark inside the area of the 5th floor where the patients were bedded outside for air. 

Shadows were everywhere, we began to see perfect formations of shadows of people that were not there. 

My friend Chris lost his cool and wanted to bolt out of the place by jumping from the 5th-floor roof. 

I said, “Are you nuts? We gotta go back out the way we came!” 

So after building up the courage to face whatever it was in the halls and rooms on the 5th floor and exit we had to enter it. 

We couldn’t run due to the darkness and the mess the place was in so we held tight to our arms and entered the hall area. 

I wanted to shut my eyes but I had to see where I was going. Mostly I saw the shadows surrounding us, banging that seemed to come from everywhere, the ceiling, floor, and walls.

As we entered the stairwell we somehow ended up on the floor below us and not the ground floor. 

As we entered the 4th floor our eyes were more adjusted. The moonlight reflected through the building and we had a pretty good sight of the hall up to the point where the hall bent at a slight angle. 

It had rained the night before and due to the shape of the building and no windows left to block it out the rain entered the building at will. 

On the floor were puddles of water and we began to see bare footprints appearing out of the puddles as if someone had just walked through the puddle barefooted and left tracks.

The shadows were still surrounding us in the halls. The doors to the patients’ rooms began to slam shut. Chris, who acted as the toughest guy in the group, began to cry. As I tried to calm him down something crashed against the wall near where we stood. When I looked at the floor it was a brick. Something had just hurled a brick at us hitting the wall. Chris then began to run down the hall and we gave chase. 

At some point between Chris and us, behind Chris and in front of us, 2 bright balls of light shot from one room across the hall and into the adjacent room. 

We ran past the area where the light traveled to get to Chris who stopped at the end of the hall not knowing where to go. We calmed him a little and it was as if someone just shut it all off like a light switch. 

There were no more shadows, no banging, no flashing light.”

More Encounters at Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Here are a few more encounters people have experienced at the sanatorium.

Experience 1 at Waverly Hills:

This experience is pulled from Southside Times.

• My team made a trek through the dark first-level hallway. I was holding up the rear with a shadowy figure walking next to me I assumed to be my teammate Doug. In what little I could make out he was built like Doug anyway. We had our flashlights off so our eyes would adjust to the dark. We were silent, listening. Someone tripped in the group in front of me and I heard Doug – up there – laughing and making a comment. I switched on my light and no one was beside me!
• My teammates helped me into a morgue locker (at my request) and left me alone. I listened to their footsteps retreating. It was quiet for a while and then the small room seemed to come alive. I couldn’t see anything but black, yet outside the locker door, I heard the sounds of shuffling feet and the clatter of things being moved on a metal gurney. They stopped as my team returned to let me out.
• The tunnel through the hill, from the hospital to the road below, was originally the entrance and exit for workers. It also served to deliver supplies. It eventually graduated into the “Body Chute” where the deceased were transported after passing in the hospital. Standing at the top, even a flashlight beam would not reach the bottom of the tunnel. While shooting a single laser beam to the bottom, it suddenly stopped upon something solid; and that something was making its way up the tunnel toward us! We could see the vague white outlines of a form. We watched it grow closer until the form disappeared, with the laser beam then shooting down into the darkness.
• On the fourth-floor terrace, I was alone and watching a dark shadow following me from within the inner hallway. It was playing hide-and-seek. It would on occasion peek a dark head around the door frames.

Experience 2 at the Haunted Sanatorium

This experience is pulled from the Portsmouth Daily Times.

“On May 22nd, 2019, nine friends and I had an overnight stay in Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. 

I’ll be the first to admit it. I wasn’t excited to go. I was nervous. 

At least a few times a week I get scared at my office when someone says “Hello” and my Mom is the queen of hiding behind doors and jumping out. I do love horror films and have always been interested in doing an overnight stay at a “haunted” location, yet I was dreading it!

My friend Kyle James had booked the trip with his wife Shannon and happened to have two people back out at the last minute. I told him I’d ask my girlfriend, Hannah Stanford, and see if she wanted to go. SHE WAS ECSTATIC. “I’ve been wanting to go there for years!!!” was her response. So, guess what? We were going to the Sanatorium.

We arrive at the site under what’s left of the daylight. I put on my “brave” face and acted calm and cool. My friend Sean Dunne went as well (with a trick up his sleeve…) It was evident that he was a complete skeptic and I shared some of his opinions but as I said, I was still nervous. We take a walk around the complex and our guide, Ernie started to give us a tour of everything inside the building.

Roughly one hour in, I “thought” Sean had gone into another room. Swore I saw him walk in there and went to follow him. 

Nope. Nobody there. We were in for a LONG night. Ernie took us through the different floors. The 4th floor was said to be haunted by a young boy named “Timmy.” 

He liked to roll balls on the floor, and this was apparent because other investigators had left balls (some with rattlers in them) throughout the Sanatorium. 

The 5th floor housed room 502. This room is said to be the most haunted in the whole area. Finally, Ernie takes us to one of the operating rooms. He turns off his flashlight and “speaks” to the spirits. 

They communicate back by turning the light on and off. 

Of course, I was standing the closest to the flashlight and thought. “WONDERFUL!!” We were skeptical of this. Was it a parlor trick? A trick flashlight? There are other articles stating how you can fake this. I don’t know if it was real or if it was fake, but I will say others in our group used the flashlight on their own and had some of the same results. 

Regardless, neat effect, and had most of our hearts racing.

Roughly 2-hours in, Ernie takes us back to our HQ, a gift shop with running electricity and water where we housed all our snacks and extra clothes. We are on our own! Immediately Hannah and I went to the “Body Chute” Sounds like what it’s called. 

There was a tunnel that descended 500 feet normally used for maintenance. With deaths piling up with TB at its most extreme, the tunnel became where deceased patients were taken to try and avoid having living patients’ morale suffer as much as their health. 

We made our trek down the tunnel and the only way to explain the feeling (and the feeling most of the night) was just an uneasiness.

Eventually, we grouped up, Hannah and me, Sean, Kyle and Shannon, and a few others. Great. Big group. 

Everyone is safe! NOPE…BATS. We were in a catch-22. Do we use the light to see through the hallways? We do that and, in some places, bats came at our heads. I’ve never dodged bats before, until that night. Looking back, it added an element to our night none of us had assumed would happen. 

Thankfully no one was bitten or hurt so I can now look back and laugh about our “friends” for the night.

Hours passed, and we took turns staying in groups, and Hannah and I going off by ourselves. I think she was testing me to see how brave I was. I would soon fail. 

First, not using the lights to avoid the bats, my right foot caught one of the numerous balls in the hallway. I yelled and panicked, and everyone laughed! 

The biggest scare for me was roughly 30 minutes later. 

Ernie had told us about a spirit known as “The Creeper” something that walks on all fours. Very vague explanation. 

Listen, I’m not here to make you believe in spirits or make you think it’s all fake. I will tell you with our group, I personally, was staring at the bottom of a door and something came CRAWLING at me. 

Brown, and white, Bigger than a Dog. Still to this day NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS! I jumped probably 5 feet in the air because I thought whatever it was, was going to run into my feet. 

Immediately I asked if anyone else saw it and no one had. I don’t know what it was, but I can promise you it wasn’t even midnight (so sleep deprivation wasn’t an issue) and I saw whatever it was as plain as looking at the sky. I was/am no longer a skeptic.

We finished out the night going through some of the more haunted rooms. Remember room 502. The most haunted room of all. Someone had placed baby dolls for the spirit (I believe her name was Sarah) in her room. 

We all took pictures of it. Later that night, one of Timmy’s balls was sitting between them. No, it wasn’t Ernie. One of our group members was deathly afraid early on and he couldn’t leave her unattended. No Scooby-Doo ending here. 

Just some unexplained occurrences which seemed to happen at every corner.

Just like any classic horror film, there’s always one final scare. 

Our group is walking throughout the halls, dodging bats, and then we hear….an AIRHORN. 

Mr. Dunne decided to scare everyone with something he had clearly planned and hid the entire night. (Well played sir!) We all were skeptics in one way or another. 

I believe that everyone left there a little more curious about what could be. What was real? What wasn’t? 

I’m confident none of us can explain everything that happened and that makes for a pretty interesting night. A memory I will cherish, even if I saw “THE CREEPER,” and jumped higher than I ever have in my life. #Boyfriendmaterial. 

Sean said it best about our night at Waverly Hills. “Camping invites people to tell ghost stories, Waverly Hills invites people to walk around in one.” 

Would You Got On A Midnight Tour Of Waverly Hills Sanatorium?

What do you think Bizarros? Would you be able to spend a night in the Sanatorium?Is the Sanatorium haunted? Or is it just an old building that leaves more to the imagination of those who walk the floors at night?