The Asylum of Horror

Season 2 Episode 6

In this chilling October episode of The Grim, host Kristin guides listeners through the forgotten cemetery of Danvers State Hospital, once known as the “Palace on the Hill.” Located in Danvers, Massachusetts, this infamous asylum was built in 1878 on land tied to Judge John Hathorne of the Salem Witch Trials, a curse many believe doomed it from the start.

The hospital became a symbol of overcrowding, neglect, and experimental treatments—earning notoriety as the birthplace of the lobotomy. Though most of the complex was demolished in 2006, the asylum’s ghosts linger in its tunnels, ruins, and overgrown burial ground. Nearly 800 patients lie in numbered graves, their names erased by stigma, their voices silenced by time.

Kristin explores both the history and the hauntings of Danvers: disembodied voices, phantom footsteps, shadow figures, and chilling EVP recordings captured by paranormal investigators. The asylum’s legacy has seeped into horror culture—from H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham Sanitarium to films like Session 9.

Through the Danvers State Memorial Committee’s efforts, fragments of identity are being restored to the forgotten dead. But the asylum’s cemetery remains one of New England’s most haunted places—where whispers drift among the stones and sorrow hangs heavy in the air.