Abandoned Asylums takes readers on an unrestricted visual journey inside America's abandoned state hospitals, asylums, and psychiatric facilities, the institutions where countless stories and personal dramas played out behind locked doors and out of public sight. The images captured by photographer Matt Van der Velde are powerful, haunting and emotive. A sad and tragic reality that these once glorious historical institutions now sit vacant and forgotten as their futures are uncertain and threatened with the wrecking ball. Explore a private mental hospital that treated Marilyn Monroe and other celebrities seeking safe haven. Or look inside the seclusion cells at an asylum that once incarcerated the now-infamous Charles Manson. Or see the autopsy theater at a Government Hospital for the Insane that was the scene for some of America's very first lobotomy procedures. With a foreward by renowned expert Carla Yanni examining their evolution and subsequent fall from grace, accompanying writings by Matt Van der Velde detailing their respective histories, Abandoned Asylums will shine some light on the glorious, and sometimes infamous institutions that have for so long been shrouded in darkness.

What secrets are buried within the crumbling walls of old asylums for the insane? Readers will get a glimpse of what these nightmare facilities were like before the dawn of the modern era. From the wretched overcrowding of London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital (which inspired the English word bedlam), where citizens could pay a penny for the pleasure of poking “lunatics” through the hospital’s bars with sticks, to Christian Church Hospital in Kansas City where Dr. Robert Patterson beat and chained patients and performed ice-pick lobotomies—this scary book will rivet young readers while also giving them an understanding of how far mental health care has come. Eleven asylums are explored, with tales of not only what they were like but of the spirits said to still haunt them. Abandoned Insane Asylums is part of Bearport’s Scary Places series.

This collection of photographs, history, and firsthand accounts gives readers a glimpse at the roots of mental health. These vignettes are born of the personal stories of those who worked at these facilities, those who were institutionalized, and their families. The authors took the time to listen to their stories and endeavored to understand their pasts and recognize how these events continue to influence the mental health industry today. Pictured throughout are the physical relics of the places—the now largely abandoned asylums—where these stories unfurled.

"Abandoned asylums are undeniably captivating things. These were once proud places of great beauty, founded of noble intent and crafted with the utmost passion, left to wither away, succumbing to time and reclaimed by nature. Literal cities sprawled upon hundreds of acres, formed around the care of the mentally and physically in-need, now forsaken and left to rot. Though disused, they are not without purpose. Within these crumbling walls and darkened wards, we may yet glean some truths, not only of what life was in an era long past, but a better understanding of our own place and time. At times it is within darkness which we may see most clearly."--Provided by publisher.

This collection of photographs, history, and firsthand accounts gives readers a glimpse at the roots of mental health. These vignettes are born of the personal stories of those who worked at these facilities, those who were institutionalized, and their families. The authors took the time to listen to their stories and endeavored to understand their past and recognize how these events continue to influence the mental health industry today. Pictured throughout are the physical relics of the places--the now largely abandoned asylums of Connecticut--where these stories unfurled.

The Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital was more than a building; it embodied an entire era of uniquely American history, from the unparalleled humanitarian efforts of Dorothea Dix to the revolutionary architectural concepts of Thomas Story Kirkbride. After well over a century of service, Greystone was left abandoned in 2008. From the time it closed until its demolition in 2015, Greystone became the focal point of a passionate preservation effort that drew national attention and served to spark the public's interest in historical asylum preservation. Many of the images contained in this book were rescued from the basement of Greystone in 2002 and have never been seen by the public. They appear courtesy of the Morris Plains Museum and its staff, who spent many hours digitally archiving the photographs so that future generations may better know Greystone's history.

Series statement from publisher's website.