One true story is about a patient who believed he could communicate with the walls. He would spend hours whispering to them as if they were alive. Another story involves a woman who was convinced she was a famous singer from the 1920s and would perform for the other patients in the asylum's hallways. There was also a man who thought he was a bird and would flap his arms and try to perch on the furniture.
Another great one is 'The Silent Companions' by Laura Purcell. Although not solely focused on an asylum, it has elements of horror related to mental institutions. The story is set in a creepy manor with a disturbing past involving the treatment of the mentally ill.
The isolation. Insane asylums are often in remote locations. In a horror novel, this means the characters are cut off from help. For example, in many such novels, when the protagonist realizes something is wrong, there's no easy way out.
In the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper', the female protagonist is confined in an asylum - like room. Her slow descent into madness as she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper is a fascinating and disturbing exploration of the female psyche in a restrictive environment.
One sad story could be about patients who were wrongly committed. They might have been suffering from something treatable like depression but were locked away due to lack of understanding in the past. Their cries for help were ignored, and they lost years of their lives in a place that didn't really help them get better.
Sure. There was a patient who refused to wear clothes and believed that clothing was a form of torture. He would run around the asylum naked, much to the shock of the new staff members. Another true story is about a man who thought he was made of glass. He would move very slowly and carefully, afraid that he might break. He even asked the nurses to be extra gentle when handling him.
One story is about a patient who died in the asylum long ago. People claim to see her wandering the halls at night, still wearing the old - fashioned hospital gown. Her figure is said to be translucent and she makes a soft moaning sound as she moves.
The most famous one might be that of the nurse who committed suicide in the asylum. Her apparition has been seen near the medicine storage area where she used to work. It's said that she still seems to be checking the medications, even in death.
Hardly any of the spooky insane asylum stories have been verified. The stories of strange noises or apparitions are mostly based on hearsay and the overactive imaginations of those who worked or stayed in asylums. However, there are cases where the architecture of the asylum itself might have contributed to the creation of these stories. For example, some old asylums had long, dark corridors and small, isolated rooms that could create an atmosphere of fear. But this doesn't prove the existence of the supernatural elements in the stories.