Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Waverly Hills Sanatorium - Ghosts

Ghost hunters and thrill seekers can not join the paranormal tours run regularly at Waverly Hills. There have been reports of numerous spirits, apparitions and ghosts still residing at the Sanatorium

At the main entrance of the building the ghost of an old woman is often seen, usually she is reported running out of the front door. Her hands and legs are usually in chains and blood drips from her wrists and ankles. She cries for help before she disappears into thin air.

The ghost of a man in a white coat and pants has been seen in the kitchen and cafeteria. No one knows who he is, but it is presumed that he's an old employee of Waverly Hill who has remained here after death. The smell of food often wafts from the kitchen though no meals have been served since 1982 when the geriatric hospital was closed.

Many visitors and paranormal groups have seen or sensed a little girl on the third floor who is known as "Mary". Some say that she plays with a ball; others have only heard the ball bouncing on the floor or down the stairs. The ball bouncing has also been attributed to a little boy "Timmy", apparently his spirit like's to play games with the living.

One visitor told a guide that he had encountered a little girl in one of the third floor rooms that "wasn't normal." She kept saying that she had no eyes. He was so terrified that he refused to enter the building again. Some have seen the child peering out the third floor windows.

What is now called the "body chute" is actually a 500 foot long tunnel that leads from the hospital to the rail road tracks at the bottom of the hill. Concrete steps line one side of the tunnel while the other side consists of a motorized rail and cable system. Paranormal activity has been reported in this tunnel and consists of apparitions, voices, a sense of dread, and strange lights.

Many people have also reported that they've seen lights in the building at night though there has been no electricity in the building for many years and no glass to reflect light. A security guard once reported that he'd seen a television playing in a room on the third floor. From outside, he could see what appeared to be the distinct flicker of a television in a dark room. He went upstairs to investigate but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Troy Taylor of the Louisville Ghost Hunter's Society investigated the building in 2001 and captured a strange photo of a light burning in a stairwell though there were no lights in the building at the time and no light hanging in that spot.