The Ghosts of Indiana Central State Hospital

• At its peak, Central State Hospital housed over 3,000 patients in facilities designed for far fewer, leading to horrific overcrowding and neglect.
• The hospital performed thousands of lobotomies between the 1940s and 1960s, often on patients who showed no improvement from other treatments.
• An estimated 10,000 patients died at Central State Hospital over its 146 years of operation, many in unmarked graves on the hospital grounds.
• The hospital's pathological department collected and preserved over 2,000 human brains for research, some of which were only recently discovered.
• Several buildings on the former hospital grounds have been converted into apartments and condominiums, and residents regularly report paranormal activity.

Indiana Central State Hospital opened in 1848 as the Indiana Hospital for the Insane, one of the first public psychiatric institutions in the Midwest. At the time, the hospital was considered progressive, built according to the Kirkbride Plan that emphasized fresh air, natural light, and humane treatment of patients.

The reality, however, quickly diverged from this idealistic vision. As Indiana's population grew, so did the number of patients committed to Central State. By the early 1900s, the hospital was desperately overcrowded, with patients sleeping on floors and in hallways. The staff, overwhelmed and underpaid, resorted to restraints, isolation, and physical punishment to maintain order.

The mid-20th century brought new horrors in the name of medical progress. Central State became a center for experimental psychiatric treatments, including insulin shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and the infamous transorbital lobotomy. Dr. Walter Freeman, the physician most associated with the lobotomy procedure in America, personally visited Central State to train doctors in his technique.

Thousands of patients underwent these procedures at Central State. Many died on the operating table or shortly after. Others survived but were left permanently brain-damaged, reduced to shuffling, drooling shadows of their former selves. Some were discharged to families who no longer recognized them. Others remained at Central State until they died, their minds destroyed by the treatments meant to heal them.

Conditions at the hospital continued to deteriorate throughout the 20th century. Investigations revealed patients living in filth, physical abuse by staff, and inadequate medical care. Despite reform efforts, the problems proved intractable. In 1994, Indiana Central State Hospital finally closed its doors after 146 years of operation.

But for the spirits of those who suffered and died there, the nightmare continues.

The most commonly reported paranormal phenomenon at Central State Hospital is the sound of screaming. Visitors, security guards, and residents of the converted buildings all report hearing screams that seem to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

These are not ordinary screams of fear or pain. Those who hear them describe sounds of absolute terror and despair - the screams of people experiencing unimaginable suffering. The sounds seem to echo through walls, rise from floors, and fade into ceilings, making their source impossible to locate.

Some investigators have managed to record these screams. Audio analysis reveals human voices, though the words - if there are words - are impossible to make out. The recordings are deeply disturbing to those who hear them, many of whom refuse to listen more than once.

The screaming is heard most frequently in the areas where patients underwent electroshock therapy and lobotomies. These procedures were performed without adequate anesthesia in the hospital's early days, and patients would scream in agony throughout. It seems their cries of pain have imprinted themselves on the very fabric of the buildings.

But the screaming is not limited to these areas. It has been heard in patient wards, in administrative offices, in the tunnels that connected the buildings, and on the grounds where patients were once allowed to walk. The entire Central State campus seems to echo with the voices of the damned.

Shadow figures are seen throughout the former Central State grounds, but the most commonly encountered ghosts appear as full-bodied apparitions of patients in hospital gowns.

These spectral patients are seen wandering the halls and grounds, often moving in repetitive patterns as if still following the rigid schedules of institutional life. They shuffle along, heads down, arms sometimes crossed in front of them as if in restraints. They pay no attention to the living, seeming to exist in their own spectral dimension.

Some witnesses have reported seeing patients who appear to be in the midst of treatment. One frequently seen apparition is that of a young woman strapped to a gurney, her eyes wide with terror as she's wheeled down a hallway by orderlies who are not there. She passes through walls and closed doors, her silent scream frozen on her face.

Another commonly seen ghost is that of an older man in a straitjacket. He appears in corners and doorways, rocking back and forth and muttering to himself. Those who get close enough report hearing fragments of prayers or pleas for help. When approached, he looks up with eyes full of despair before fading away.

The children's ward, where young patients were once housed, is said to be particularly active. The ghosts of children have been seen playing in hallways, their laughter echoing through empty rooms. But their appearances are deceptive - closer observation reveals something wrong about these spectral children. Their movements are jerky, their laughter hollow, their eyes empty.

One of the most disturbing chapters in Central State's history involves its pathological department, where the brains of deceased patients were harvested and preserved for study. Over the hospital's long history, more than 2,000 human brains were collected, labeled, and stored in jars of formaldehyde.

For decades, these specimens were forgotten, moldering in storage rooms as the hospital changed and eventually closed. In 2013, construction workers renovating part of the campus made a horrifying discovery: jars containing human brains, still labeled with patient numbers, hidden behind a wall.

The area where the brains were found is now considered one of the most intensely haunted spots on the former hospital grounds. Visitors report an overwhelming sense of violation and anger in this area. Some have heard voices demanding to know why their brains were taken, why they were cut open after death.

Psychic mediums who have visited the site describe sensing dozens of spirits clustered around the area, confused and enraged by what was done to them. These spirits seem unable to move on, bound to the location where part of their physical remains were stored for so long.

EVP recordings from this area have captured voices identifying themselves by name and patient number. Some demand the return of their brains. Others simply ask "why?" over and over. The pain and confusion in these recordings is palpable.

The brains have since been removed for proper burial, but the spiritual disturbance they caused seems to linger.

Central State Hospital was connected by a network of underground tunnels that allowed staff to move patients and supplies between buildings without exposure to weather. These tunnels also served a darker purpose - they were used to transport the bodies of deceased patients to the morgue without being seen by other patients.

The tunnel system is considered the most dangerous area of Central State for paranormal investigators. The activity there is not merely intense but actively hostile. People who enter the tunnels report being pushed, scratched, and grabbed by invisible hands. Some have been knocked to the ground. Others have fled in terror after feeling something grab their throats.

The tunnels are pitch black and disorienting, which adds to the terror. But even with powerful flashlights, investigators report their lights flickering or failing entirely in certain areas. Camera equipment malfunctions. Recording devices pick up nothing but static punctuated by what sounds like breathing or whispers.

Those who brave the tunnels describe an atmosphere of oppressive malevolence. The spirits here are not confused or sad - they are angry, and they make their anger known. The tunnels seem to have absorbed the fear and despair of every patient who was dragged through them on their way to treatment, and every body that was wheeled through on the way to the morgue.

Many investigators consider the Central State tunnels to be one of the most haunted locations in the entire Midwest. Most refuse to return after their first visit.

Behind the main hospital buildings lies a cemetery that most visitors never see. Here, in unmarked graves, lie thousands of patients who died at Central State and whose bodies were never claimed by family.

For most of the hospital's history, patients who died without family to claim them were buried on the grounds in simple wooden coffins. No headstones marked their graves - only numbered metal stakes that have long since rusted away or been lost. The exact locations of most graves are unknown, and it's believed that some burials may have occurred in areas that have since been developed.

The cemetery is one of the most consistently active paranormal locations at Central State. Orbs are photographed there in virtually every investigation. Shadow figures move between the unmarked graves at night. The sound of weeping has been recorded countless times.

But perhaps most disturbing are the reports of hands reaching up from the ground. Multiple witnesses have reported seeing ghostly hands break through the soil, grasping at the air before being pulled back down. Whether this is a manifestation of the spirits buried there or some kind of residual haunting of burial activity is unknown.

Psychic mediums who visit the cemetery describe sensing thousands of souls, many of whom don't know they're dead. These spirits wander the cemetery grounds looking for their families, not understanding why no one comes to visit them. The loneliness and confusion in this area is overwhelming to those sensitive enough to perceive it.

In recent years, several buildings on the former Central State campus have been converted into residential housing. The Seven Steeples complex, which once housed female patients, now contains apartments and condominiums. Other buildings have been adapted for commercial and educational use.

Residents of these converted buildings have reported extensive paranormal activity. Doors open and close on their own. Objects move when no one is watching. The temperature in certain rooms drops dramatically without explanation. Electrical systems malfunction in ways that defy the expertise of electricians.

But the most disturbing reports involve direct encounters with the spirits of former patients. Residents have awakened to find figures standing at the foot of their beds, watching them sleep. Others have heard whispered conversations in empty rooms. Some have reported being touched, pushed, or even held down by invisible forces.

One resident described waking in the middle of the night to find a woman in a hospital gown standing in her bedroom doorway. The woman's head was shaved and bandaged, and her eyes were unfocused and vacant. When the resident screamed, the woman simply turned and walked through the wall.

Despite these reports, the converted buildings remain occupied. Some residents learn to coexist with their ghostly roommates. Others leave after only a few weeks, unable to bear the constant reminders of Central State's tortured past.

Paranormal researchers have long been fascinated by Central State Hospital and locations like it. The concentration of human suffering at these institutions seems to create what some call a "haunted place" - a location where the spiritual residue of trauma has permanently altered the environment.

Several theories attempt to explain why Central State is so intensely haunted. The "stone tape" theory suggests that strong emotions can be recorded by the physical environment, particularly by certain types of stone and building materials. The buildings at Central State, many of which were constructed with limestone, may have absorbed the fear, pain, and despair of patients and now play it back like a recording.

Other researchers point to the sheer number of deaths that occurred at Central State. With an estimated 10,000 patients dying on the grounds over 146 years, the location has accumulated a tremendous spiritual population. Many of these deaths were traumatic - from illness, from treatment complications, from suicide, and in some cases from violence. Such deaths are thought to be more likely to result in hauntings.

Still others believe that the specific type of suffering experienced at Central State contributes to its haunted nature. Mental illness was poorly understood for most of the hospital's history, and patients were essentially imprisoned for conditions they could not control. Their confusion, their despair, and their sense of abandonment may have created spirits unable to comprehend their deaths or find peace.

Whatever the explanation, Central State remains one of the most haunted locations in Indianapolis, and indeed in the entire United States.

The former Central State Hospital campus is located on West Washington Street in Indianapolis. The campus has been largely redeveloped, and most buildings are now private property or have restricted access.

The Seven Steeples apartment complex and other residential areas are private property and should not be accessed without permission. The cemetery area is also restricted, and unauthorized visitors may face trespassing charges.

Periodically, ghost tours and paranormal investigation events are offered on portions of the former campus. These events are the best way to legally access the more haunted areas of Central State. Check local listings for current offerings.

Some historic buildings on the campus have been preserved and may be accessible during special events or open house programs. The Indiana Medical History Museum, located on the grounds, occupies the former pathological department building and offers tours that include discussion of the hospital's history.

Those interested in the history of mental health treatment in Indiana may find Central State's archives valuable. Historical records are maintained by the Indiana State Archives and other institutions.

Visitors should be aware that Central State's history includes tremendous human suffering. Some people find the location deeply disturbing regardless of any paranormal activity. Those who are sensitive to such atmospheres should consider carefully before visiting.