When we first arrived at Waverly Hills, it was about 11:45PM. I requested to be dropped off before we arrived at the top of the dirt road that leads to the sanatorium; thus, with my brand new flashlight in hand, surrounded by what seemed like thick woods on either side of me, I began my walk up the slight incline. I reached the top and it was looming in front of me – a huge building I had only seen in photos so often, it seemed surreal. I scanned the darkened building half expecting to see a face peering back at me. It was a breathtaking experience. 

Once our tour was underway, we were shown particular areas of different floors and given a brief history about certain areas of each one. We would, then, explore on our own. The entire area lit only by our own various flashlights and frequent flashes from cameras without the usual word “flash” that many of us have become accustomed to. Once the large dot disappeared and I could see again, I noticed the walls just covered with graffiti

Practically every square inch of the building was covered with pictures and words except the floor, which was wet with puddles.

After seeing all 5 floors of this building, exploring with our most wonderful guide, Chris, including the room where the nurse was found hung, I never found this place touted to be one of the “scariest places” to be scary. Perhaps had I been alone, I might have felt very differently; however, what I did feel almost constantly was a great sadness, loneliness and extreme melancholy. I only felt differently upon entering the O.R. (Operating Room), I instantly felt an anger and fear in that room – mostly anger and a sense of betrayal. It was then that I realized that a lot more than what is shared went on in that room. These are my impressions and have not been validated in any way.

While we were there, we did see evidence of shadow people using our thermal thermometers as the red beams danced – this was pretty amazing as this method was demonstrated to everyone in the tour group….looming black shapes moving in and out of the darkened shadows at the end of a dark hallway.

The highlight of my experience was that I did see a very solid-looking apparition which I believe to be a residual haunt. It happened as I was climbing from the 3^rd staircase to the 4^th and as I reached the first landing, I looked over my shoulder to check on my teammate directly behind me. What I saw was a man appearing looking to be close to 60 leaning up against the railing below me and behind my friend. He seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. His hair was dark brown and slightly graying, not parted and  approximately 2” long. He had a very stubbly beard that appeared not to be shaved for 2 – 3 days. He was wearing thick glasses with black eyeglass frames and had an unpleasant expression on his face. His lips were pursed as if they would be if he were smoking a cigar, however, he was not…a scowled expression and somewhat of a frown on his face. His shirt was green in color – not flannel – but somehow checked or plaid and his trousers were gray – very full in the legs of a 40’s style - with a thin back or brown belt holding up a considerable rounded belly. Did I look for a very long time to get such a detailed description? No and that, to, is surprising to me…I had turned my head in his direction for just a moment – just seconds, turned away, looked again and he was gone.

I described this experience to our guide who knew no one of this description working in the building and no one like this was in our tour group. I had been unable to see the lower half of his body because it was blocked from view by the railings. I did return to that same spot where he would have been standing and saw that it would not have been possible as he could not have leaned against the railing as he was – there was too great a gap between the staircase and the wall of the next staircase. 

We remained, then, from  midnight until 8:30AM watching the sunrise, exhausted but still so glad to have able to have been able to remain at Waverly Hills for so long.

An incredible experience causing one to feel in awe of such a building – what must of taken place there and while there, I felt as if I were of its history.

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