(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Halloween is more than three months away, but some people are getting an early scare.
“[The Peoria State Hospital Museum] is a historical place, but it's also a very haunted location,” said Christina Morris, Director of the Peoria State Hospital Museum. “We’re listed as one of the 13 most haunted locations in Illinois.”
After ramping things down for a while, paranormal tours are returning to the hospital this weekend at the museum — and they're selling out quickly.
Morris said people really do believe there are spirits there.
“Oh, absolutely,” she said. “The paranormal community is a wonderful community. They're very scientific. When you feel the temperature drop, but then can see it on a gauge and watch the temperature drop. When you hear a voice, but then can hear it played back on a recorder, so that everyone in the room knows that that voice did not come from there.”
Related
The Peoria State Hospital opened in 1902 with funding from the Peoria Women’s League.
According to the Peoria State Hospital Museum website, its original name was the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane. After Dr. George Zeller, a local surgeon, became superintendent, he changed the hospital's name and instituted practices to treat patients in more humane ways.
The museum offers two paranormal tours. Public paranormal tours, the museum said, are for "inexperienced paranormal investigators,” while private tours are available for “experienced paranormal hunting groups.”
The public tours are led by trained paranormal guides who remain with the groups for the entire experience.
In the private tours, paranormal hunting groups are given a walk-through of paranormal hotspots within the building — and then left alone in the hospital for the remainder of the tour.
Related
Related
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!