(WWJ) With spooky season underway, the crew at The Daily J podcast is at work on our annual Halloween series — digging into some of the creepiest ghost stories from across the state.
While researching for an upcoming episode, we came upon another freaky Michigan tale we hadn't heard: The "Hippie Tree" on the grounds of the old Traverse City State Hospital is said to be a "Portal to Hell."
Yes, you read that correctly.
It is said, according to published lore, that the long-shuttered shuttered facility, located at 1200 West 11th Street in Traverse City, is "one of the most haunted places in Michigan."
History tells us that Dr. James Decker Munson, the first superintendent of the hospital, was quite the nature buff. He had various plants and trees planted all around the property — including this "Hippie Tree," located just west of the hospital, which is said to be "extremely haunted."
A quick search of the web finds all sorts of wild eerie assertions about the sprawling old willow tree. (Although this unimpressed guy on YouTube didn't find anything unusual at the site).
According to WFMK out of East Lansing, visitors to the colorfully-painted tree late at night have heard "disembodied voices," and had stones or rocks thrown at them.
It's said that if you walk around the tree a certain way, the "Portal to Hell" will open and "you will be drawn into it to join the damned souls of former asylum inmates." With all the branches and roots around, however, walking around the tree as you're purportedly supposed to can be quite difficult.
"The location of the tree is said to be where the spirits of those who died in the hospital congregate," the WFMK article states. One unverified story says that in the 1950s, two boys were playing by the tree when an asylum inmate escaped and found them, murdered one of them, and buried the body nearby.
One man shared a yarn with WRKR in Portage about a visit to the Hippie Tree with a friend. He said he and his buddy saw a shadow that was about four feet tall, there was a hiss and then the shadow disappeared into the woods. He said they didn't scream.
Others have shared similar stories, although some later recanted, saying they must have seen a bear.
The asylum, which closed in 1989, sat abandoned until the year 2000 when portions of the buildings were renovated into condos, restaurants and shops. It's said a massive tunnel system underneath the property, connecting all the buildings, is also haunted.
Do you believe in ghosts?
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