The Village of Secrets

THE DORMITORIES  This place feels otherworldly, very still and dreary and quiet except for the wildlife. There were deer everywhere.

Only a fraction of the original institution is left, but I still didn’t have time to see it all in one day. Everything looked the same, rows of near identical buildings swallowed in overgrowth.

THE HOSPITAL  The hospital is a weird building. It’s pretty small. The room we came in through has been wrecked by arson, and everything is covered in char.

This is the only place that has ever genuinely scared me. The building itself just feels like it’s alive.

After poking around the ground and second levels, we started hearing distinct sounds of voices, gentle footsteps (not the crunch of explorer boots), and movement, just down the hall. We thought we had company, and backtracked our way through the second story and downstairs, making subtle noise ourselves — I’m not about surprising anyone. The halls were empty. Nothing about the idea of ghosts scares me, but every time I passed another empty room, I felt myself starting to panic. We were still hearing things. No one was in the basement. Suddenly, a crushing sense of dread.

It reached a point that felt like we needed to get out immediately, and we did. I’ve never had something like that happen to me anywhere else.

Since I shot this place, I’ve talked to other photographers who’ve explored all over, with far more places under their belt than me. But when asked if they’ve ever had any strange experiences in the places they’ve seen, they all seem to have the same answer; this one.

ADMIN  The old administration hall is a mess. In 2006, the building went up in flames and has been damn near destroyed. I found some pictures of it before the arson, and it’s unrecognizable today. The ground is covered in slippery ash. Brick ceiling tiles are falling to the ground. I turned a corner, and one room…was full of fog. Nowhere else. Not in the hall, not in the other sections. It photographed horribly, so you’ll just have to take my word at face value. In photos, the room instead just kind of appears vaguely smokey.

THE POWER PLANT   These buildings, well-hidden in a separate area from the main medical and housing units, are interesting industrial landscapes. One section appears to have been used for storage in its last few years, with rows and rows of filing cabinets and boxes full of patient files.

It was starting to get a bit late, so we decided to be done for the day and head home. While sprinting back through the woods to my truck, I heard footsteps running up fast behind me. Matt was in front of me, so I knew it wasn’t him. I whipped around ready to fight or scream or something, and came face to face with a buck — who simply sidestepped me and disappeared into the trees.