Quote from Angela on May 19, 2022, 8:56 pm

PRECURSORY WARNING : This article is particularly harrowing.

Not everything is always as it seems, right?

Sometimes, what first seems like heaven, often reveals itself as a living hell.

Be careful what you believe.

Let’s take a look at the hauntings of Forest Haven and the tortured souls whose lives were lost within.

Forest Haven Institute is an abandoned former living facility, located in Laurel, Maryland.

In 1925 the site opened as a reputable accommodation facility, yet by the time of its closure, had earned a reputation as one of deadliest institutions in the United States.

This was first a farmstead institution geared towards work therapy used to treat troubled adults and children alike. Treatments included truly serene activities such as milking local cows, enjoying basketball and learning life skills, all set in a scenic and idyllic setting.

Sadly, through the 1960s funding was severely cut resulting in staff reductions.

In 1974 the site was granted custody of over twenty children when a nearby junior orphanage unexpectedly shut down. Forest Haven went on to employ a physician who had a suspended medical license. That physician demanded the facility take on more and more children who suffer epilepsy and dyslexia.

His agenda was deadly.

Many patients suffered mental, physical and sexual abuse. Some were beat with canes and baseball bats to the point of missing teeth, whilst others were administered improper feeding procedures. A hellish existence in every sense of the word. 

Bodies were callously thrown into mass grave sites surrounding the building.

Soon after masses of reports fled in regarding alleged abuse and, in 1976, concerned parents filed a lawsuit.

In 1987 families of over 387 victims erected gravesite markers in honor of those lives lost. 

By order of federal judge, Forest Haven officially closed its doors in 1991.

The building remains abandoned but this area private property and heavily monitored by police presence. Trespassing is strictly prohibited.

However, past urban explorers who dared enter the building swore never to return after encountering full spectrum manifestations, who appear as the living, and children in horrifically abused states, wounds, bruises and signs of malnourishment, chillingly accompanied by doctors dressed in surgical coats. 

Other phenomena includes strange visions of the buildings past, ghoulish entities peering around corners and the heartbreaking sounds of screaming echoing through time.

One can’t help but be saddened at such a waste of wonderful lives, so suddenly snatched away from this realm, and yet people still so often question why spirits linger as they often do.