As you might know, I’m from Louisville, Kentucky. You know what else is located in Louisville? Waverly Hills Sanatorium. If you’ve never heard of Waverly Hills, then now is the perfect time for a brief history lesson. The abridged version is as follows:
- Waverly Hills opened in 1910 as a small hospital meant to accommodate a few dozen patients.
- Soon after its opening, the surrounding area was ravaged by a plague of tuberculosis.
- The sanatorium was expanded and most tuberculosis patients were then relegated to Waverly in the hopes that fresh air would help their ailment.
- Current estimates place the death-toll at Waverly Hills upwards of 8,000. While most of these were patients, Waverly also bore witness to suicides and murder. Additionally, experimental (and extremely painful) treatments were performed in the hospital.
Also, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Waverly Hills is extremely haunted. It’s been called one of the most haunted places in the world and featured on shows such as Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Lockdown, and even The CW’s Supernatural.
As a Louisville native, I’ve heard my fair share of tales about the sanatorium. Pretty much everyone in this town knows a few stories about Waverly Hills or has one of their own. Not all of them are paranormal in nature. I know someone who broke into the building when they were sixteen to burn pictures of an ex. I’ve also heard tales from someone who used to work security on the property about an elderly security guard who was eerily protective of the building, acting almost as if it was a person who needed to be cared for.
Regardless, everyone here knows about Waverly. It stands as a paragon of the supernatural and casts a long shadow across our city. At one point, I lived only a stone’s throw away from the hill on which it stands. Regardless of your opinions on the veracity of hauntings and ghosts, I can assure you that a strange aura hangs about the old, decrepit structure, and one can’t help but believe in the unbelievable when living in its shadow..
As such, my fascination with and desire to write about horror has been greatly influenced by the proximity of Waverly Hills. It’s hard to ignore the enticing call of the supernatural when living in such a place. Kentucky is home to a variety of supernatural legends, ranging from haunted places such as Bobby Mackey’s Music World, the Perryville Battlefield, and Mammoth Cave to stories about more tangible creatures like the Pope Lick Monster. Maybe they’re just folk tales, or perhaps there’s a kernel of truth in these stories. Regardless, of one thing we can be sure: Waverly Hills stands at the center of it all
