The Haunting of Bryce Hobart

The Haunting of Bryce Hobart

“Let me get this straight, you want me to spend a night at the old Allegheny Lunatic Asylum? That place is haunted!” Bryce Hobart glared at his brother Mitch: “Bryce, I will be there with you. I want to photograph and document a haunting.” Bryce knew very little about the old stone buildings, other than stories he and Mitch had heard as children. Chilling, scary tales of patients locked up behind bars, ice baths, electric shock, and lobotomies, and worse. Bryce was positive he did not want to go there. But Mitch coerced him into it. Bryce, a journalist, did not believe in hauntings; Mitch, a photojournalist, strongly believed there were spectral figures there. The brothers began their journey after stopping at a mansion where Mitch planned to take photographs of the exterior. Mitch turned to face Bryce as he drove: “Hey, have you ever heard of Martha Bolyard? She was committed to Allegheny Lunatic Asylum; she was born with learning problems. She was a beautiful young woman, so her father, without telling her mother, took her to Doctor Walter Freeman at the Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, in Weston, West Virginia. The doctor performed a lobotomy on her several months after her return home; she became violent and found herself back at the asylum, where she spent the rest of her life as a human Guinea Pig. “Hey, maybe we will see her ghost, Bryce.” Bryce gave Mitch's shoulder a jab: “Mitch, there is no such thing as spectral figures; they exist only in people’s minds.” They continued toward the old lunatic asylum. Mitch once again turned to face Bryce: “Hey, I thought that we could take the lobotomy tour. I paid one hundred dollars each for those tickets, so you can not back out.” Mitch watched the expression on Bryce’s face turn to anger: “Mitch, you never asked me if I wanted to take a creepy tour like that lobotomy tour.” Mitch still faced Bryce as he replied softly: “it was the only way I could be sure you would not chicken out.” Bryce chortled: “Okay, you win this round.” They followed Interstate seventy-seven to Highway 44 into Weston, Virginia. Following their GPS, they arrived at the Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. They found a parking space and walked into the main building door. Their tickets were waiting for them for the lobotomy tour; they decided to take another tour also. That tour included the wards and various other places of interest, including the ice baths. Bryce took notes as their guide informed them about the ice baths and electric shock treatments. The guide led the tour group down a hall with drab green paint peeling from the walls. It gave Bryce the creeps as the guide turned into a room with rows of bathtubs, with canvas tops. The guide began: “This is the ice bath room; its function was to aid patients in mood and emotional regulation, anxiety reduction, cognitive function, and sleep quality. The problem with ice baths was that patients were put in the ice bath; they remained with only their heads sticking out of the canvas top. Bryce felt as if a cold hand just touched him: “That is barbaric. How many survived?” Mitch glared at Bryce as Bryce began taking more notes. The next room was the seclusion room; the only item in the room was a mattress. Bryce felt a shiver go down his spine; the hair on the back of his neck stood up as he remembered Martha Bolyard. Was she given ice baths to calm her? Bryce wrote down in his notes to check out the story of all that happened to her, especially under Doctor Walter Freeman. Mitch noticed him scribbling notes as the guide rambled on. The next stop on the tour was the electric shock therapy room. The walls were the same drab green; however, there was a lounge-type chair with restraints and two large paddles. Bryce took one look and strode out of there, leaving Mitch with their guide. Bryce thought he felt a cold hand on his shoulder in that room and had no intention of remaining in there. The guided tour of the asylum ended; it was almost six o’clock in the evening. The lobotomy tour began at seven; it was a flashlight tour. Mitch and Bryce waited patiently for the tour to begin. A guide dressed as Doctor Walter Freeman greeted them outside the room where the lobotomies actually took place. Bryce noted darkness was descending when a spectral figure appeared. He noted the spectral was a beautiful young woman, with mournful, haunting eyes. Bryce had no idea who she was; he only wished he were somewhere else other than this lunatic asylum. The spectral motioned him to follow; Mitch gave a sideways glance and took a photograph. Bryce followed the spectral toward the lobotomy laboratory. The spectral motioned him to have a seat; Mitch followed Bryce, but kept silent. The spectral moved toward a picture of Doctor Walter Freeman preparing to do a lobotomy. The spectral moved toward Bryce, and Mitch got close enough for Mitch to get an excellent photograph of the young woman. Bryce, without thinking, poked Mitch: “Hey, you don’t suppose that is Martha Bolyard? You are your bright ideas, Mitch.” The spectral apparition sat in a wooden oak chair. She sat as the doctor placed a red metal cap on her head and tightened it; he did not want her to flinch or move. He entered the room; his hand contained a needle-type instrument. Martha began to weep as the instrument poked into her eye, and a hammer in Doctor Freeman’s hand began to puncture her eye; then it entered the area of the connective tissues in the brain. There was little blood, just a great deal of pain. Bryce thought it was the most barbaric thing he had witnessed since Mitch and he took the first tour earlier in the day. The spectral rose silently, helped by Doctor Freeman, to return to where she resided. Bryce, once he landed, left the Allegheny Lunatic asylum, decided to investigate what happened to Martha after the lobotomy. He discovered that her family brought her home; she became violent and spent the rest of her life at the asylum. Mitch collaborated with Bryce with actual pictures of their encounter with the spectral spirit. Mitch found pictures of Martha Bolyard; she indeed was a beautiful young woman. She had blue eyes, blond hair, and a gentle smile. The submitted article was used for Mental Health Day. It was a story and history of the Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, the lobotomies, the ice baths, and other horrors that took place there. Mental health has come a long way since then, or has it? Electric shock treatments are still used in some cases. Does it help? Sometimes.