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Old Salem Insane Asylum

Friday, October 26 2007 @ 09:02 PM CDT

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Progression Into Madness:

Legends of the Old Salem Insane Asylum

Dara Tucker

If Terry Mayo looks as though he's seen a ghost, then it's no wonder. He has been in fierce pursuit of such an encounter for quite some time. Mayo is the founder and president of SPIRIT, the Society of Paranormal Investigations and Research In Tennessee.

Mayo has recently embarked on a venture to create the nation's first "truly haunted," haunted-themed house. The retired teacher is completely at home in a vast warehouse, surrounded by an eager bevy of college-aged thrill-seekers. This warehouse is slowly being transformed into an insane asylum-themed, haunted house in Murfreesboro, the only one in the area. The Old Salem Insane Asylum is an outflow of Mayo's long-standing preoccupation with the paranormal.

"I'm a ghost hunter," Mayo proclaims on the moonlit grounds of this massive project, now three months in the making.

The setting for Mayo's brainchild is an abandoned warehouse, now overtaken in a flurry of construction.

"I examined this property back in April in search of a good location to put on a rave party," Mayo said. "That's when the idea came to me to do a haunted house."

The project, launched just in time to usher in Halloween fever, has all the makings of a classic ghost story, a convincing storyteller, throngs of willing participants and reports that the old asylum may be truly haunted.

As the sounds of construction ring out from the dimly lit hallways, one thing becomes certain - this location seems tailor-made for fright. With its busted-out windows and creaky floors, the massive warehouse holds secrets, all its own. Legends abound of murder victims who've met their demise here and otherworldly inhabitants who've made it their home.

Thomas Scott, Mayo's assistant director who also plays an orderly in the insane asylum, couldn't be more at home in his eerie surroundings.

"I'm a member of SPIRIT and I've always had a fascination with the paranormal," Scott said.

As a would-be intern approaches him to request an assignment, Scott poses a question most people are never likely to hear from a potential employer. "Are you a screamer?" Scott asks.

The intern, hopeful, quickly answers, "Yes."

"Well, let me hear you," Scott said.

The job seeker then proceeds to let out a blood-curdling scream that turns surprisingly few heads. Such displays of terror are apparently par for the course in the old asylum. As the intern falls to the floor in a crumpled mass, Scott nods his head in approval. He puts the intern right to work.

Producer Mayo, the larger-than-life purveyor of spiritual phenomena, can match the enthusiasm of his younger cohorts decibel for decibel. He helms the extravagant production with an infectious gusto that has helped to make the Old Salem Insane Asylum the most highly anticipated event of the Halloween season in Murfreesboro.

A broad smile sweeps across Mayo's face as he offers to recount the various sightings of spirits purported to inhabit the long-abandoned building.

"The construction crew I hired asked about the bald gentleman in overalls they had seen helping out around the place," Mayo says proudly. "When I told them it was a ghost, they didn't return the next day."

What better than a few disembodied spirits to give a fledgling haunted house some much needed street credibility?

If this doesn't have you chanting, "I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks," consider the following information. The newly refurbished haunted house may truly be home to several earthbound spirits, according to a "Ghost Team" society who've recently conducted a "paranormal activity investigation" in the building. Mayo said this investigative team has certified that no less than four spirits inhabit the old warehouse, once home to a steel factory, among other things.

One might wonder just how credible this "Ghost Team" could be. Naysayers are warned. Mayo will attest personally to the credibility of this organization. How would he know? The investigation was conducted by SPIRIT, which Mayo heads. Many of the SPIRIT members are now hard at work constructing and acting in the Old Salem Insane Asylum production.

No matter - if you're able to momentarily suspend your disbelief, you're in for quite a fright. Upon entering the asylum, you'll be given directions to navigate your way through the various rooms where patients descend into ever-deeper levels of insanity. Winding pathways and dank bathrooms hold untold horrors for those curious enough to venture beyond their shadowy thresholds.

In one of the asylum's dark corridors, technical director Matt Lloyd can be seen coaching an actor.

"You've got to be a lot scarier than that," Lloyd warns. Indeed, the young actor seems eager to take on the challenge.

Lloyd has settled into his position, which also involves set designing and building, quite comfortably.

"I was born macabre and morbid," Lloyd said. "I adore this stuff."

When Mayo's right-hand men, Scott and Lloyd, are asked if they believe the place is truly haunted, they answer with an emph-

atic "yes." Actress Sandra Sloan, who plays a flesh-eating nurse, is inclined to agree.

"I've always believed in ghosts, but they don't scare me," Sloan says. "This is going to be awesome."

Whether truly haunted by spirits or not, this haunted house is clearly inhabited by an enthusiastic group of people who are ready to get down to some serious scaring. Remember, though - if you run into a bald guy in overalls, you might be in for a bigger scream than you bargained for.

http://www.mtsusidelines.com

see also:

Salem Witchcraft
http://www.hiddenmysteries.net/geeklog/article.php?story=20060928193341757


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