A Prom Celebration at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

One of the scariest places I have ever been. Not do it again.

As the sunset over the Appalachian Mountains, I arrived in Weston, West Virginia. The area’s attractiveness drew social reformers who believed in the curative properties of fresh air and rural landscapes a century and a half ago. The Gothic-style mental institution they built here appears like a figment of Stephen King’s mind brought to life, even against the pastoral landscape.