Firefly
09-07-2005, 07:03 PM
All stories are true. I have a link to see pictures of the asylum, but I’m at school right now so I have to post it later
Just a few miles north of Denver, Colorado, there used to be an old, run down “Insane Asylum” by the name of Ridge Home. It was closed down in 1991 permanently. Most of the asbestos was punched out of the walls (some still remains), the windows smashed out, electricity shut off. Strangely enough, everything else was left in place, as if everyone just got up and left one day. Doctors notes, straight jackets, chicken cages, pictograph results, and graffiti filled the walls and floors of all the different buildings. I’ve been there, many times, and after mentioning it in the OP9 IRC chat I was requested by some to tell my stories.
It started out as a rumor at my High school, just an urban legend that no body really cared to go through with. My best friend, Shawna, and I were self-proclaimed “ghost hunters” looking for an excuse to scare the shit out of ourselves. Our friend, Chris, who was a big party/law breaker told us about this asylum. He drew us a map and gave us directions. He told us to park at the community college and walk down the hill to the first building. You can then cross the train tracks and hop the fence over to the main grounds. That night, dressed in black hoodies, converse, and only one flashlight, we headed out.
We didn’t know what to expect, but when we climbed the hill, we looked down and there it was, underneath us. It was shaped like a cross. There were no lights on. Across the street was a government health facility blasting with lights. We headed down anyway, not sure what to expect.
We didn’t get very far. One step onto the lawn and we stopped in our tracks. We looked inside a door and saw a hook hanging down from the ceiling. It didn’t look to inviting. Signs posted read “COLORADO STATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING.” And so forth. “DANGEROUS MATERIALS INSIDE”. We were starting to feel a little more comfortable when we saw a dark figure staring back at us. Yes, it was in the shape in the human, and yes it was all dark, and it didn’t say anything or move. It just stared back at us.
We left accordingly.
The next time was not so exciting. I told my Dad about the insane asylum, and he didn’t believe me. I was in the process of learning how to drive, so when practicing for my driving hours, I took him up there to have a look. Nothing freaky or scary happened (we stayed in the car) but my Dad had a good look at it and believed me after that. But he never told me not to go back
The next time there was three of us. Me, Shawna, and another friend, Josh. We had one flashlight this time as well. This trip was sure as strange one. We went to the first building (which is located outside of the grounds for some odd reason) again to walk around. We actually decided to go in a building. We chose one wing (remember it looks like a cross) and it had asbestos everywhere so we chose another one, the one where we saw the dark figure.
The room we stumbled into had strange, crazy wallpaper in different colors, and it was stained with blood. (It was crusty and dark). We then heard crashing glass. We ran, and as we were running, Shawna bent over in pain and started screaming. The next day, her entire stomach was bruised. We’re not sure what exactly happened now.
Still not satisfied, we went back one last time. This time there was four of us. Me, Josh, Shawna, and Phillipe. We decided to hop the fence, so we brought hunting knives, and even a sword. We decided to explore the first building again. We were doing okay when we saw flashlights. (Please realize this is State property, monitored by cops). We freaked and ran. Someone whistled. We turned around and it turned out to be three boys our age. They had just hoped over the fence after exploring themselves. They offered to go back over with us and show us around. We accepted.
Before actually reaching the buildings, we had to cross through trenches and holes that had been dug in the ground. I’m not sure why these trenches were there, but they exposed lots of pipes and underground tunnels. We decided NOT to explore these
The first building was not so scary. Just a bunch of graffiti, trash, and “OMG YOUR GOING TO HELL 666” written everywhere. I’m serious. People write the craziest things on the walls. Anything from “I HAD SEX HERE” to “SATAN LIVES HERE”.
We walked out side and saw a homeless man, a few feet away, running and pushing a shopping cart. We ran and hid at another building (but not after crossing a black top, which had a weather atmosphere of its own. I swear on my life, one spot was cold, one was hot, and back to cold) We sat and watched him at the other building.
He had something, it looked like a knife. He was silhouetted against the factory lights so we could see what he was doing. He yelled, and then made a “Psycho” slashing type motion, and you could here sloshing noises as well. He then proceeded to go to an abandoned work out machine and work out.
We went into the building behind us. The only way in was to crawl through a broken hole in the door, so we did. We wandered around, saw cages, beds, doctor offices, etc. We stumbled upon a “gym” looking place. We walked inside, but didn’t go any further because we heard what sounded like footsteps on the roof.
Most of the buildings were the same. Graffiti, trash, leftovers. One building was particularly interesting, because we found the doctors notes and the pictographs. (Results of measuring brain waves). We read some of them. They were really messy and hard to read, but one said “Needs…transplant…” or “Light blew out again…” etc.
We then heard someone else not of our group yell. We freaked and turn off our flashlights. Waited. Another yell. We ran. We ran and ran and ran…and ran…right into a Colorado State Cop car.
Our hearts just kinda stopped for a minute.
Fortunately, by some ODD string of luck, the cop was not in the car. So we ran past it. We ran some more. We flew over the trenches. We never ran so fast in our life. We hopped the fence and ran to our cars.
I then proceeded to kiss the ground
Later on, Chris told us that the cop usually does his rounds at a certain time, (which happened to be the time we had been there that night) and if he catches you, he usually wont arrest you, but if he catches you a second time he will. I guess we got lucky.
All in all, it was a great experience I must say. Denver is an awesome city, with a lot to do and I miss it. Me and my friends had many other “ghost” encounters but those are for another day. Whatever lived in those buildings is gone now, because they tore it down awhile ago =( I was a Junior in high school when I did all this (I’m now a Sophomore in College) and I believe they tore it down when I was a Senior. I’ll miss Ridge home, because I did have a lot of memories there (And lots of mini-adventures I’m too tired to type).
Well there you have it. Make of it what you will
Just a few miles north of Denver, Colorado, there used to be an old, run down “Insane Asylum” by the name of Ridge Home. It was closed down in 1991 permanently. Most of the asbestos was punched out of the walls (some still remains), the windows smashed out, electricity shut off. Strangely enough, everything else was left in place, as if everyone just got up and left one day. Doctors notes, straight jackets, chicken cages, pictograph results, and graffiti filled the walls and floors of all the different buildings. I’ve been there, many times, and after mentioning it in the OP9 IRC chat I was requested by some to tell my stories.
It started out as a rumor at my High school, just an urban legend that no body really cared to go through with. My best friend, Shawna, and I were self-proclaimed “ghost hunters” looking for an excuse to scare the shit out of ourselves. Our friend, Chris, who was a big party/law breaker told us about this asylum. He drew us a map and gave us directions. He told us to park at the community college and walk down the hill to the first building. You can then cross the train tracks and hop the fence over to the main grounds. That night, dressed in black hoodies, converse, and only one flashlight, we headed out.
We didn’t know what to expect, but when we climbed the hill, we looked down and there it was, underneath us. It was shaped like a cross. There were no lights on. Across the street was a government health facility blasting with lights. We headed down anyway, not sure what to expect.
We didn’t get very far. One step onto the lawn and we stopped in our tracks. We looked inside a door and saw a hook hanging down from the ceiling. It didn’t look to inviting. Signs posted read “COLORADO STATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING.” And so forth. “DANGEROUS MATERIALS INSIDE”. We were starting to feel a little more comfortable when we saw a dark figure staring back at us. Yes, it was in the shape in the human, and yes it was all dark, and it didn’t say anything or move. It just stared back at us.
We left accordingly.
The next time was not so exciting. I told my Dad about the insane asylum, and he didn’t believe me. I was in the process of learning how to drive, so when practicing for my driving hours, I took him up there to have a look. Nothing freaky or scary happened (we stayed in the car) but my Dad had a good look at it and believed me after that. But he never told me not to go back
The next time there was three of us. Me, Shawna, and another friend, Josh. We had one flashlight this time as well. This trip was sure as strange one. We went to the first building (which is located outside of the grounds for some odd reason) again to walk around. We actually decided to go in a building. We chose one wing (remember it looks like a cross) and it had asbestos everywhere so we chose another one, the one where we saw the dark figure.
The room we stumbled into had strange, crazy wallpaper in different colors, and it was stained with blood. (It was crusty and dark). We then heard crashing glass. We ran, and as we were running, Shawna bent over in pain and started screaming. The next day, her entire stomach was bruised. We’re not sure what exactly happened now.
Still not satisfied, we went back one last time. This time there was four of us. Me, Josh, Shawna, and Phillipe. We decided to hop the fence, so we brought hunting knives, and even a sword. We decided to explore the first building again. We were doing okay when we saw flashlights. (Please realize this is State property, monitored by cops). We freaked and ran. Someone whistled. We turned around and it turned out to be three boys our age. They had just hoped over the fence after exploring themselves. They offered to go back over with us and show us around. We accepted.
Before actually reaching the buildings, we had to cross through trenches and holes that had been dug in the ground. I’m not sure why these trenches were there, but they exposed lots of pipes and underground tunnels. We decided NOT to explore these
The first building was not so scary. Just a bunch of graffiti, trash, and “OMG YOUR GOING TO HELL 666” written everywhere. I’m serious. People write the craziest things on the walls. Anything from “I HAD SEX HERE” to “SATAN LIVES HERE”.
We walked out side and saw a homeless man, a few feet away, running and pushing a shopping cart. We ran and hid at another building (but not after crossing a black top, which had a weather atmosphere of its own. I swear on my life, one spot was cold, one was hot, and back to cold) We sat and watched him at the other building.
He had something, it looked like a knife. He was silhouetted against the factory lights so we could see what he was doing. He yelled, and then made a “Psycho” slashing type motion, and you could here sloshing noises as well. He then proceeded to go to an abandoned work out machine and work out.
We went into the building behind us. The only way in was to crawl through a broken hole in the door, so we did. We wandered around, saw cages, beds, doctor offices, etc. We stumbled upon a “gym” looking place. We walked inside, but didn’t go any further because we heard what sounded like footsteps on the roof.
Most of the buildings were the same. Graffiti, trash, leftovers. One building was particularly interesting, because we found the doctors notes and the pictographs. (Results of measuring brain waves). We read some of them. They were really messy and hard to read, but one said “Needs…transplant…” or “Light blew out again…” etc.
We then heard someone else not of our group yell. We freaked and turn off our flashlights. Waited. Another yell. We ran. We ran and ran and ran…and ran…right into a Colorado State Cop car.
Our hearts just kinda stopped for a minute.
Fortunately, by some ODD string of luck, the cop was not in the car. So we ran past it. We ran some more. We flew over the trenches. We never ran so fast in our life. We hopped the fence and ran to our cars.
I then proceeded to kiss the ground
Later on, Chris told us that the cop usually does his rounds at a certain time, (which happened to be the time we had been there that night) and if he catches you, he usually wont arrest you, but if he catches you a second time he will. I guess we got lucky.
All in all, it was a great experience I must say. Denver is an awesome city, with a lot to do and I miss it. Me and my friends had many other “ghost” encounters but those are for another day. Whatever lived in those buildings is gone now, because they tore it down awhile ago =( I was a Junior in high school when I did all this (I’m now a Sophomore in College) and I believe they tore it down when I was a Senior. I’ll miss Ridge home, because I did have a lot of memories there (And lots of mini-adventures I’m too tired to type).
Well there you have it. Make of it what you will