Asylum and the criminally insane

A couple of weekends ago my partner and I joined a group of friends for a night time ghost tour at the Old Adelaide Gaol, an historical building complex here in Adelaide built in 1840 and finally closed down in 1988 - Gaol is how 'jail' used to be spelled in the English language prior to jail becoming popular.

I've not written about it because I don't know how to; there were sightings, people were touched, one friend said she felt like she was being rained on (it was not raining that night and she was inside), it was oppressive, the air was heavier in some places and other such things; maybe not surprising considering the 45 hangings conducted there and truly miserable conditions inmates suffered through. I don't know how to write about it but I found the tour fascinating if somewhat unnerving, and enjoyed the company (of my friends not paranormal ones) later for coffee and cake...and to review some very strange photos one of my fiends took there. (Unexplainable and disturbing photos.)

On the back of that outing another ghost tour at a place in my city called Z Ward has been planned. The evening has not happened yet but I was close to Z Ward today while working so I wandered around the front to get a feel for it as when we arrive on the night it'll be after dark and the place is not at all lit up...I felt a little unnerved, not something I usually feel.

It was built in 1885 to accommodate the criminally insane, that is, people who have used their mental disorder to explain their criminal activities and were acquitted - Not let go however, they were incarcerated as criminally insane in Z Ward. Closed in 1973, it's now a historical place used for daytime tours and the tour we're going on at night, the ghost tour.

Between its years of operation this asylum held some of the most violent and dangerous 'criminally insane' inmates, truly disturbed individuals, behind its inescapable walls and it's said to have been a terrible place to be an inmate and I imagine it made already troubled individuals more so.

I'm not much into the paranormal stuff but love history which is what made me agree to go however Z Ward is said to be...well, let's just say a lot of strange and disturbing things still occur behind those walls and within the empty rooms and corridors. It is said the tour can be challenging and at times downright scary and I'm not sure how I feel about that - I'll find out soon enough I guess.

The Old Adelaide Gaol was an experience I can't find words for and Z Ward is said to be exponentially more active from a paranormal perspective. Today, I went to the area to scope it out as I was nearby and it felt very weird and disquieting, the whole area felt oppressive, and I think once I've emerged from that tour I'll not want to write about it, so this post and image is all you'll probably get.

This topic is not something everyone likes I guess, but if you have a comment to make feel free to make it.