Whether called an insane asylum, sanitarium or madhouse, institutions for the treatment of the mentally ill play a prominent role in Cthulhu Mythos fiction, reflecting the sanity-sapping effects of many Mythos entities, creatures, and tomes.
In Lovecraft's Fiction[]
Arkham Sanitarium[]
Edward Pickman Derby is committed here after a breakdown in "The Thing on the Doorstep"; Daniel Upton kills his body there.
Sefton Asylum[]
Allan Halsey, former dean of Miskatonic's medical school, is committed there after a cannibal rampage in "Herbert West--Reanimator".
Danvers Hospital for the Insane[]
A government or business man who "went crazy" after a visit to Innsmouth is held there in "The Shadow over Innsmouth". Thurber, in "Pickman's Model", says Richard Upton Pickman espoused "art theories and philosophic speculations wild enough to qualify him for the Danvers asylum."
[Danvers State Hospital, also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers or the Danvers Lunatic Asylum, was a real institution, operating from 1878 until 1992 in Danvers, Massachusetts.[1]]
Essex County asylum[]
Nahum Gardner, in "The Colour out of Space", declines to send his disturbed wife there.
Conanticut Island[]
Charles Dexter Ward is committed to a private hospital for the insane there in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. The hospital is run by Dr. Waite.
Canton sanitarium[]
Lawrence Williamson, Robert Olmstead's cousin, is sent here in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
Guthrie insane asylum[]
The progeny of Yig is kept there in "The Curse of Yig".
Huntingdon madhouse[]
Sir Wade Jermyn is placed there in 1765 because of his wild tales of Africa in "Arthur Jermyn". He dies there three years later.
References[]
- ↑ Wikipedia, "Danvers State Hospital".