Jordan Ellis
American Horror Story: Asylum is the second season of the American horror anthology television series. The season takes place in 1964 and follows the stories of the staff and inmates of the fictional Briarcliff Manor, a mental institution. The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, has stated that the season is based largely on truth, and the show takes inspiration from several asylums in the United States, including Pennhurst Asylum and Willowbrook State School.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the hospital | Briarcliff Manor |
| Location | Massachusetts, near the town of Framingham |
| Year of construction | 1910 |
| Previous function | Largest tuberculosis ward on the East Coast |
| Year of conversion to asylum | 1962 |
| Number of deaths | 46,000 patients |
| Year of sale to the state | 1965 |
| Year of shutdown | 1971 |
| Inspiration | Willowbrook State School, Pennhurst Asylum |
| Real-life character inspiration | Lana Winters (Nellie Bly), Kit and Alma Walker (Betty and Barney Hill) |
| Real-life monster inspiration | Dr. Arthur Arden and Dr. Oliver Thredson (Josef Mengele and Ed Gein) |
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What You'll Learn
Briarcliff Manor, a fictional mental institution
Briarcliff Manor is a fictional mental institution that served as the central location and focus of the second season of the American Horror Story anthology television series, subtitled Asylum. The season was broadcast between October 17, 2012, and January 23, 2013, and attracted high ratings success.
The fictional Briarcliff Manor is located in Wasaugee, Massachusetts, near the town of Framingham. It was built in 1910 and served as the largest tuberculosis ward on the East Coast. During this time, an estimated 46,000 patients died within its walls. In the 1930s, it was a tuberculosis hospital, but in 1962, the Catholic Church purchased the institute and transformed it into a sanitarium for the mentally ill. The sanitarium was directed by Monsignor Timothy Howard and administered by Sister Jude Martin, with Dr. Arthur Arden serving as the chief physician.
The season follows the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy Briarcliff Manor, intercutting with events in the past and present. The ensemble cast includes Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Lizzie Brocheré, Dylan McDermott, James Cromwell, and Jessica Lange. Paulson's character, Lana Winters, is based on the real-life journalist Nellie Bly. Other characters, such as Kit and Alma Walker, are inspired by the real-life couple Betty and Barney Hill, who reported being abducted by an alien spacecraft in 1961.
The writers of the show took inspiration from several different asylums in the United States, including Pennhurst Asylum, which has a dark history of inhumane conditions, abuse, and neglect, and Willowbrook State School, a state-supported institution for children with intellectual disabilities that was plagued with questionable medical practices and experiments.
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![Villmark Asylum [Import]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71QsThh+rlL._AC_UY218_.jpg)
Willowbrook State School, a Staten Island institution for children
The American Horror Story franchise is known for its chilling storylines and eerie settings, and the second season of the anthology series, subtitled "Asylum," is no exception. While the show's fictional mental institution, Briarcliff Manor, is located in Massachusetts, the real-life inspiration for the season's terrifying tale is Willowbrook State School, a Staten Island institution for children with intellectual disabilities.
Willowbrook State School's history is as intriguing as it is disturbing. Located in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City, the school opened its doors in 1947 with a mission to support children with intellectual disabilities. However, it quickly became a place of horrors. Designed to accommodate 4,000 students, the facility was severely overcrowded by 1965, housing 6,000 individuals. The living conditions were abysmal, with children living in filth and suffering from outbreaks of hepatitis due to the unsanitary environment.
The school's reputation was further tarnished by questionable medical practices and experiments. Medical researchers conducted controversial studies, including injecting children with the hepatitis virus and monitoring the disease's progression. The inhumane treatment of the residents sparked outrage, and in 1965, US Senator Robert F. Kennedy toured the institution, describing it as a "snake pit." Kennedy's observations shed light on the appalling conditions, inadequate staffing, and neglect that plagued the school.
The public outcry led to efforts for change, and in the early 1970s, the problems within the facility gained wider attention. Jane Kurtin, a reporter for the Staten Island Advance, published a series of articles exposing the horrific conditions. Around the same time, parent protests against the school's management intensified. The combined efforts of journalists, advocates, and families ultimately led to the school's closure in 1987.
Today, the site of Willowbrook State School has been transformed. Half of the property was acquired by the City University of New York, and the College of Staten Island established a new campus there in 1993. The college has taken steps to preserve the memory of Willowbrook State School, including establishing the Willowbrook State School Collection in its library and creating a memorial walking trail called the Willowbrook Mile. While the physical remnants of the school may be fading, the impact of its dark history continues to resonate, serving as a reminder of the failures of the past and inspiring ongoing advocacy for better treatment and support for individuals with disabilities.
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Pennhurst State School, a hospital with a dark history
The second season of the American Horror Story anthology television series, subtitled Asylum, is set in the fictional Briarcliff Manor, a mental institution in Massachusetts. The show's creators drew inspiration from several real-life asylums, including Pennhurst State School and Hospital, which has a dark and disturbing history.
Pennhurst State School, also known as the Eastern State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic, was established in 1903 in Pennsylvania. The institution was designed to accommodate 4,000 students with intellectual disabilities, but by 1965, it was overcrowded with 6,000 residents.
The conditions at Pennhurst were inhumane and unsanitary, with residents suffering abuse, neglect, and even death at the hands of the staff. The patients were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and drugged with extraordinarily high doses of medication to control them. In one instance, a resident named Ronald Johnson witnessed a boy being pushed out of a window during a shift change. Another resident, Terry Lee Halderman, filed a class-action lawsuit in 1974, detailing the approximately 40 injuries she suffered during her time at the institution, including cracked teeth, a fractured finger, and a broken jaw.
The lawsuit also revealed the unsanitary and dangerous conditions, as well as violations of citizenship rights and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. As a result, Pennhurst was ordered to close in 1984, and it officially shut down in 1987.
The horrors of Pennhurst State School, along with those of other institutions like Willowbrook State School, provided a chillingly realistic backdrop to the fictional Briarcliff Manor in American Horror Story: Asylum. The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, has stated that the season is "based largely on truth," and that "truth is always scarier than fiction."
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Dr. Arthur Arden, a Nazi-turned-chief-physician
Dr. Arthur Arden, previously known as Hans Grüper, is a physician and administrator at Briarcliff Manor, a fictional mental institution in Massachusetts. The character, portrayed by James Cromwell, is a sadistic Nazi war criminal who was responsible for conducting inhumane experiments on patients.
Dr. Arden was first hired at Briarcliff in the 1950s when it was a tuberculosis ward. In the following decade, the institution was transformed into an asylum for the mentally ill, and Dr. Arden was allowed to remain as the chief physician. Instead of providing medical care, he used his patients as subjects for his twisted experiments, which resulted in the creation of humanoid creatures known as "Raspers" that roamed the grounds outside the asylum.
Dr. Arden's true identity as a former Nazi doctor was revealed when a patient, Charlotte Brown, arrived at Briarcliff claiming to be Anne Frank. She recognized him as Hans Grüper, a man thought to have run concentration camps during World War II. Dr. Arden's past as a Nazi war criminal was further confirmed in the fourth season of the show, "Freak Show," when he encountered Elsa Mars in the 1930s. After Hitler's downfall, Grüper fled to the United States and assumed the identity of Arthur Arden, continuing his torturous experiments.
The inspiration for Briarcliff Manor, the fictional asylum in "American Horror Story: Asylum," was Willowbrook State School, a real-life institution in Staten Island, New York City. Willowbrook, which operated from 1947 to 1987, was a state-supported school for children with intellectual disabilities. Despite its original intention to support struggling families, it became known for its questionable conditions and unethical medical practices.
Dr. Arden's character served as one of the primary antagonists in "Asylum," and his demise was fitting for his dark past. He died by forcing himself into a crematory oven, a metaphor for his role as a leading Nazi doctor responsible for the deaths of countless people in concentration camps.
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Lana Winters, a lesbian reporter based on Nellie Bly
The second season of the American horror anthology television series *American Horror Story*, subtitled "Asylum", takes place in 1964 and follows the stories of the staff and inmates of the fictional mental institution Briarcliff Manor. The season was inspired by the real-life experiences of Nellie Bly, an American journalist who went undercover as a patient at a New York City mental health asylum in 1887.
Lana Winters, a lesbian reporter played by Sarah Paulson, is a character in *American Horror Story: Asylum* that was inspired by Bly's experience in the asylum. Winters' girlfriend is coerced by Sister Jude, an apparent sadistic nun, into having her committed to the asylum. In real life, Bly had to feign insanity to get herself committed to the mental health asylum on Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island). Her exposé of the conditions among the patients, published in the *World* and later as a book titled *Ten Days in a Mad-House* (1887), sparked outrage and led to a grand jury investigation of the asylum. It also helped bring about much-needed improvements in patient care and ushered in an age of investigative journalism.
Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days and for her exposé on the mental institution. She was one of the most famous American woman reporters of the 19th century and her work had a significant impact on American culture. Bly's experience in the asylum and her subsequent reporting on the deplorable conditions she experienced firsthand inspired the character of Lana Winters in *American Horror Story: Asylum*.
In addition to her undercover work at the asylum, Bly also produced regular exposés on other issues in New York, such as corruption in the state legislature, unscrupulous employment agencies for domestic workers, and the black market for buying infants. Her straightforward yet compassionate approach to these issues captivated audiences. Bly's illustrious career also included reporting on World War I from Europe and running an oil manufacturing firm. She died from pneumonia on January 27, 1922, and was remembered by the acclaimed newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane as "the best reporter in America."
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Frequently asked questions
The writers of AHS: Asylum took inspiration from several asylums in the United States, including Pennhurst Asylum, Briar Cliff Asylum, and the Willowbrook State School.
The real-life asylums that inspired AHS: Asylum were plagued by dangerous, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions, as well as neglect and abuse by staff members. Patients were often overmedicated and were not allowed to leave the institution.
Although the show includes supernatural elements such as aliens, the Devil, the Angel of Death, and cannibalistic mutants, the real-life institutions that inspired the show did not experience these phenomena.
