The inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories and Batman's Arkham Asylum is now a condominium complex.

This stately 19th century library pushed architectural boundaries at a time when the public library movement was just taking off.

What looks like a simple quaint estate in rural Pennsylvania was in the 18th century home to a small monastic community.

Overshadowed by quilts, the artistry of these patterned textiles went underappreciated for too long.

A town wears its heart on the sleeve of a smiling girl, arms flung wide open in a cheerful greeting for all who encounter her.

A recently abandoned psych ward at the end of Sanatorium Road.

This former asylum for Black Americans is haunted by its history of violence and racism.

Local legends say that fairies used to dance in the moonlight here and invite handsome young men into their grottoes.

Make your reservation to have coffee with some kitties.

Former self-sufficient mental institution now a planned community.

Chicago's North Park Village was once the largest municipal sanatorium in the country.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

The haunting, dilapidated remains of a former poorhouse on Staten Island's Greenbelt.

Run by a eugenics advocate, this aging institution conducted secret radiation experiments sponsored by Quaker Oats.

The loneliest island in New York.

Historic psychiatric asylum and most-filmed location in the Great White North.

A particularly creepy abandoned hospital that sparks interest for lovers of the supernatural.

The decaying ruins of Wales' first asylum for the mentally ill.

This real life asylum of horrors is now an abandoned ruin that hides the unbreakable code to one patient's insanity.

This abandoned asylum was once a state of the art facility before devolving into one of the most deadly mental institutions in American history.

Decades after testing the polio vaccine on unwitting patients, this historic mental hospital sits in ruin.

Unlike other abandoned asylums this empty institution welcomes visitors, just don't go in the buildings.

Once a place of peaceful repose, this sanitarium now faces an uncertain future.