Stranger Things

Season four of Stranger Things introduces viewers to Pennhurst Mental Hospital. When the real Pennhurst and other asylums around the world become tourist ...

A simple dedication to Pennhurst residents could even be added to a Stranger Things episode or opening credits. Ironically, London’s Bethlem Hospital (from which the word “bedlam” originated) reportedly ran tours for curious visitors to gawk at residents until 1770. Today, Pennhurst exists as a “dark tourism” destination. Ultimately, they were removed from the human gene pool through institutionalisation and sterilisation. Following Pennhurst’s closure, most Western nations began closing institutions. To those who lived there and their supporters, Pennhurst is more than the horrors of its past and the commercialisation of its future.