Waverly Hills Sanatorium

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This historic hospital, originally opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis patients, has reportedly seen about 63,000 deaths. TV shows Ghost Adventures, Fact or Faked, Ghost Hunters and many more have featured the site. Witnesses here report unexplained lights, apparitions, shadowy forms and other various phenomena.

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    Geographic Information

    Address:
    4400 Paralee Dr
    Louisville, KY 40272
    United States

    Get Directions »
    GPS:
    38.130725, -85.84141999999997
    County:
    Jefferson County, Kentucky
    Nearest Towns:
    Pleasure Ridge Park, KY (1.4 mi.)
    Valley Station, KY (2.1 mi.)
    Saint Dennis, KY (4.0 mi.)
    Fairdale, KY (4.8 mi.)
    Shively, KY (4.9 mi.)
    Hollyvilla, KY (5.8 mi.)
    South Park View, KY (6.6 mi.)
    Heritage Creek, KY (6.6 mi.)
    Elizabeth, IN (7.2 mi.)
    Lynnview, KY (7.9 mi.)
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    Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.

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    Comments (28)

    1. Hey, i don’t know what to say about this place. my mom and i are thinking about going to it, since we live in Kentucky, but we don’t want the crap scared out of us. but does anyone have any comments about it, if you’ve been?

    4. I have been wanting to go with a group of my friends, it seems pretty likely that I will. im excited but scared at the same time! Any comments from anyone who has been before?

    5. been there twice and going back next Spring. place is for real. Trust me. tv does it no justice until you are locked down in there for 8 hours in the dark

    6. my dad when he was 19 visited here, he said it was so freaky, he told me that theres this tunnel beneath the building, him and his freind where going down the stairs leading to the tunnel, they had a flashlight and a glow stick,first the flashlight went out, it had brand new batteries, but they kept going down these stairs, then as they went down the glow stick went out as in completely went out!

    7. I have begged and begged my parents to let me go. I too live in Kentucky but on the whole other side of the state. I really want to go, and so do all my friends. It sounds like a very interesting place to visit.

    8. I’ve been several times and there is always PLENTY of activity! The most activity that I personally experienced was on a Friday the 13th with a full moon. One one trip, when we went into the operating room, I suddenly had a severe sharp pain in my side to the point I could hardly breathe. As soon as I exited the room, it immediately stopped. The guide said that is a common occurrence. The 4th floor is always the most active. There are NUMEROUS shadow figures. You can see them peeking around door frames and walking back and forth across the doorways. Once when the guide asked for a volunteer to walk down the hallway, I volunteered. I walked about 30 feet and all the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. I had this sudden feeling of dread, like I shouldn’t go on any further. So I asked if I could turn around. The guide said come on back. So as I started walking back, I hear everyone gasping, ooohing and ahhhhing….then I hear something and FEEL something walking directly behind me- I could literally hear the little fine gravel that is built up on the concrete floor crunching behind me. Then came the wall of arctic cold air, in the middle of June. That was it- I RAN the rest of the way back! When I got back I heard others talking about seeing the “Creeper” crawling up the wall and onto the ceiling right over me as I was coming down the hallway. The place is full of spirits!!! I can’t wait to go back when I can do the all night lockdown!!!

      • I volunteered, as you did. The folks I was with said that they actually lost sight of me as I was walking away from them, as if someone or something was between me and them. I didn’t hear or see anything at that time though. It is pretty cool, I have only one thing to say about the so-called Creeper….believe it to be made up story, probably by the owners, as there was no mention of this at the time we went several years ago.

      • I did the walk and on the way back a service dog that was with our group started growling as I past but not at me. He stayed focused on something behind me.

    9. I got to do a two night investigation here. MANY experiences especially in the Death Tunnel. one of my favorite experiences was seeing a ball rolling out of one of the patient rooms, catching an EVP saying “GET OUT” in the tunnel. hearing a gurney being pulled down or pushed up the body chute. among others.

    13. May I note that ghostly children have also been seen laughing, dancing, singing nursery rhymes, and playing with balls in the ward. The scariest ghost here, in my opinion, is the specter of an old woman bound in chains, whose been seen with blood dripping down her arms before vanishing. The most haunted room is thought to be the sick room, where one nurse jumped from a window and another hung herself. Their ghosts can be seen in the room, warning visitors to leave.

    14. I live in Kentucky and have heard about this place but never been there would be kind of cool BUT my main focus is that the owners want to turn it into a bed and breakfast Why would you want to do this is all the stories are true about this place ?? don’t believe they will make much money or have many people staying all night

    15. I was raised in Louisville Ky in the south end off of new cut rd. We went to Waverly Hills many times as teens, I will never walk that tunnel again I was never so scared in my life. A lot of the sounds I thought it was due to an old building, It took a second time to see dark shadows never saw a ball roll but heard things I couldn’t make out, So I asked my friends to be quiet so we could tell if it was others in the building, No, not at that time. Went back a couple more times and saw dead animals so I took it that people were killing them as a ritual and that was enough for me. I will never go there again.

    16. I wasn’t a skeptic, but it’s hard to believe in something when you’ve never been a witness to it. Some friends of mine offered me an open spot in their tour group for a black out tour, meaning no lights whatsoever. The building itself is intimidating to look at, but just imagine walking through this enormous structure with nothing to go off of but the silhouette of the person in front of you (the tour guide up front had a flash light in case it was needed as did the guide who followed behind us, but she rarely turned hers on). My experience happened about halfway through the tour, we had just made our way down this long hallway of open “windows” (it was more comparable to a patio, apparently they thought a big remedy for TB was a lot of fresh air and sunlight) and we ended up in a room at the very end of the hallway. Our tour guide took this time to tell us more about the history after Waverly Hills closed, how trespassers would throw parties in there and how when the owners first bought the property, trash was up to their knees in certain parts of the building. Mind you, everything is dark as can be, I can only make out my group I was with from the moonlight coming in through the windows. I was in the back of the group, my friends just a little bit ahead of me (I’m pretty tall, so I could see just fine over everyone), and nobody was behind me except the 2nd tour guide who was at the entrance of the room, quite a distance away from me. I suddenly got really cold, even with the jacket I had on, and it was a windless night. I was getting ready to lean forward to whisper to my friend Katelyn about the chill when I felt it: a hard pressure running along the left side of the back of my body, from shoulder to hip. It was almost like someone was pushing past me in a hurry, like you do in a crowd of people. I spun around immediately to see if someone was actually behind me that I had missed, but there was nothing. I was never a skeptic, but I am definitely a firm believer now!

    18. I went Aug. 10, 2018, Unfortunately, I did not encounter any activity at all. I did not capture any EVPs or movement on my grid. Did not hear or see any spirits or entities. But they do not interact with everyone. If you go, remember to be respectful of them.

    20. My son and I are planning a trip in 2020. I’ve had encounters with family members who had passed, so I guess I’m a little gifted or chosen as they use to say. My mom was the same way and my son has it too. I’m being totally honest about this. I’ve read if you have that aurora, you can learn to control it and have more encounters. Not interested in going that deep with it. Usually my encounters are shortly after they’ve passed, and go away. One stayed around for over 6 months. So I’m a little nervous and scared of what I may see, or experience.

    21. The owners Charlie and Tina Mattingly are planning on opening the Waverly Hills Sanatorium up as a hotel and convention center and the Air Conditioning and Heating units are already being placed into the rooms. The property has also been rezoned as a hotel and they plan on naming it the Waverly Hills Hotel and Convention Center. In my opinion, I don’t think they should be turning it into a hotel at all, it has too much history and tragedy for it to be a hotel, but that is just my opinion.

      • Its not the Mattingly’s turning it into a hotel, its the Waverly Hills Historical Society who are renovating it into a modern hotel and they have illegally renovated parts into offices, removed the original doors illegally, and have illegally replaced original fixtures from the building. The WHHS is also suing people who try and get in the way of renovations and there is currently a hearing coming up so that they can be permanently evicted from the building, they’ve ruined the building enough, and the building deserves to go back to normal.

    22. Visited in March 2022 under a public investigation. My first ever ghost hunt.
      Not much of note happened there, but that didn’t mean there was nothing. I saw an opportunity & was able to spend a few minutes alone in the Body Chute. The gate wound up closing on me & after hearing footsteps come up behind me, I decided that was enough & got up to leave. My colleague was genuinely surprised to see the gate was closed & asked if I locked myself in there. I thought he was messing with me, but he seemed quite genuine about it.
      Even if you don’t experience anything, its quite an experience to go through the old building. Would recommend a visit at least once.

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    Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.