Asylum Echoes: Rockwood Insane Asylum

This week, Jacklynn and Stevie are heading to Kingston, Ontario to dive back into the terrifying history of haunted psychiatric facilities. Sitting right on the shores of Lake Ontario is Rockwood Asylum, a stunning, four-story limestone building built in 1859 with gorgeous Italian architecture that was meant to promote healing through fresh air and water views. But behind the grand facade and heavy iron window bars lies a dark history of prison labor, medical fraud, tragedy, and murder. 

• The Fraudulent Founder: Learn about Dr. John Palmer Litchfield, Rockwood’s charismatic first superintendent who drove around in a fancy carriage but wasn't actually a doctor.
• The Stabbed Visionary: How Dr. William Metcalf tried to genuinely reform the asylum by removing chains and introducing theater plays, only to be tragically stabbed to death by a patient in 1885. 
• The Desecrated Dead: The chilling 1895 Kingston scandal where grave robbers blew open a cemetery vault to steal the bodies of two "friendless" former Rockwood patients to sell for medical dissection. 

The Hauntings & Urban Legends:

• The Disconnected Phones: Security and explorers report old, unpowered phones with no lines suddenly ringing out in the dark hallways. 
• The Suicide Stairs & Help Window: A prominent staircase filled with intense cold spots and disembodied weeping, located right near a window pane with the word "Help" deeply etched into the glass. 
• The Haunted Fountain: A dried-up stone fountain where a child tragically drowned, now home to a glowing mist and the phantom smell of old blood. 
• Figures in the Window: Shadowy apparitions seen by passing boat cruises and nighttime trolley tours, staring blankly out at the water from the upper floors. 

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Have a bone-chilling story of your own? We want to hear it! Send your scary encounters to weirdosofwhimsy@gmail.com or DM us. Your story might just make it onto a future episode! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Security guards and maintenance workers who have stepped inside the building over the past years report a chilling phenomenon. Telephones that have been disconnected from any phone lines for decades, like there is no connection whatsoever to these phones, will suddenly start ringing out of nowhere in the dark hallways and echo through the hallways.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

I have chills.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

I full body chill chills. You guessed it, Whimsical.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Hi, my name is Jacqueline.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

And I'm Stevie.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

And today we're bringing back another episode about haunted psychiatric asylums. Haunted asylums. Yes. Um, of course, you know, we said this last time. We never want to elicit any sort of offense by calling them insane asylums, but we are going with the colloquial sort of language that was um in their time. Yeah. You know? Because it also just sounds cooler and weird. It elicits fear, doesn't it? Yeah. It really does. It really truthfully does. And like anyone who maybe survived one of these is my heart goes out. So here we go. Kingston, Ontario. It's your time to shine.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Kingston. Kingston is great.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

I do love Kingston. I like Kingston. It's a great road trip. It's a great little weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

There's lots to see. I haven't done touring in Kingston, but I've been drunk in Kingston. Who hasn't? Right?

SPEAKER_03 1:49

All right. So picture, if you will, a warm summer evening on the shores of Lake Ontario in said Kingston, Ontario. The water is smooth as glass. If you stand in the right spot, you can see a massive, majestic, four-story limestone building. Its Italian architecture looks almost regal.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

It's beautiful. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

At first glance, you might think it was built as a luxury hotel or grand estate for 19th century royalty. Truly. Which is so true. It's stunning.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

And we we talked about it in the last episode why they wanted these to look so grand and beautiful, right? Yes. Because it would help with perception. Perception. And yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Surely something that looks beautiful can't house terrifying things. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, how they were wrong. Oh. But if you look closer, you'll see that the heavy iron bars are over the windows. You'll notice the rusted imposing perimeter fences. And if the local legends are true, you might just see a pale face staring back at you from the upper floors.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Oh, if only I could see a pale face staring back at me at a window.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

You might.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Maybe.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Let's go. I I would that we will go something.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Yeah, yeah.

unknown 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

This, as Jacqueline, you know, just painted us a beautiful picture. This is Rockwood Asylum. Yeah. It was built to be a sanctuary of healing. Instead, it became a pressure cooker of madness, tragedy, and murder. Today, we are diving deep into the dark history, the tragic lives of the patients, and the terrifying paranormal encounters that make Rockwood one of the most haunted locations in Kansas.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Baby. And I love its name. I know.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Rockwood. Well, um, when we were in Guelph, Rockwood's a little town just outside of Guelph. And it's beautiful. I've always wanted to live there. And Rockwood Conservation Area is gorgeous. And where we did our engagement photos.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's so sweet. Totally different place. Totally different place.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

No, no connection. At least that we know of.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Maybe same family. I don't know that named it, but yeah. Um, okay. To understand the ghosts of Rockwood, we have to go back to the beginning. So in the mid-1800s, Upper Canada had a massive problem. What to do with people suffering from severe mental illness? Yeah. At the time, if you were deemed a lunatic, quote unquote, yeah. You weren't sent to a hospital. You were thrown into a local jail or the infamous Kingston Penitentiary, Kingston Penn. Yep. Uh, you were treated as a criminal, locked in the dark, damp cells, often chained to the walls.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Terrible. Terrible. So in 1856, the government decided to change that. Shocking. Maybe that was the last time the government did something good. Hey yo. So they purchased 35 acres of land west of Kingston, which was, of course, the old Rockwood estate. The vision was beautiful. Moral treatment. What a concept.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Um, the theory was that a calming view of the water and fresh air could cure an unstable mind.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Construction began in 1859. And here is the first dark irony of Rockwood. This haven for the mentally ill was built using prison labor.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Oof. I mean, like, really already the energy would be off.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Oh, yeah. Already not good. So convict gangs from the nearby Kingston Penn spent years cutting and hauling the massive limestone blocks to erect the walls. The facility officially opened its doors to patients in 1862.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

But the early leadership was anything but stable. Enter Dr. John Palmer Lichfield. Litchfield is, I feel, like, one of those names that's always associated with like an insane asylum.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

Yeah, it's so true. It absolutely speaks to that kind of 100% horror. Like that's a name that's always just Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

It's a great name. It's a great name. Uh so Dr. John Palmer Lichfield was ro one of Rockwood's first superintendents. Or was Rockwood's first superintendent. Litchfield was a charismatic, beautifully dressed man who loved driving around Kingston in a sophisticated horse carriage.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Oh, how lovely.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

How lovely. Uh, there was just one tiny problem. Oh, yeah. He wasn't actually a doctor. Go figure. He was a complete fraud, a con man who faked his medical credentials.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

How dare you.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

How dare you?

SPEAKER_03 6:16

That's kind of important in this situation. Yeah, dealing with these vulnerable people.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah. While Litchfield was known to be a kindly gentleman, quote unquote, who argued that patients should be treated with compassion, he didn't actually understand medicine, like at all. Yeah, at all. At all. Under his watch, primitive and brutal practices like bloodletting, where doctors bled patients to balance their behaviors, and early unregulated forms of chemical restraints were very common.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Not very humane.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

You know, is a common thread with these from hundreds of years ago. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Asylums aren't exactly safe, warm, loving environments where they start out with like the best intentions or good intentions, and then very quickly straight to hell. Oh my god. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Straight to hell. So what was life actually like for the patients who lived inside these limestone walls? Well, historical archives and medical logs paint a picture of life trapped between progressive ideas and institutional horror.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

In the early days before the main wings were finished, 20 mentally disturbed women were actually forced to live in the old cartwright horse stables on the property, which were retrofitted into makeshift cells. Again, not really kind.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Nope. Definitely not.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

By the late teen, uh by the late teen, by the late 1800s, superintendents like Dr. William Metcalf and Dr. Charles Kirk Clark tried to genuinely reform the place. Uh Metcalf abolished physical chains. He introduced re recreation and even encouraged the patients to put on stage plays.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Had a little bit of a life.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Um, but inside an asylum for the criminally insane, danger was always a heartbeat away.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

When you put that many criminally insane people together, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:02

And miss and treat them very much.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

And treat them poor very poorly.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Uh doesn't matter how many plays you put on, I'm sure. It's not gonna elicit, yeah. Yeah. On August 16th, 1885, Dr. Metcalfe's open door policy backfired in the most tragic way.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

Oh breathtakingly tragic.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Yeah. A paranoid schizophrenic patient named Patrick Maloney managed to sneak a dinner knife out of the kitchen. He confronted Dr. Metcalfe and stabbed him in the stomach.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Yikes.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

The visionary doctor died three days later. Maloney was later found confused, claiming he didn't even believe Metcalfe was dead.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Rough.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

That's scary.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

For the patients, even death didn't bring peace. In 1895, a massive scandal rocked Kingston. Grave robbers blew the doors off a local cemetery vault in the dead of the night, stealing seven bodies to sell to medical students for dissection. Crazy. There are no words. No words. Two of those stolen bodies were former patients of Rockwood. They were known back then as the friendless patients who had no family to claim claim them, abandoned in life and desecrated in death.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Ain't that the shit? Like your whole life is just monstrous dealing with all this. And then when you die, you still you get stolen and cut up.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

You're not even laid to rest. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

What do we think about grave? Quick quick tangent. What do we think about grave robbers? What in the hell? Do you think that still happens? Do you think that still happens? I'm sure in certain things.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

I want to say no, but I have a feeling it happens.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

I'm I'm sure it's yeah, a little bit more prevalent in certain countries than others, but like there was a time, like in um why do we always see that happening in old Victorian um uh time pieces? Yeah, like in those movies and stuff where it was like they dig up dead bodies and sell them to doctors who were literally testing out their methods on dead bodies.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

I mean, because yeah, back when, you know, experimenting and and science and all that was just kind of, I guess, getting started. Yeah. How else were we gonna get dead bodies?

SPEAKER_03 10:11

Yeah, yeah. Like, and because, again, pure speculation, but because those times were obviously so, especially with England, so ruled by the church, I mean, like that would have been seen as a gigantic no-no. 100%. So, like these people had to do it under the cover of darkness or employ criminals. Yeah, I guess. Hot take. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I don't condone it. Oh, where is this going? But in those instances where it was for science and you're trying to figure out, like, and there was no other way to get bodies because the church was like, you know, it's gotta be buried, this, this, this. Like, I kind of understand why it at least started in the scientific doctor world. I guess. Not the grave robber, like just desecrating Yeah, just to do it to do it. Just to do it to do it. Yeah. But do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 10:57

I do know what you mean. No, I understand, like for the greater good, right? Yeah. I wonder what sort of um discoveries came from practicing on bodies that were exhumed and back to death.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

And then they probably didn't have the same kind of stuff that we have nowadays. You know, where you like you'll sign up for your driver's license and your organs can then be dark. For her, oh, of course. Oh, there was no. So it it makes sense that they would need to do this.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Yeah, yeah, no, I completely agree.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Which could, another tandem rangent, having the bodies dug up and then just disappeared could also have um started the rumors of like vampires resolved. Absolutely, right?

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Hundred percent. I bet you goes hand in hand. Thousands. Has to.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Um, and of course, let's also like at least they were being exhumed and then like their bodies went to science for something. Yeah. There are, of course, grave robbers where they just took like gold teeth, jewelry, you know what I mean? Like terrible.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Terrible stuff.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

What a wild story humanity has.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Truly. Humans are actually terrible. Terrible.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Terrible.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Terrible.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Speaking of terrible, um, Rockwood closed its doors as a psychiatric facility in 1959, which was 67 years ago. Not that long ago. Not that long ago. I know that because yesterday was my dad's 67th birthday. Happy birthday! Sorry, I outed you in terms of your age. Um, but it's it's a young, that's young. Yeah. So really was not that long. Just a young whippersnapper. Just a young whippersnapper. Um, so of course, later the building was um served, or sorry, had served as the Penrose Building for People with Developmental Disabilities until it was abandoned entirely in the year 2000. There you go. So for over two decades, it sat empty. But ask any local, any urban explorer, or the guides who run the nighttime Kingston trolley tours, and they will tell you Rockwood is crowded with spirits.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Whoa. I want to do a nighttime trolley tour.

SPEAKER_03 12:54

And I think we should.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I think we should. Yeah. Let's talk about the most famous legends and paranormal experiences reported at the asylum. Which is what you're here for, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Exactly. You're like, when are we getting to the ghosts, guys? But I can't tell you, like, the photos of this building are breathtaking.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Stunning. Beautiful. I would live there.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

I would live there too. You would live there. Amazing. I'll be one of those pale faces in the window. I don't have a tan yet.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

We just combat it. We're looking at ourselves in um the camera and we're like, oh, we need a tan. Um, okay. So we have the disconnected phone.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Security guards and maintenance workers who have stepped inside the building over the past years report a chilling phenomenon, which, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Telephones that have been disconnected from any phone lines for decades. Like there is no connection whatsoever to these phones, will suddenly start ringing out of nowhere in the dark hallways and echo through the hallways.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

I have chills. I have full body chills.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Chills. There is, there, there's no phone lines, there's no power. Not that those old phones need power, but it needs phone lines.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Like what?

SPEAKER_01 14:04

They're disconnected and they will start ringing.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

Start ringing out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

I've seen some of the um urban exploration YouTube videos, and there there is at least one where he does start hearing a phone ring. I don't know if it's at uh Rockwood or it's another place, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

I have chills too. Yeah, I would be frozen in place.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

I just I I I mean, I would want to go and answer it a thousand percent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Would I In the moment would you?

SPEAKER_03 14:35

In the moment, no, I'd be running. We all know that I am the chicken in this scenario.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

And I'd be doing what? She'd be shitting my pants.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

It's been a minute since you've said that. Welcome back, shitting your pants, Steven. We missed you. Yeah, wild. That's hair. That would be so, so scary. But like that's documented that people have been experiencing that.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

And those old phones have creepy rings.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Yeah. That like continue to act.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That might.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

They ain't no cool, um, like crazy ringtones that we got now.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Everyone knows what I just did, right? You know, like the cell phones on the cell phone. All right. Uh let's move on to the suicide stairs and the help window. What a haunting name for you. So instead, or sorry, not instead. Inside, inside the building is a prominent staircase where several tragic patient leaps supposedly took place. Paranormal investigators have captured intense cold spots here, along with the sound of disembodied weeping.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

That's always scary to hear.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Nearby, urban explorers have uh have photographed a window pane where the word help is deeply etched into glass on the inside.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Creepy.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

That I mean, where could that have come? Sure, anyone could have done it. But it just lends to the creep factor.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

You know?

SPEAKER_01 15:53

I mean, chances are it was one of the um patients.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

Patience being like help me. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Which also adds some crazy energy and creepiness to that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Uh next we have the haunted fountain. If you look at the front of the building today, there is a dried-up, fenced-in stone fountain. Legend says a young child tragically drowned there when the asylum was active. Visitors and investigators have reported seeing a strange glowing mist hover over the fountain at night, accompanied by a phantom smell of iron or old blood. Yes, like copper.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

Seeping from the stone.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Which is creepy.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

So creepy.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Oh, I like how you said that.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Seeping from the stone. Not seeping from the stone. Not the stone.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

It's the boreworms. Not the boreworms. See how we go from creepy to effortlessly lame.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

We gotta keep it, you know, light and airy.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

No. Um not the boreworms. It's been a minute since anyone said that. So right.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

I hope all of you know what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

Oh man. Google, it's not the boreworms.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

You will not be disappointed. Both versions of it. The original and uh who says it, T.S. Medicine.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

T.S. Medicine, yeah. So good. Um, also let's talk about like remember, water holds. I mean, not that like there was water still running in this fountain, but stone and water hold energies for hundreds and hundreds of years, from you know what I mean? So like that poor little kid who passed away in that fountain. Also, talk about neglect. Oh my god. Who allowed that to happen? Anyway, okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

So let's move to the figures in the window. Here we go. This is the most common experience for everyday citizens. People taking boat cruises along the Kingston shoreline or riding past on the evening ghost trolleys frequently report seeing dark, shadowy figures standing perfectly still at the upper floor windows, staring blankly out at the water. Creepy.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Creepy.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

And I'm sure that when you do a wait, what? It's gone.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Oh, yeah. Of course.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Right? The double take.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

That would be so eerie. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's okay. So of these ones that we reported on, like which I mean, I would want them all, but I think I would really, really want the phone ringing.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

I think I would too.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Because that's like a physical manifestation of something happening. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

You know? And I would want to be able to find, like, not just hear it in the hallways. I would want to find which one is ringing and prove that it's not connected to anything.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Completely. Yeah. Completely. Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

But I mean, seeing a figure in the window would be cool too.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

But it's a huge place. And if you did see in the window, it could be.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

People broke in, you know, it could be one of those things where it's like, hey, the phone ringing, you cannot explain because it is disconnected. You know?

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

Um yeah. Good stuff. Good stuff. Good stuff. Uh there's something else I was gonna say, and it's gone. She gone. She gone. She gone. Anyway. So, what is the status of Rockwood Asylum today as we are live in 2026?

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Why don't you tell us?

SPEAKER_03 19:06

I think I will. I think I will. Sadly. It remains a silent decaying monument to Canada's dark psychiatric past because of heavy asbestos. God damn asbestos. Fucking asbestos. What are they doing using its own?

SPEAKER_01 19:18

I know, right? It's everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

It's everywhere. Because of the heavy heavy asbestos contamination and structural decay, the building is strictly condemned. It is heavily gated, monitored by security, and completely closed to the public. Although you and I both know that people love to break in and they can break in. I wonder how often it is infiltrated.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Probably a lot. Probably not. Also, Kingston, it's kind of, you know, up in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. Teenagers, I'm sure, have nothing else to do but get drunk in an insane asylum.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

I mean, that's what I would do.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

That's what I would do. That's what we do. Also, you would not.

SPEAKER_03 19:57

I am here to tell you that's correct. I'm not even gonna dispute it.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yeah, I have I did a double take there. I was like, you're gonna break into an insane asylum and get drunk.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Can I tell you the very the very first time I had an alcoholic beverage? Okay, okay. Yeah, to my recollection, um I was 16 years old.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

I had a sip and a half, okay, not even a full drink, not even a full can, whatever, of I believe it was a Woody's creamsicle that my cousin was having.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Okay. Oh my god, I remember it though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

I'm actually, you know what? No, I was 15. I was 15 because yeah, it was at one of my family parties that we had had. And yes, it was a creamsicle, Woody's uh, what is it, cooler. Yeah, my cousin was having. And then the year after that, when I was 16, I was allowed to invite like a bunch of my friends to said family party. It was like this giant cornroast we used to have. And that was when I had my very first full cooler, which was a Mike's Hard lemonade.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

Drank one and was absolutely out of my mind.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Oh, yeah. 100%.

SPEAKER_03 21:04

Totally bombed. Um, but at least it was like at home and I was 16. And then I had nothing for you, like that was that was it. One in a sip and a half. And then when I was 19, like that's when I was like, I'm I can have a drink now.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

I'm making fun of you, but let's be honest. I'm very similar. Yeah. Grade 12 was the first time I ever had my first like full drink. Yeah. It was at a friend's house, it was a cooler. And then again, I didn't ever get like drunk until we were of age or like 19. Yeah. And I was going out to bars and clubs.

SPEAKER_03 21:38

Yeah, and like I also I mean, I fully will admit it was because of peer pressure. That was just like what everyone was doing. So I guess I'll just start drinking. I never liked it. No. I never enjoyed it. I mean, it was always like just what you did.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

You just I also don't didn't back then like getting drunk and just like sitting around. Like if I'm getting drunk, I wanted to go dance.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

We were dancing, we I mean Pull up the footage. We were of the age where you w had full-blown dresses. Oh, yeah. Like you looked nice when you went out.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

And then halfway through the night, I mean, I always look nice, and then halfway through the night, I'd be half naked.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Yeah, we've talked about that. How Steven's buttons would just start to go lower and lower and lower.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

And then the shirt would come off. There's one picture where it's very blurry, but I look like I'm a skinny twink and I look like a go-go dancer, and I got my drink and my skinny pants and my skinny jeans, and I'm like, oh I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

It just, yeah, it was just crazy. And we would, we would, um, what did we call it? Pre-drink. Pre-drink. We would pre-drink before we go out to save money, which how did we even have money?

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

I truthfully don't remember working. Like obviously I did.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

But like all we did was go out and go to the bars.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

I think I was so skinny because I was malnourished and I was only spending money on booze.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Yeah, I agree with you. Um, and digital cameras were the thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Oh my god. Yeah, you had the little strap on your wrist and you would bring your camera out.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

And we would take them from up here. Oh, the severity of the angles were out of control. Yeah. Um, I saw, I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself here, um, dear listeners and party people, but I have seen that digital cameras are making a comeback.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

They are.

SPEAKER_03 23:13

I still have several of them.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

I I don't know if I do or not. But people are wanting to go like more, not necessarily analog, but they're not wanting their phones as much and being off, which I totally understand.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Yeah, no, listen, children, like people can't find you.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah. Yeah. Which is I guess a bad thing these days and age, but they're also going back to like iPods and stuff like that. So they're even their music is separated from their phones.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

I officially feel like my parents when I finally said, you know what? I like vinyl better, and they're like, ha.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

You know what I mean? It's all cyclical people.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

We are officially stuck in a rut. Oh, yeah. We can't invent anything else. 100%. And we're just gonna keep going back to what was like, stop inventing shit. You've perfected one thing, leave it.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

Leave it.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Anyway, where were we?

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

How did we get on that topic? We were, I mentioned that it's now completely closed to the public. So we are right here.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Okay. Uh so there has been fierce debate over the years about what to do with the building with Rockwood. Sure. Some want to preserve it as a museum of Canadian medical history, which I agree with. That is my vote. That's my vote. Arguing that we shouldn't sweep the mistakes of the past under the rug. Completely. From lobotomies to electroshock therapy. God. Under the rug. Yeah, yeah. Which I get. That is how you repeat mistakes is when you erase them for future generations, right? I agree. Others think the building's dark energy and heavy maintenance costs mean it should be torn down. No, and that is why I feel like I sound old and and crotchety, but that is why buildings these days look boring and um like sterile and just metal shit because we're tearing down all the cool ones.

unknown 24:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

Yeah, I agree. Let's put some art form back into what we're doing. Yeah. Have you ever seen those side-by-side comparison photos of like 1950 and today? And like water spouts then and now. Oh my God. Something as basic as the hydrants as well. You know, like there's color and vibrancy and architecture. There's no whimsy left in the world. Bring back the whimsy. Bring back the whimsy. Oh, I hit my microphone. I was so upset.

unknown 25:22

What?

SPEAKER_03 25:23

No, seriously. I just, I, I, I am done with let's cut c I mean, hey, is it gonna be more expensive? Sure. But guess what our country's spending stupid money on? Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I just bring it back. Bring back the whimsy, Steve.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

They need the moments of whimsy.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Uh my friend laughed at me. Um we were at their house the other day. Um, shout out Brad and Ryan. Brad and Ryan. Um, they have little little figurines that are like um have a magnet on the bottom, and you stick it on, you know where the door um hinge is? Yeah. So you stick it on there, and it's just a cute little, like they'll have like a rabbit or a mouse. Uh. And it's on the like door hinge. And he laughed at me because I'm like, uh, it's just great. You need little like moments and pockets of whimsy here and there around your house. And he just he like giggled and laughed, and I'm like, whimsy, whimsy is where it's at. Whimsy is where it's at.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

I also feel like it's very funny that you don't think you have that in your home right now. Oh, you've been in a beautiful whimsical home. 100%. Right?

SPEAKER_01 26:23

I have leaned into whimsy. Good for you. But it's the outside.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Yes, it's I agree. Okay. I thought you were like, oh, I need whimsy in my life. Oh, no, no, no. Steven.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

No, no, no. I was I was applauding his moments of whimsy.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

Very good. Very good. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Because, like, first of all, if you would like to hire Steven as your interior decorator, he is amazing. First of all, he did all of this. So, I mean, that's all you need. It's all you need to see. But yeah, walking into your home is just like walking into a fairy tale.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

It's yo, I try.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

I don't. I don't know how to do any of this. I really just learned how to dress myself.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

So you're given whimsy right now.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Thank you. Thank you. Got a little like crochet, like vesti moment. Right? It's like very renfair. Right. We're both matching in our crochet. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So let's get back to it here. Um, for now, the limestone walls will stand, still stand by Lake Ontario. Um, the comman, the murder doctor, and the thousands of forgotten patients are gone. Yeah. But if you find yourself walking along the Kingston shore after dark, keep your eyes on those top floor windows. You might just see a piece of history looking back at you.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Ooh.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

So creepy, so fun. Yeah. Um, I can't believe we haven't been. I say this a lot. I can't believe we haven't been there.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

I know.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

There are so many cool spots around that um, again, aren't necessarily open to the public. So, like, how are we gonna get in there?

SPEAKER_01 27:49

How are we gonna get in?

SPEAKER_03 27:50

You know I'm not breaking in.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

I know.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

I'll stand in front of it.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Also, I like that this one is still fully intact, whereas the bottom building's gone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, so my mom and I, hello mom. Um, on Mother's Day weekend, I went down there. You sent me a video. I sent you photos and video of us going. So we went, my mom and I checked it out. Um, it's just so different, unfortunately, because they have set up um, I mean, it's a good thing in retrospect. They've set up all like the construction fencing.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Because they are going ahead and they are, of course, making it into affordable homes.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

I love that. They're doing it. Okay, and affordable homes. Affordable homes. Not obscenely expensive conduct.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

Yep. And it's gonna be like there's gonna be a section for seniors. Oh, yay! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, the grounds, Steven, we have to go. We have to go to these grounds, like they're just stunning. We drove around all of them. You can go there, by the way, party people. Like, and it is moments from my mom's house. It it really is, it really, truly is. Um, just stunning. And we mom and I kind of took a moment to like drive all the way to the back and kind of we were along the side of the escarpment, and I just kind of said, like, envision this building. And I, you know, pulled it up and was like, envision this gigantic, imposing building on the side of this cliff.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

So cool.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Like, it just was wild to think about. And then, of course, we started to look for like forgotten footprints of you know what I mean? Like the certain trees would have been here, and like you can tell there was a building here because of just the way everything is sort of laid out. Like there's just massive amounts of grass and like a huge area. And then there is also, I don't know if it was like a steeple or what, but I said I saved it. I was like, I'm not gonna go up and read the plaque because I want to do a Steven.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Aww.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Um, but they have like pieces of what I think are from the original Barton Bart building that are sitting there and they have like a description area.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Okay, so we have to go and check it out. Must.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

Yeah, yeah. But this is still standing.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

The whole building.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

The whole building is up. I would love to go and see it. Yeah. Um, we have to do the after hours trolley tour. Yeah. Um I just keep our keep the buildings alive. Truly. You know, like keep this heritage going.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

What are some of your favorite buildings in and around from where you live?

SPEAKER_01 30:08

Yes, let us know.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

Let us know. Um, I know that we have viewers and listeners from Europe, so like we do. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Truly.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

You have buildings that have been up and operational for like 900 years, a thousand years, whatever. Um man.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Europe, I wish.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

So cool. Yeah. We're gonna see some. Yay! Um, so yeah, what what else? Anything else to add for spooky, scary stories? I have not had a ghost experience in a while, apart from, of course, what my mother-in-law shared, which go back and listen um a couple of episodes ago, we talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

But um We haven't even had a good Ouija board session.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

We haven't. We have not had a good Ouija board session. The last time we tried, it was pretty quiet. Yeah, nothing really jumped out at us. Um so we'll have to change that. Yeah. So stay tuned. The weather's getting nicer, and that typically means that we like to leave our homes a lot more.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

We do.

SPEAKER_03 31:04

So maybe, just maybe, there will be a live on location situation happening.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Oh, like a graveyard or something.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

Yeah, dare I say a video. Um, you know, but seriously, write in if you want us to explore places.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yes. I also um I can't remember if I mentioned it here, but I went to a Curiosities and Oddities expo.

SPEAKER_03 31:22

You haven't mentioned it. Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

So I went to this, uh, it was in Toronto. It was a Curiosities and Oddities expo, um, where they had like skulls, taxidermy, weird, witchy, spooky, yeah, occult y stuff. It was amazing. I should have brought it down. I got a lynx skull. I got um a um death's head moth.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

Ooh, like preserved. Preserved, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Uh I got a poison ring. Which is so cool. It's beautiful. Yeah. You've been looking for that for a long time. Oh, I really have. I thought there was something else. Um, but one of my goals there, I saw a lot of them, but they were so expensive, but they had old vintage um Ouija boards.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Oh. Did you touch any of them?

SPEAKER_01 32:11

I didn't touch any of them. But if there was one that was within my budget, I was gonna buy it. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

How expensive were they? They're like 30 years old. They were like hundreds of dollars. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

I was like, I just I can't do it because I want a few other things.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

Ah, yeah. No, listen, I don't blame you.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Yeah. Also you don't know what's attached to it. I know, but for the pod and for you listeners and watchers, I am, I'm I want to buy a vintage.

SPEAKER_03 32:33

Did you hear that? He is willing to put his soul on the line.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Would you hate me?

SPEAKER_03 32:39

No. I wouldn't hate you.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

But we can do a lot of stuff. We can do some protection charms and rituals and stuff. But I mean, uh, one of our girls, Selena Spooky Boo, she's got a wall of oh, look at James, James White. He's got a huge collection too. There's a right way and a wrong way, people. Well, that's what I'm saying. And we have all the other divination tools.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

So it's literally the exact same thing. Oh, trust, you just have to do it the right way.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

Exactly. You don't have to um convince me.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

Right? Um, I just, yeah, and oh, just this this the journeys at those. Right. Oh my gosh. I would love like a real wood one. Oh my gosh, yeah. Um, well, great chair. Great chair, Stevie. Um, so yeah, there's another little haunting one for you uh lovely party people. Don't worry, more are coming. More to come. Yeah, and more experiences, I'm sure, will be had when we continue to put ourselves in those places. And I really want to get a spirit box.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

100%. So I want a spirit box and a uh uh spirit bell.

SPEAKER_03 33:40

Dead Dead Bell, yes, spirit bell, yep, yep, yep. 100%. Oh my gosh, so fun. We have a lot planned.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

We do.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

We have a lot planned. So um like, follow, comment, give us a rating. I know it's so annoying when podcasters, not that we believe we're podcasters, but you keep telling us that we are. Yeah. So I guess we are. Um when when they, you know, I know it's annoying when they ask that, but like it's truthfully very helpful.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Leave some reviews wherever you can. Yes, download, follow, download, follow. Smash that like button.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

That's right. Hit that notification button. You are so good at this, and I am not. So, all right. Well, with that then, I guess we'll end it here. Um, so on that, thank you so much uh for listening to and watching the Weirdos of Whimsy. We will be back again soon with another episode that guides you through the weird and whimsical journey that is our brains. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Weirdos of Whimsy Pod. Watch that space for updates, release dates, and other treats and delectable morsels. Just a delicious moment. And say goodbye, Stevie.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

So long farewell, everybody.

SPEAKER_03 34:51

Maybe we'll be the pale faces standing outside of your windows. Oh, that was a good posture. If I were a figure in the window, I'd be like, just the heart of Notre Dame. You know?

SPEAKER_01 35:05

I wouldn't be looking out the window, I'd be looking at my reflection in the window.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

So true. Well, on that note, as always, big gulp, say.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

See ya later, you know.