Case File 10 — October 31, 1923

ASYLUM INMATES REPORTED AT LARGE
Burbank Tales Times — October 31, 1923

WHAT CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION

By 1923, whatever was happening inside the asylum may no longer have remained there.

Five patients are missing.

Witnesses reportedly encountered at least one escapee near a roadside motel.

His claims are disturbing.

He described cruel experiments and confinement involving enormous numbers of spiders, repeatedly brushing at his clothing and crying:

“They are everywhere… they never leave.”

The asylum denied the account.

But the names attributed to the escapees are unusual enough to note:

Hewitt. Hyde. Harker. Renfield. Ryder.

Whether those were their real names, aliases or incomplete institutional records isn't clear.

There is another detail worth remembering.

Travelers encountered near the motel were preparing to leave Burbank and head east toward Texas.

That may mean nothing now.

But with so many recurring names, places and incidents in these pages, we are learning not to discard details simply because their importance isn't immediately apparent.

The smaller story adds another piece to the asylum's experimentation rumors: a researcher reportedly suffered grotesque changes after experiments involving insects and electrical transportation equipment.

The institution continues denying extraordinary claims.

Yet patients are escaping.

Witnesses are describing experiments.

And people who come too close to the story have a habit of disappearing.

Whatever was being contained behind the asylum walls appears increasingly difficult to contain.

FROM THE JOURNAL