There are plenty of stories told about the old Waimate Hospital.
Doors swing closed by themselves and locked doors are found open.
The sound of breaking glass has been reported but nothing found and often knocks can be heard, usually three in a row.
It is apparently the signature of the Grey Lady. Legend has it the Grey Lady is the spirit of a former female patient who died at the hospital and is buried at Waimate, still seeking company in an afterlife.
Even when the hospital was open, nurses say they would often find doors inexplicably open or closed and there had always been reports of a spirit presence.
Whether the tales are true or not, the place has a certain eeriness about it that sends chills down the spine.
The doors of the Waimate Hospital closed for good in 1996, but this month the building has been brought to life again, and all for a good cause.
Fourth-generation Studholme farmer Rory Foley, the mastermind behind the horror Maize Maze, has turned a block of the old Waimate Hospital into an ''Asylum Horror House''.
Doctors and nurses are once more doing the rounds, clowns creep the hallways, and patients, ''insane'' people and bloodied bodies can also be found throughout the building.
Dimly lit rooms are scattered with severed limbs, saws, bandages and heads.
Hands poke out through a wall - some fake, others very real.
So far this month, more than 400 people have spent three nights in the old hospital; some have been startled, others have panicked and many were terrified - all paying for the displeasure.
The part of the building being used will soon be demolished and this Saturday marks the attraction's final night. Mr Foley's Maize Maze has raised more than $12,000 for the Cancer Society, while the Waimate Asylum is raising money for Centennial School's playground upgrade project.
It was an eerie location before Mr Foley and his team spent two weeks preparing it as an Asylum Horror House - the smoke machines, lighting and props only add to the experience, he said.
But it is the actors that make the asylum the escapist attraction that it is.
Some visitors have sobbed hysterically, one girl passed out and many have used the safe word ''purple'', or raised two hands in the air - signals that it has become all too much for them.
Others have returned each week telling Mr Foley, ''I hated it, but I loved it.''
Clearly, the opportunity to feel terror without danger is irresistible.
''I'd say we've had about 10 freak-outs,'' Mr Foley says proudly.
''We've had several people who have just got to the door and just said 'na, na not doing that'.''
Mr Foley is also one of the actors in the asylum, and his performances have been so convincing, he has been scouted for an acting job in America.
With no background in performing arts, Mr Foley said he just seems to be ''very good at being very dark''.
''I actually quite enjoy it ... I kind of pride myself if I hear the safety word being used.
''I am basically the horror mastermind now - that's what I'm called, anything horror just come and see Rory.''
There was nothing around like the asylum, with the exception of Queenstown's horror house, he said.
''But for $15 at the asylum, you can come and have fun and you're giving back to the community, or giving to a good cause,'' he said.
Centennial School fundraising committee member Rebecca Bell said they hoped to raise $10,000 through the horrifying attraction.
Mrs Bell approached Mr Foley about the availability of the building and discussed the opportunity to transform it into an attraction, but she never expected it to become this big.
Asylum Horror House
Where: Old Waimate Hospital, Hillary St, Waimate.
When: August 23, 6.30pm until late.
Restricted: R16, must bring ID
Price: $15 per person, all money raised going towards the Waimate Centennial School playground upgrade
Visit: See ''Maize Maze'' Facebook page for more details.
