The Units
By Jamie Mackay
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Although all of the events, characters, and places in this book are entirely fictional, the ideas came from more than only the author's imagination. Weyburn Mental Hospital, later called Souris Valley Care Facility, opened in 1921. At the time of its opening, it was considered one of the largest buildings in the British Commonwealth. Sources say that, at its peak, it housed somewhere between 2500 and 3000 patients and was considered to provide the "cutting-edge" of mental health treatment.
Historical accounts talk about treatments and experimentation that would be the bane of any current research ethics board. Stories include drug experimentation, "work and water", insulin, LSD, electro-shock, and lobotomy. Other accounts talk of patients who were committed, not because they were mentally ill, but because they simply didn't "fit-in" with the outside world. The most horrifying of stories include incidences of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
After the deinstitutionalization movement in the 1980's, the building was altered to become a long-term care facility and then was eventually demolished in 2009. Before it was demolished, stories of haunting by tortured and abused patients were common.
My summers in Weyburn often involved visits to the large, red-bricked, remarkable facility. Although only a child, I was fascinated by the scope and history of the infamous institution and its stately, well-groomed grounds. I would often feel as if I were part of a movie set as I walked down the long lane that led to the extraordinary structure whose circumference was said to be more than a mile. In comparison to its small farm town surroundings, the estate-like property seemed eerie and out of place. As I would walk, I would think about stories told by family members who had been employed in the institution in the days no one likes to talk about. That place and those true stories were only the beginnings of the tales I would one day weave.
Related to The Units
Related ebooks
Arcanum 101 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Her Big City Neighbor: Cider Bar Sisters, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boyfriend Contract Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Persimmon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComing Home . . . for Christmas: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If Looks Could Kill: Murder Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Matthew Returns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantasies Collide, Vol. 2: Fantasies Collide, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantasies Collide, Vol. 2: A Fantasy Short Story Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeach Lane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love You Right Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWaking Kate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Lady Detective Agency Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoad Kill on Main Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse Standoff Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Midnight in Legend, TN Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove in the Morning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fool Her Once Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTommy's Trouble Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarly Onset of Night, Volume One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Redemption: A Thornton Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Folly of French Kissing: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inevitable Fall of Tommy Mueller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Uncommon Affair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhale Rock Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGeek Mafia: Mile Zero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman Most Wanted: A Clean Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmpty Roads: Part One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrange Sight: An Essex Witch Museum Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mainely Money: A Goff Langdon Mainely Mystery, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Suspense Romance For You
Diary of an Oxygen Thief Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The A.I. Who Loved Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Professional Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5365 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wicked Villain Shorts: Wicked Villains, #7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Submitting to Him: Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seven Years to Sin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Pleasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell Me Lies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Verity: by Colleen Hoover - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnotted: Trails of Sin, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nurse: A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hardy Boys Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Green Darkness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bound (Book 1): Sokolov Family Mafia, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Keep Her Safe: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Shadow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chill Factor: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love: The Smith Brothers Series, #1 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5When She Remembered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Don't Want To Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Merry Men of the Dark Web Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Day: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House Between Tides: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damage Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hello, Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At His Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Units
0 ratings0 reviews