Our Story

Our haunted history

The Old Peoria State Hospital...

Aura Haunted House is located in the old Peoria State Hospital Historic District in Bartonville, Illinois at the historic Pollak Hospital Building.

A psychiatric hospital operated by the State of Illinois from 1902 to 1973. It was completed under the direction of Dr. George Zeller as a cottage system plan of 63 buildings. Among the buildings were patient/caretaker housing, a store, and the Pollak Hospital Building.

The Pollak Hospital was added to the state hospital campus in 1949, although tuberculosis deaths on the grounds dated back to the earliest days of the asylum. By 1906, it was the leading cause of death at the Peoria State Hospital. The high number of deaths convinced Dr. Zeller to try and control the spread of the illness by segregating the sick.

The Pollak Hospital Building was built to care for patients with tuberculosis. The northern wing was for female patients and the southern wing was for male patients. It was named in honor of Dr. M. Pollak, who carried out the exhaustive research at the asylum in 1937.

By 1973, the Pollak Hospital was one of the last buildings on the grounds of the asylum that were still in use.

During the hospital's years of operation, hundreds of patients passed away. According to both stories and eyewitness accounts, their spirits stayed behind to walk the hallways. Some visitors say you can still feel the AURA of those patients within the Pollak Hospital Building!

Are you brave enough to walk these hallways?

THE EXPERTS IN FEAR

Four Decades of Fear

Aura Haunted House is brought to you by a family of seasoned haunted attraction professionals! While lending their talents to other haunted events in Illinois, like Spook Hollow, an opportunity of a lifetime presented itself to the Little family. Scott, Dale, & Steve Little were given a chance to take over a chilling piece of the old Peoria State Hospital. In an instant, distant dreams of producing nightmares within their own quality haunted attraction became a reality. It was then that a sinister seed was planted, and the intensely thrilling Aura Haunted House was born.

Since construction began, the professional team behind Aura has been working diligently to create a unique horror experience that is sure to chillingly captivate all who dare enter! With a combined total of over a century of haunted house experience, Scott, Dale, and Steve have embarked on this hauntingly creative journey, all the while assembling an advanced crew of maniacal masterminds. The Aura Haunted House Team proudly invites you to witness the horror that unfolds as Aura reopens for its second season at the old Peoria State Hospital this fall.

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