Destination Fear’s Haunted Road Trip to the Nopeming Sanatorium

“So you’re taking me to a place you wouldn’t even go in during the daytime?” Chelsea Laden asked her brother, Dakota, when she realized the first stop on their second season haunted road trip was the Nopeming Sanatorium.

As Dakota explains during the episode –as well as during the conversation I had with the Destination Fear cast— the word “Nopeming” means out in the woods.

Nopeming: A Brief History

Similar to its haunted southern cousin, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Nopeming is a behemoth building isolated just as its name implies –out in the woods.

That’s because, also like Waverly Hills, it treated tuberculosis patients. Both sanatoriums opened in the early 1900s, but were later abandoned after they served their purposes and didn’t seem to have another.

Also like Waverly, it witnessed many deaths of those who succumbed to tuberculosis. However, there were also sadly suicides. It’s not hard to see why with a history like that it would be rumored to have ghosts.

And those rumors are what drew Dakota, Chelsea, Tanner and Alex to the property.

The Ghosts Within

The Destination Fear gang investigates Nopeming in the dead of winter. It’s literally frozen inside, the walls glistening with ice. (Which looks pretty cool on camera.)

The most haunted places within that the foursome concentrated on (and also ended up sleeping in) were:

1. The Suicide Balcony
2. The third floor hallway
3. The basement
4. The crematorium

The suicide balcony was so named because desperate patients who couldn’t endure the suffering anymore leaped to their deaths from here. It was eventually fitted with 10 foot high bars to deter such disturbing and desperate acts.

The basement is allegedly home to the sinister spirit of a former maintenance man.

People have reported growls and being scratched in the crematorium.

The third floor hallway was the scene of the Mother’s Day Massacre where a patient shot an orderly before turning the gun on himself.

These are also the areas where Dakota, Chelsea, Tanner and Alex spend a haunted, freezing night.

The Experiences

“Carol” and “killed” came across on the Ovilus when they used it at the suicide balcony. “Carol” came through twice, once when Tanner and Chelsea were together investigating, then when it was Alex and Tanner. Alex and Tanner were also the ones to get the “killed.”

They also had unexplainable noises and the sounds of things moving. At one point either a part of the ceiling fell on them in the basement or something was thrown at them.

During his “sleepover” in the basement (where he never laid down and which I had to ask him about), Tanner’s flashlight was near his foot but the camera caught it moving on its own.

Speaking of sleeping in the various areas alone, here’s who drew what:

• Chelsea snuggled up on the fourth floor by the suicide balcony
• Tanner got the basement
• Dakota took the third floor hallway
• Alex found himself all alone out in the crematorium.

Assessment

This was my first time watching an episode of Destination Fear. (All thanks to Travel Channel providing me a screener.)

The cast is extremely likable, and honestly, when I talked with them they were so personable and easy to talk with.

I did enjoy watching them to an extent, but I found myself wondering what the point of the show was and being surprised it was a Travel Channel show. Why are they chasing their fears? Are they trying to conquer them? We all have fears we need to face. What makes theirs so special? I’m missing the point of what the show is about.

Which really pains me to say that. Normally it’s a little fun to be snarky towards the shows, but really. Dakota, Chelsea and Tanner couldn’t be nicer and I don’t want to be mean to them. I really liked them. They were perhaps the most polite stars I’ve yet had the pleasure and excitement of talking with.

I think it might be an age thing. My friend’s twenty-year-old daughter is nuts about this show. She couldn’t believe I actually spoke with its stars.

Maybe if I wasn’t a crotchety old lady and was back in my teens or twenties I wouldn’t question the point at all. I would just enjoy going along for ride.

Check-In

Did you catch the first episode of the second season of Destination Fear? What did you think? Tell me why you like the show.

For More Info

Head to TravelChannel.com/DestinationFear for exclusive behind-the-scenes videos and photos on the show.