I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this.

I am on Long Island this week facilitating a training class for work. Our classroom is located at a school that was once a mental institution. Are you imagining something creepy? It is every bit as creepy as you imagine. And more.

We arrived at our imposing building and were directed to the second floor. When the huge (for accommodating patients strapped to stretchers) and slow elevator arrived and the doors creaked open, we peered down a long, wide, really dark hallway. We tried to find our way by the eerie red glow of the exit signs and made it to the end of the hallway. When we found a set of double doors that led to a long, even darker hallway, we gave up and called for the guards to turn on some lights.

Now the floor is lit up and it’s still quite creepy. I’m sitting in a room next to a window. It is dark and stormy. The wind is blowing and the trees outside are casting shadows on the window and hitting against the glass. Every half-hour or so, the wind shudders the window so it sounds like someone is tapping on it. I jump every time. Atmosphere!

Our contact here showed me his office and informed me with glee that this was where they used to do the lobotomies. That’s why there’s a ramp leading to his door. The entire campus is twisty and confusing and designed to keep people in.

If I'm never heard from again, somebody take over my fantasy football team!