10 episodes

Horrifying Audio Theater: Hayward Sanitarium is an original episodic drama that played on National Public Radio's NPR Playhouse. The cult classic features the adventures centered around an old sanitarium that studies patients who claim to be supernatural and paranormal. A new, young psychiatrist starts work there and uncovers a mystery that takes him into the the most frightening and darkest places of all - the human mind.

Hayward Sanitarium » Hayward Sanitarium Podcasts David Johnson

    • Arts
    • 4.1 • 66 Ratings

Horrifying Audio Theater: Hayward Sanitarium is an original episodic drama that played on National Public Radio's NPR Playhouse. The cult classic features the adventures centered around an old sanitarium that studies patients who claim to be supernatural and paranormal. A new, young psychiatrist starts work there and uncovers a mystery that takes him into the the most frightening and darkest places of all - the human mind.

    Episode 10: Breakout

    Episode 10: Breakout

    The fate of Hayward Sanitarium, and of Dermott O’Brien, are in peril. Dr. Atwater and Justin Cardamon plot a rescue attempt, and the FBI arrives to pay a visit to Dr. Brooks.

    The triskele symbolizes the mystery of the Fraternitas.
    Whatever evil stalks the sanitarium may not matter for Dermott O’Brien. He’s scheduled for severe treatment following his violent escapade. Convinced that O’Brien isn’t really mad, Atwater and his faithful friend Cardamon hatch a desperate plot to free him.
    As much as they’ve tried to keep things quiet, the security problems can’t escape the notice of the FBI, especially when violent criminals escape and staff are dying. The conditions at Hayward Sanitarium are definitely out of control.

    • 25 min
    Episode 9: The Arrest

    Episode 9: The Arrest

    Maria begins to create hell for Dr. Atwater. He and Cardamon visit Robert in the County Jail, where a chill is cast over their futures.


    Evil’s reach is long.
    It can stretch into the seemingly safest places. It chills the bones and sends shivers up our spines. We feel its presence with shudders and quakes.
    And we know the cost of the lives it takes.
    Robert is arrested for his crimes. And all appears to be getting better. But when Atwater and Cardamon try to find out what the orderly knows about the rest of the mystery, something that can’t be explained rationally intervenes.
    The skeptic in Dr. Atwater is fading fast. How did Maria escape her cell? And what new horrors are in store now that the “Vermont Vampire” is again on the loose?
    Things are really getting out of control at the Sanitarium, or they are slipping deeper into a darker control. And there may be no escape from it.

    • 30 min
    Episode 8: Exposure

    Episode 8: Exposure

    Atwater and Cardamon go hunting for clues in Dr. Chandler’s office, and Maria escapes from the sanitarium, vowing revenge on Dr. Atwater.


    Some bats in the belfry can be more of problem than others.
    Things go from bad to worse for Dr. Richard Atwater, and now he’s gotten his best friend in the world into the deadly mystery with all of its unforeseen consequences.
    Dr. Chandler seems to have practicing much more than psychiatric medicine at the sanitarium judging from the discoveries revealed as Atwater and Cardamon search his office.
    As they bury the dead and send the spirits off, there’s terrifying news. Maria Cacador has somehow disappeared from her cell at the Sanitarium’s maximum security level and is nowhere to be found.

    • 27 min
    Episode 7: The Cliff

    Episode 7: The Cliff

    Dermott O’Brien tries to escape the Sanitarium, taking a nurse hostage in a frightening episode. And Dr. Chandler becomes a victim of a brutal “accident.”

    You really should try to drive more safely, Dr. Chandler. These dark roads can be deadly
    The tension at the sanitarium can almost be cut with a knife. Ever closer to the edge of collapse, Dermott O’Brien tries a desperate act. Why can’t everyone see what he sees so clearly? Hopefully Dr. Atwater can gain his trust and talk some sense before someone gets hurt.
    The winding, dark roads on the cliffs by the sea can be very dangerous under any conditions, and Dr. Chandler finds that they can be downright deadly.
    For every clue discovered, the mystery at Hayward Sanitarium only deepens. Much like the roads on those cliffs, this dark and winding path seems only to lead to frightening and fateful places.

    • 27 min
    Episode 6: Housewarming

    Episode 6: Housewarming

    Dr. Atwater plays host to the sanitarium staff for a holiday dinner, but is one of the guests a killer? And who is the “secret admirer” who is stalking Halley Brooks. The plot thickens.


    On a dark night, a housewarming for Dr. Atwater may reveal even more puzzles to the mystery he’s living through.
    What could be more congenial than a dinner with respected coworkers as the holiday season starts? It has been a whirlwind fall as Dr. Atwater has settled into his new life at the sanitarium, but his adventures may have only just begun.
    While Atwater may have tried to escape the daemons haunting his past, the life he dreamed about may be the worst nightmare imaginable.

    • 28 min
    Episode 5: The Baby

    Episode 5: The Baby

    Justin Cardamon helps Dr. Atwater remodel his dream house, and the two men uncover a secret that reaches for them across the decades. 

     
    A hidden spectre, buried from time and memory, is revealed in the basement of Atwater’s dream home.
    Dr. Atwater is updating a picturesque old farmhouse, building his dream home from the inside out. The renovations have extended far longer, and into much deeper financial territory, than anyone expected.
    But no one expected to find what the workers uncovered in the basement of the old house: the chilling discovery reveals a decades-old secret shame and a grisly past.
    That secret haunts Atwater’s dream house and his dreams. But it may be more than his active imagination, and his imagination may be a truth to0 frightening to face.

    • 28 min

Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5
66 Ratings

66 Ratings

Hopi232 ,

Finish what you started!

I’m left hanging in the wind. Having completed 10 episodes, the mystery finished. So sad!

it's just Gigi ,

Too hyper

Couldn’t get past the first frenzied five minutes. Calm down.

lucy_cat2003 ,

Not bad but editing is annoying

The show isn’t bad, but the audio abruptly cuts out mid-sentence when transitioning to the next scene. I’m trying to ignore it, but it takes me out of the story when it happens.

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