Doors slamming in an abandoned Minnesota tuberculosis sanitarium
A caller named [name withheld], calling from Hastings, Minnesota, describes themselves as the author of a book about their experiences as a “sensitive” person. They recount exploring the abandoned Mineral Springs Sanitarium near Cannon Falls, Minnesota, in high school. The caller says that on a night visit with a female friend, a door slammed behind them. Then all the doors on the third floor began opening and slamming on their own. They add that the building later burned down under disputed circumstances and that an unmarked cemetery for unclaimed tuberculosis patients had been on the site.
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 2005.mp3”, starting at 57:49). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], calling from Hastings, Minnesota, tells Art Bell that the story is drawn from a book they have written about their experiences as someone [quote withheld] and that the story is called the Mineral Springs Sanitarium. The caller says the sanitarium was a tuberculosis center built in the early 1900s down in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, [quote withheld] In high school the caller and some friends went there to shoot a music video. They had learned the location from the mother of a family friend, who had worked there. The building was abandoned but still held beds in the rooms, files in filing cabinets, and stuffed toys in the nursery. The caller says they kept getting “this weird feeling.” The caller and one friend returned the next night to explore, bringing flashlights and baseball bats because of rumors about Satanists and cults, which the caller calls urban-legend material. They split the hallway and checked rooms floor by floor. After the first and second floors, halfway down the third-floor hall, a door slammed behind the caller. It was the same room the caller had just left. The caller says the handle was still jiggling. They then realized the door opened inward, not outward, and they had shut it behind them. The room had no closet, and its window glass was intact. Their friend said they should leave. As they headed toward the stairwell about 50 feet away, the caller says, all the doors on that floor began opening and slamming as hard as a person could slam them. They ran to the car, and the caller says they could still hear the doors opening and slamming from outside. The caller adds that a contractor who bought the property faced city opposition to a condominium plan, that the building “mysteriously” burned down one night, that houses are now being built there, and that there had been an unmarked cemetery for unclaimed tuberculosis patients.
Reported events, in order
- 0:15
[name withheld] says the story comes from a book they wrote about their experiences as a person sensitive to such things, and they name it the Mineral Springs Sanitarium.
- 0:27
The caller says the Mineral Springs Sanitarium was a tuberculosis center built in the early 1900s in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
- 0:38
In high school, the caller and friends went to the abandoned building to shoot a music video. They had gotten directions from the mother of a family friend, who had worked there.
- 0:54
The caller describes the building as a standard four-floor hospital with an elevator at one end and a staircase at the other, still containing beds, files, and stuffed toys.
- 1:16
The caller and a friend returned the next night to explore, taking flashlights and baseball bats because of rumors of Satanists and cults, which the caller calls urban-legend material.
- 1:42
They searched rooms floor by floor, each taking one side of the hallway, through the first and second floors to the third floor.
- 2:13
A door slammed behind the caller, in the room they had just come out of, and the handle was still jiggling.
- 2:29
The caller realized the door opened inward, not outward, and they had shut it behind them. The room had no closet, and the window glass was intact.
- 2:44
Their friend said they should get out. As they headed toward the stairwell, all the doors on that floor began opening and slamming as hard as a person could slam them.
- 3:21
They ran to the car about 50 to 60 yards away, and the caller says they could still hear all the doors in the building opening and slamming by themselves.
- 3:42
The caller says a contractor who bought the property was opposed by the city of Cannon Falls over a condominium plan, and that the building mysteriously burned down one night. Houses are now being built there.
- 4:01
The caller says there used to be an unmarked cemetery where the unclaimed bodies of tuberculosis patients were placed.
- 4:08
Host Art Bell calls the story poltergeist activity and remarks on how unusual it is for spirits to move physical things.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:15
The caller says the story is taken from a book they wrote about their own experiences as a person sensitive to such things.
- observation· 0:27
The caller says the Mineral Springs Sanitarium was a tuberculosis center built in the early 1900s in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
- observation· 1:00
The caller says the abandoned building still contained beds in rooms, files in filing cabinets, and stuffed toys in the nursery.
- observation· 2:13
The caller says a door slammed behind them in the room they had just left, and that the handle was still jiggling.
- interpretation· 2:29
The caller says the door opened inward, not outward, and that they had shut it behind them. The caller says the room had no closet and intact window glass.
- observation· 2:52
The caller says all the doors on the third floor began opening and slamming as hard as a person could slam them.
- observation· 3:28
The caller says that from the car they could still hear all the doors in the building opening and slamming by themselves.
- observation· 3:53
The caller says the building mysteriously burned down one night after a contractor’s condominium plan was opposed by the city of Cannon Falls.
- observation· 4:01
The caller says there used to be an unmarked cemetery on the site where the unclaimed bodies of tuberculosis patients were placed.
- host statement· 4:08
The host calls the story poltergeist activity and says such physical movement of objects by spirits is unusual.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
This is a firsthand story with named locations, a described building layout, and an ordered sequence. The caller raises and addresses the obvious ordinary explanations (wind, a person missed in the room). No one else backs it up, and the caller is presenting material from a book they have written.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand witness to the reported events.
- Named site and town: Mineral Springs Sanitarium, Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
- Concrete layout and sequence: four floors, elevator at one end, staircase at the other, and doors checked room by room on each floor.
- The caller explicitly considers and rejects alternatives: a missed person and wind through broken windows.
- No documentation, photograph, or record is offered or examined in this part of the broadcast.
- The only second witness does not speak on air. She is unnamed, and her presence is only stated.
- The story is offered as a book extract rather than as an event reported on the spot.
- The later material about the fire, the contractor, and the cemetery is stated without any supporting detail.
- When the high-school events took place is not stated.
- The transcript has several lines labeled as the host’s that appear to be the caller’s words, which complicates close reading.
- 0:15
- 2:20
- 2:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the story’s structure and specific named places rather than verification. No independent check was made, and the second witness is claimed, not heard.
There are details that can be checked, a named facility, a town, and a general era of construction, and a second witness is claimed. But nothing is examined, and the witness does not appear on air. This falls in the [quote withheld] range.
Evidence for and against
- Named site: [quote withheld]
- Named town and approximate era: Cannon Falls, Minnesota, built in the early 1900s.
- Claimed second witness present throughout.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is produced or examined.
- The claimed second witness never speaks on air.
- The later claims (fire, cemetery, contractor dispute) are bare assertions.
- The book the caller says they wrote is mentioned but not quoted or examined.
- Whether the site, the fire, or the cemetery claim can be checked is not addressed in this part of the broadcast.
- 0:15
- 3:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is low because the only supports are the caller’s word plus unverified place names. The hard cap of 50 without an outside check is not approached.
The setting, an abandoned tuberculosis hospital at night, still furnished with beds and children’s toys, adds to the unsettling feel. So does the escalation from one slamming door to a whole floor of doors, still heard from the car. It is not graphically violent or threatening to people.
Evidence for and against
- Night exploration of an abandoned hospital still containing beds, files, and a nursery with stuffed toys.
- Escalation: one door slams, then all the doors on the floor.
- The sounds continue as they flee and are still audible from the car.
- The bodies of unclaimed tuberculosis patients are said to be buried on the site.
- No harm, injury, or physical contact is reported to anyone.
- The caller’s own tone is matter-of-fact, and they frame the cult rumors as urban legend.
- No threat, message, or presence is described.
- It is not stated whether the door sounds were continuous or on and off.
- 1:04
- 2:44
- 3:28
What the model inferred (not said on air): The rating rests on the setting and the escalation rather than on any reported danger.
A night exploration of an abandoned asylum with slamming doors is a well-worn ghost-story frame. The caller adds a specific physical detail (the door opens inward, and they had shut it themselves) and an appended claim about a fire and an unmarked tuberculosis cemetery.
Evidence for and against
- Distinctive physical detail: the door opens inward, not outward, and the caller had shut it behind them.
- The handle is still jiggling when the caller returns.
- Appended material about the property’s later fire and an unmarked patients’ cemetery.
- Exploring an abandoned hospital or asylum and slamming doors are stock elements of paranormal stories.
- No unusual being, event, or combination beyond the door activity is described.
- How new this is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from this one story alone.
- 2:26
- 2:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model’s estimate of how familiar the motifs are. Weighting against the rest of the archive is not available here.
Scoring confidence 0.68 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call).; A claimed second witness, not heard on air.; Named site and town (Mineral Springs Sanitarium, Cannon Falls, Minnesota).; A book the caller says they wrote, mentioned but not examined.. The originality score blends the model's score (45) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- Wind through broken windows and open doors could account for door movement, at least for individual doors. · The caller raises this: [quote withheld]
- The sound of many doors slamming could be exaggerated by echo in an empty concrete-and-tile hospital corridor and by the caller’s own flight and alarm. · The building is described as an empty four-floor hospital with a long hallway and stairwell. The story notes they ran “like crazy.”
- A person or persons could have been in the building, as the caller considered. · The caller says [quote withheld] and mentions rumors of people using the site.
What stands out
The story combines a single strange door event with a building-wide door-slamming episode heard from outside at the same time. It adds a later claim about a suspicious fire and an unmarked tuberculosis-patient cemetery on the same site. The caller presents it as material from a book they have written rather than as an anecdote told on the spot.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.