What is Hayward Sanitarium?

Hayward Sanitarium: Set at a small sanitarium in New England, dedicated to researching facility patients affected by so-called "supernatural phenomena." A team of dedicated psychiatrists and scientists try to discover if the supernatural is real, or simply a product of the human imagination. Brilliant young psychiatrist Dr. Richard Atwater arrives for his first day at Hayward Sanitarium. Very soon he begins to suspect that something is wrong. Horribly wrong. And he has to try to find out what it is. Unwittingly, he starts down a long, dark path -- from which he may be unable to escape.

Hayward Sanitarium is an original audio theater production created by David Johnson and Matthew Baucco in the 90s and produced by Last Minute Productions.

Originally, ten episodes were produced and aired twice on National Public Radio's NPR Playhouse. It also aired on the SciFi Channel's Seeing Ear Theater as well as on community and public radio stations nationwide.

The original story was scripted over sixteen episodes, the last of which have never been made public. This has created an enduring mystery of what happened at Hayward Sanitarium. The story continues now for the first time in over a decade online at HaywardSanitarium.com.

If you want to peek behind the microphone at the cast and crew that produced the audio shows, check out this edition of ROX, a television show produced by our friends J&B back in the day in Bloomington, Indiana.

You can also get a copy of "The Making of Hayward Sanitarium," a special documentary made at NPR's request that highlights the production techniques and the creation of the show.