Obscure Occurrences : Mysteries of the Hovrinskaya Hospital

 Having suffered from a lack of adequate healthcare services during the 1970s, authorities in Moscow approved the construction of a modernized medical facility. It was decided that the capital's new hospital would be located within the city's Northern Khovrino district. The allocated site previously hosted the city’s graveyard, before being closed down and covered over by the authorities. Right from the beginning, a cloud of speculation hovered over the project, questioning if the ambition eclipsed the ability to deliver it. The budget which had originally been allocated was considered to be insufficient for the completion of the proposed 10-story building with a capacity to hold up to 1300 patients. Despite these facts, the planners who had been charged with the task were not to be deterred.

 During the summer of 1980, construction of the project finally commenced. Neighbours and passers-by would spend the next few months watching on, as the concrete behemoth gradually began to rise from the ground. Constructed around a three-rayed star plan and designed using harsh brutalist architecture, the building bore very little resemblance to other health facilities. After two years of consistent pursual, with the building’s outer shell having been completed, work at the site raced to an unexpected halt.

 As days passed, questions over the exhaustion of the funds which had been set aside for the building work came to the surface. A closer inspection of the area designated for the construction revealed it to be a wetland site. This had resulted in the basement levels of the building continually being flooded, causing large amounts of the budget to be spent on their repair, ultimately bankrupting the project. Despite continual appeals for additional funding, work failed to recommence at the site and the concrete shell had to stand dormant for the next 36 years.

 Soon after the cessation of the project, the building acquired an unwanted legacy of death and misery. Although initially guarded against theft and vandalism, funding for security at the building ran dry in 1990, causing an increase in the number of uninvited guests. With ever greater numbers of explorers making their way through the failing wire fencing, calls to the local police increased. The huge unguarded territory naturally turned into a magnet for murderers, drug dealers, drug addicts, cultists, homeless people, and simply those looking for adventure.

 As the building's partially-completed internal structures began to degrade over time, more of those who ventured inside suffered misfortune. With time, the remains of those who had died while sheltering from the elements of the site were discovered by others who trespassed there. Furthermore, the bodies of murder victims were also found within the grounds of the derelict building, leading to concerns of possible serial killings.

Death of a Local Pensioner

 In 1985, the community was rocked by the discovery of another dead body at the hospital, one that belonged to a revered local pensioner. The old lady in question had been the owner of a small dog, which had run off from her while she had been walking it in the vicinity of the abandoned site. Summoning up the courage to follow, she made her way into the reception area of the building before recoiling in disgust. The area had been littered with the rotting bodies and bones of several other dogs and smaller animals. Some of these had been tied up and then killed, whilst others seem to have been torn apart or dissected. The horrifying scene appeared to have been crafted by human hands.

 Conscious of the dangers of wandering through the degrading building, she had turned to the local police for help, but she had been turned away by the officer on duty. He had told her that they were too busy to help and had advised her against returning to the site. Sometime later, a group of boys who had decided to explore the basement levels of the building discovered something floating in a large crater of water. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was the body of the old lady.

 When staff at the local Mortuary were called to recover her remains, they discovered horrific injuries on the woman's body. She had sustained massive injuries to her back and lower torso, and both of her legs had been broken and shattered. The injuries suggested that she had been dropped from a great height, but the room in which she had been found had a perfectly intact ceiling.

Teen Deaths

 A similarly perplexing situation arose in 2005 when the Moscow police were asked to search the abandoned site for a missing person. They had been contacted by the family of Alexey Krayushkin, a popular boy who was known amongst his friends as “Edge.” Suffering from both anxiety and depression, he had left his home leaving a suicide note in his room. After talking to his friends, his family contacted the police, stating that Alexey had been a regular visitor to the abandoned hospital and was seemingly quite fond of the site.

 Several officers were duly dispatched to the building before an initial search located the missing teen's personal belongings on the eighth floor. Finding his rucksack next to a set of open lift doors, officers assumed that the youth's body would be lying at the bottom of the unfinished shaft, but it paved the way to their disappointment as they could find nothing but rubble and debris. After several more hours of insistent searching, Alexey's remains were discovered lying in a side room on the hospital's second floor.

 Just like the previous elderly victim, he had suffered from catastrophic injuries which had apparently been sustained after a severe fall, but his body had been located in a small enclosed room. Thus, the situation could not be explained with any degree of conviction.

 Despite police warnings, several of Alexey's friends subsequently reattended the site after his funeral and held their own vigil for him. In memory of him, a series of murals and paintings were completed in the room where he had been found.

 Along with Alexey’s case, there were multiple reports to the police from teens who had been exploring the building, claiming to have been disturbed by a glowing entity. Resembling a tall and slender male, the figure was cited either in the vicinity of the eighth-floor lift shaft or the room on the second floor where Alexey had been found. Seemingly aware of the fact that it was being observed by those it encountered, it would immediately turn and walk away from visitors, passing directly through obstacles that obstructed its path.

 Other stories which have circulated throughout the local community mention three teens who were found slain at the site at some point during 2006. There is also the tale of an urban explorer, whose body was discovered at the bottom of one of the empty lift shafts, brutally twisted and broken. Unfortunately, the exact number of the hospital’s victims remains difficult to verify as the city authorities have repeatedly refused to release any official figures.

(Source: CTB)

Occupied by the Nemostar

 Officials have also refused to comment on another haunting story commonly associated with the building's history, that related to the activities of Nemostar, a satanic occult group. Established in 1984, the cult started as a small group of 10 people who chose Bitsa Park for their rituals. Painted symbols from the cult can still be found in the park. In 1986, they moved to the newly abandoned building, choosing to occupy its basement before performing ritual sacrifices of animals. Allegedly, they soon moved over to people, luring the victims into the empty building before murdering them. Members of the cult would rape their victims, kill them, subject their bodies to a ritualistic mass and even eat them.

 Over time, the Satanist numbers grew to 50 people and the number of their victims to several thousand. When local residents began to associate the bizarre and unknown nocturnal activities of this group with the bodies that had been found at the site, the authorities were pressurized to act. As a result, a police unit known as OMON was directed to resolve the issue.

 The officers tasked with this assignment spent some time conducting surveillance of the abandoned building before coming to a point where they were satisfied that the cult members had assembled. Soon thereafter, they stormed the building, herding the cultists far down into the basement levels before hunting them and hiding their remains in the flooded zone.

A Friendly Spirit

 Among all the dark stories from the derelict hospital, there is surprisingly one bright one. According to local tales, a friendly spirit by the name of “Raph” inhabits the building, acting as the keeper of the abandoned hospital. Raph allegedly helps lost people find the exit. It also rescues trapped people, such as those whose leg is stuck between concrete blocks or have fallen into an elevator shaft.

Conclusion

 Nobody knows for sure if the deaths which occurred there were the result of supernatural activities or the grim Deeds of a human killer, but everybody seems to have an opinion. Some blame the cultists, claiming that the number of bodies being discovered at the building site dropped drastically once the police had acted aggressively against them. Others believe that the deaths were the work of serial killers who may have been, either using the abandoned building as a place to commit their crimes, or as somewhere to display their grisly trophies.  Finally, for some, the fact that the land which was repurposed for the construction was a former cemetery is perhaps the true cause of the horrors. The spirits of the dead apparently rose from their graves, electing to punish the living who trespassed.

 Sadly, the possibility of investigating any of the other deaths which are believed to have occurred there has now passed. While the building was secured with barbed wire in 2009, regular security didn't appear until 2011. But given the size of the hospital complex, security couldn't possibly fully restrict access to the building. People continued to make pilgrimages to the site, noted as being one of the scariest places on the planet. After many years of reported tragedy, the abandoned facility was finally sold off to a private company in 2018. In October of that year, the building's superstructure was eventually demolished, before being completely cleared away, removing all traces of the hospital and its sinister past once and for all. 

References