Beyond the Cradle - TTLG Forums

LittleTaffer on 9/3/2006 at 06:35

I have been wondering for the longest time about the Cradle level.

Two questions:

1. I never understood what was so unusual about the idea that the Cradle was both an orphanage and an asylum at the same time. Maybe I'm just crazy, but can someone explain to me what is so terrifying about this concept? I'm trying to understand here.

2. The concept of quack doctors and asylums where patients are mistreated, is not new. But I'm really interested in it and tried to do some research on the subject. I was hoping there might be some here that share my fascination on the subject, and if so, do you have any resources to recommend? I've got a couple of stuff but it's not much yet:

Books:
Andrew Scull, Charlotte MacKenzie, Nicholas Hervey, (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691002517/leslehallswebp07/026-3443258-6263646) Masters of Bedlam: the transformation of the mad-doctoring trade (1995)

The above, taken from this list here,

(http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/victpsyc.htm) Victorian Psychiatry

Sites:

(http://www.chrispaynephoto.com/asylums.htm) Chris Payne's Photography on Historical Asylums

A rather well-known sanitarium with a reputation for maltreatment(http://carantics.com/chestnutlodge/) Chestnut Lodge Asylum, Rockville, Maryland (Not sure if these are true reports or just sensational gossip)

Domarius on 9/3/2006 at 09:49

Well you have to have a good imagination, and an apprectation of the paranormal, as presented in various movies, stories, and supposed documentries.

The scenario of the cradle is a set up for a lot of horrible experiences and tourmented individuals, that, if didn't cross over to the "afterlife" would not be something you would want to have to go near.

I really like (and was freaked out by) The Ring (the hollywood version, not the jap version) - it really plays on those kinds of things.

Sometimes, the general idea is that an entity haunts a place because the circumstances around the death were such that the person could not let go of what happened, and forever remains there for their own reasons (eg. The Others, starring Nicole Kidman). No one can know the motives of this entity and how it is trying to deal with them. Like in the case of The Ring, sometimes the result is that they try to make everyone suffer what they went through.

This unpredictability in itself can be a frightening concept.

You could even concieve that children have much more active minds, and would be more unpredictable and potentially much more dangerous "ghosts" as a result.

So, basically, your mind needs to react to these sorts of concepts in some way to understand where the concept of the cradle is all coming from and why it's scarey.

Some people I know found The Ring very scary, some didn't. It just depends on what you personally react to, which I'd say would be based on your past experiences and what kinds of things you've seen/read/heard/experienced.

LittleTaffer on 9/3/2006 at 10:02

Thanks for replying. I'm still confounded though. I think I was more afraid at the mention of the Cradle being an asylum, more than it was also an orphanage.

The fact that they kept orphans with mental patients didn't strike me as particularly terrifying, since I kind of already assumed that the authorities would naturally separate them. I never understood why people seemed freaked at the idea that it was "both at the same time".

More enlightenment, please!

Mugla on 9/3/2006 at 10:23

Perhaps they didn't want to raise the fear factor by adding an oprhanage too, but rather give a coherent reason for you to visit it:
Dreppt.

Raven on 9/3/2006 at 13:17

lol, please don't pick at the bandages of theif 3... let it rest. time will make it all better

OrbWeaver on 9/3/2006 at 13:18

Victorian orphanages and asylums are just two types of institution that were notorious for their mistreatment of inmates.

There is nothing particularly terrifying about it, it's just slightly more original than "yet another defiled cathedral/crypt".

Kovitlac on 9/3/2006 at 14:06

Quote:

1. I never understood what was so unusual about the idea that the Cradle was both an orphanage and an asylum at the same time. Maybe I'm just crazy, but can someone explain to me what is so terrifying about this concept? I'm trying to understand here.

I don't know about you, but if I was an 7yrs old orphan there I'd be terrified to hear the moans of the inmates and see when shuffling down hallways.... *shudders*

Quote:

I really like (and was freaked out by) The Ring (the hollywood version, not the jap version) - it really plays on those kinds of things.

If you've ever seen House on Haunted Hill (the more recent one, although I guess the origional has the same plotline), it's almost identical to the Cradle mission, only without the orphans. Inmates...insane asylum...going into the past (sorta)....twitchy people...

Or hey, if you want to get even closer, combine HoHH with The Haunting and it's be the same thing!;)

ZeroFlight on 9/3/2006 at 16:07

Quote Posted by LittleTaffer

The fact that they kept orphans with mental patients didn't strike me as particularly terrifying, since I kind of already assumed that the authorities would naturally separate them. I never understood why people seemed freaked at the idea that it was "both at the same time".

You would think they would but if your read the notes left behind and listen to Laurel, you find out they didn't do a good job. Laurel sat for the paintings of one inmate. You find out also that the kids played around in the halls of the patient ward and talked with the patients on a regular basis.

LittleTaffer on 10/3/2006 at 03:24

Quote Posted by ZeroFlight

Now that you mention that, I'm starting to think on it a little harder and I'm beginning to get the creeps..

I suppose initially it was hard for me to imagine the terror of it at first, because, well, the Cradle is an imposing building, it reeks of authority. And then there were many staff members to take care of the patients. Don't forget they also built a huge Staff Tower between both asylum section and the nursery section, so that the authorities can watch both sides. With this in hand, I always assumed that very strict control was kept and that asylum patients, particularly the bad ones, would have been kept in their rooms most of the time.

Then I suppose little children can be much too curious and playful, and adventuresome at times, and they'd sneak around....maybe that was how Lauryl ended up sitting for a painting?

godofgamers on 10/3/2006 at 21:08

Its creepy because there's one note that says, "We learn more from failures than triumph. I would love to sit in one one of your so called botched labotamies"

They're freaking killing pplz!