What more appropriate for someone who has now written 1,000 Yelp reviews than to review an insane asylum? I grew up five miles WEST of Manteno Illinois. Five miles EAST was Manteno State Hospital. Open for patients from 1930-1985, at its peak it housed over 8,000 patients, taking over the name of the nearby town with a population under 2,000. The insane asylum was what people thought of when the name Manteno was used, not the town. In fact nearby businesses used addresses for other towns rather than list themselves as being in Manteno. Other than that bad reputation, there were no disadvantages to living near the state hospital. For starters, many well trained European doctors escaped Communism in the 50's and came to work at the hospital. Our puny little local school system was populated with kids whose parents had fabulous academic training and great expectations for their kids. Hence those of us not from such backgrounds got to enjoy not only the academic competitiveness of those kids, but their parents' interest in having their kids exposed to Chicago and its culture. I can remember in high school baling straw during the day, then being taken to Ravinia to hear the Chicago Symphony that evening. Being 50 miles from Chicago had its advantages, if they were used. The hospital also gave Manteno's kids a chance to understand mental illness and learn some compassion. Who else would bring in the high school's jazz lab band for their Christmas party than a bunch of institutionalized patients? Watching them dance and have a great time, alone or with partners, was a great perception on the holiday spirits. Some of the doctors, and their families, lived in cottages on the grounds (it was a massive place, with a golf course, tennis courts, and dozens of huge stone buildings). During summers I would ride my bike the ten miles out to the hospital to get together with friends, often to play tennis. The only issue was to be sure to securely lock up my bicycle - no lock, no bike, within just a few minutes. And negotiating with an insane asylum patient to get my bike back was an experience! Maybe that's where I honed my negotiating skills for a future in banking. Everyone loved putting on costumes and going to Halloween parties at the hospital and trick-or-treating residence-to-residence. No, we didn't trick-or-treat in the wards. In fact I don't believe I ever saw a ward. Just common spaces, trees and gardens, hundreds of patients freely walking around, and an occasional bad one escaping and making it to downtown Manteno, to be picked up and escorted back. I've felt threatened hundreds of times by mentally ill people on the streets of New York and Chicago. But never in Manteno. Today some buildings still stand, although much of the property has been converted into housing projects, an industrial park, and a veterans home. Those old rotting buildings are reputed to be haunted by the mistreated psychiatric patients of bygone decades. Maybe someday some Yelper will write a review of a Manteno State Hospital Ghost Tour. How's that for Yelp review number 1,000? read more

Listen I'll tell you about this "bum fuck Egypt" -esque town. I came here expecting a spooky experience at Manteno State Mental Hospital instead I'm going 90-95 mph (following flow of far left lane traffic) tires were just fine yet some how it pops only 2 miles from my destination. So not only that was beyond fucking spooky but after that we had to spend nearly 3 fucking hours outside of a BP/McDonald's lot. Now after I was notified of my tow wait, we walked to Manteno and looked at a bunch of boarded up ass buildings with nothing but a sad past. Fuck Manteno and everything it is worse. P.S they have a high class trailer park. I am not quite sure what to think about it but I was only about 5% impressed. Don't waste your time here. read more