MTV's Fear Filmed an Episode in Newtown 22 Years Ago

Remember MTV's Fear? That horror game show where they take a few wannabe "Real World" reality TV stars, put hoods over their heads, and put them in an alleged haunted location in the middle of the night, alone to complete a series of "dares" during a two night period to win some nice cash. Sounds fun right?

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The show originally aired almost 22 years ago, October 27th, 2000, appropriately enough right before Halloween. I certainly remember the episode and all the other ones as well. I loved MTV's Fear. It was a very intriguing concept that always made me wonder if I would be able to do it if I were in their shoes. When looking for interesting things that go on in Connecticut, and there are plenty of them, I remembered this particular episode being in an alleged psychiatric hospital in Western Connecticut.

Youtube/MTV

St. Agnes Hospital for the Chronically Ill is what they went with, in reality, Fairfield State Hospital at Fairfield Hills Hospital in Newtown. According to the website tvdb, the location was "closely guarded" to help keep people away, but shortly after the show aired, the truth came out. Keep in mind that this was BEFORE Facebook was as huge as it is now. MTV's Fear lasted just two seasons and the Newtown episode was the only one where cast members were given a bonus dare for $3000. Only one of them completed it.

All of the episodes are available on YouTube and I have seen them all. I am particularly fond of Buck Hill Inn, Eastern State Penitentiary, and Duggan Brothers Cement Factory. According to Wikipedia, Fear was named number 6 on Entertainment Weekly's "15 Taboo-Breaking TV Moments".

Check out these incredible photos from the episode and follow along on their journey. My thanks to ExtraminaInDocs on YouTube for the images and inspiration.

MTV's Fear At St. Agnes Hospital for the Chronically Ill - Fairfield State Hospital

Remember MTV's Fear? That horror game show where they take a few wannabe "Real World" reality TV stars, put hoods over their heads, and put them in an alleged haunted location in the middle of the night, alone to complete a series of "dares" during a two night period to win some nice cash. They filmed right up the road in Newtown at Fairfield State Hospital and the episode aired back in October of 2000.

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