Abhiroop Das
Created by Rowan Joffe, Apple TV+’s ‘Nocturne’ is unlike the usual small-town murder mystery narratives, in that it begins with the killer already behind bars. Before Jurek Walter found his way to the secret basement cells of Riverside Psychiatric Hospital, he used to lurk in the shadows of Fairhaven, a closely-knit town where each disappearance and murder subsequently sent ripples of fear and paranoia. While all of this stopped after Officer Jonah Lynn and team arrested Jurek, a series of new revelations shook up the town yet again. As the crime thriller show goes on, we learn that Jurek might just be pulling the strings all the way from the hospital, somehow orchestrating a fresh wave of evil in Fairhaven, and, with that, the setting itself seems to become animated, adding to the looming sense of uncertainty.
Riverside Psychiatric Reimagines a Real-Life Swedish Hospital in a Fictional Context
Riverside Psychiatric Hospital, where Jurek Walter is placed in ‘Nocturne,’ is a fictional institution created for the adaptation by Rowan Joffe, John Hlavin, and Øystein Karlsen. In the novels ‘The Sandman’ and ‘Lazarus’ by Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, which serve as the basis for the show, Jurek is kept at the Löwenströmska Hospital, but it shouldn’t be confused with the real-life Löwenströmska Hospital, located in the region of Upplands Väsby, in Sweden. While the writers may have used the real hospital as a creative starting point, what we see in the novels is an entirely fictional version, comprising a hidden basement layer reserved for the most notorious of patients.
In an interview with Crime by the Book, the writing duo, better known by the name Lars Kepler, revealed that they had visited several psychiatric units prior to settling on the setting described in ‘The Sandman.’ Elaborating on their research and vision, they likened the fictional institution to a “high-security prison,” where patients remain heavily medicated, and doctors wield an “unsound amount of power,” almost as though they preside over their own “underground kingdom. This idea is largely preserved in the TV adaptation as well, despite the story being shifted from Sweden to the state of Pennsylvania.
A parallel can also be drawn between Riverside and Chesapeake State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the fictional hospital that houses Hannibal Lecter in the novel ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’ Dubbed Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in the 1991 film adaptation, this is perhaps the most famous fictional setting of its kind, and ties into the larger connection between Hannibal and Walter Jurek as well. As for the filming process itself, Pennsylvania’s own Community College of Allegheny County’s South Campus, situated at 1750 Clairton Road in West Mifflin, doubles as the show’s psychiatric hospital, placing this world in a practical location while also maintaining a sensory illusion of sorts.
Fairhaven is a Show-Only Construct Designed as an Extension of the Characters’ Psyche
While Riverside Psychiatric Hospital may be where most of the show’s intense mind games take place, its broader setting, the town of Fairhaven, is also part of the fictional megastructure. Described as a quaint, foggy town with a small, well-knit population, it falls in line with many similarly invented locations that serve as a staple in crime thriller narratives, be it the iconic town of Twin Peaks from the eponymous show, or the more contemporary examples like Easttown from ‘Mayor of Easttown,’ or Wind Gap from ‘Sharp Objects.’ The specific origins of Fairhaven, however, can be traced back to Stockholm, Sweden, which serves as the overall base for both ‘The Sandman’ and ‘Lazarus.’
Creator Rowan Joffé’s decision to transplant the story from Stockholm to western Pennsylvania began with a vision of finding an American landscape that could sustain the same sense of isolation and unease. Speaking to Esquire, he described The Keystone State’s forests as a character in the story. At the same time, he was also drawn to the region’s small communities and what he calls its “Edward Hopper’s America” quality, where the apparent warmth and familiarity of a close-knit town can coexist with grayer shades underneath. To bring Fairhaven to life, the crew set up camp in places like Dormont, Vandergrift, New Kensington, South Buffalo Township, and Beaver, all of which come together to complement the environment described in the source material.
Read More: Is Nocturne a True Story? Is Jurek Walter Based on a Real Serial Killer?
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