Here are some examples:
* The Briarcliff Manor setting: The show draws inspiration from real-life psychiatric hospitals like the infamous Willowbrook State School, where horrific abuse and neglect were documented.
* The Sister Jude character: The character's rigid, authoritarian nature echoes the real-life Sister Mary Eunice from the "Blood and Roses" book, a Catholic nun who ran a convent for troubled girls in the 1960s.
* The alien abduction storyline: This is a direct nod to the 1960s Betty and Barney Hill case, one of the most famous alleged alien abduction cases.
* The Nazi doctor character: The show's portrayal of a Nazi doctor conducting horrific experiments is a clear reference to the real-life atrocities committed by Josef Mengele and other Nazi doctors during the Holocaust.
* The Bloody Face Killer: The masked killer, who skins his victims, draws inspiration from the real-life serial killer Ed Gein, who famously used human skin to craft items.
However, it's crucial to remember that "Asylum" is a work of fiction, and it uses these real-life inspirations as springboards for its own unique and often exaggerated narrative. The show exaggerates and combines elements from different sources to create a chilling and disturbing fictional story.