The mental asylum is often described as a “heterotopic” space (Foucault) in which social economics and political conditions are reflected as well as the demarcation between the normal and the pathological. The majority of existing “anti-psychiatric” fictional and non-fictional literature criticizes the hierarchies, treatment methods and conditions in the mental asylum. In many texts of the Czech literature one can find a different perception of madness and depiction of the mental asylums. It is depicted not primarily as a dysfunctional institution, but rather as a place of creative development or intellectual shelter. This perception roots in the long-lasting and perpetual tradition and presence of surrealism in Czech literature, in which mental illness represents an uncensored exceptional state of human consciousness. which enables to break the conventions of expressions and standardized patterns of perception. Some of the selected texts are Karel Jan Čapek’s “Novelka” (1997, 2021), Václav Ryčl’s “Pavilon číslo 13” (2004), Zuzana Brabcová’s “Stropy” (2012), etc.