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| Haunting Corrections |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 10/30/2006 |
“No smoking. No cursing. No rowdy behavior. No touching the staff.” -- Warden's rules for Halloween guests at Pennsylvania State Penitentiary. 
Terror Behind the Walls is a haunted prison tour with humble beginnings. It started in 1990 when volunteers told Eastern State Penitentiary visitors ghost stories. As the tour quickly grew in popularity Philadelphia hired actors and attractions to enhance the scare factor. Now the terror begins every September when strobe lights, screams and special effects create an ambience of horror as crazed “inmates” and “officers,” covered in zombie-like make-up, stalk the dark corners and hallways of the historic facility.“We have had people wet their pants,” says ESP's program Manager Sean Kelley. “It's a pretty exciting tour for anyone looking for a good fright.” One October Friday evening I decided to experience the terror for myself. As I mingle with the long line of visitors who wrap around ESP's stone-walled perimeter waiting for the impending fright, area televisions re-play penitentiary ghost sightings that were filmed by The Learning Channel and MTV. “I'm personally not a big believer in ghosts,” Kelley explains, “but if there were ghosts anywhere on the planet, they would be at the Eastern State Penitentiary.” Screams resonate through the complex as those ahead of me ready for the fight of their life. Before I enter, a half-dead prison official screams that it is time for my mug shot. I line up against an old stone wall as the macabre official growls through his face paint and takes my picture. 
Suddenly, I'm surrounded by cadaverous COs, who creep through the halls, their badges gleaming in the dark. We continue on to the maximum security wing, where ghastly inmates pace their cells, and pull their hair and shriek.At one cell, an offender jumps through his bars to grab my shoulder. Meanwhile, a gruesome CO with blood oozing from his mouth breathes down my neck as a nearby strobe light intensifies. I try to keep my cool as we pass cells filled with men and women who rip at their mattresses, while wardens emerge from dark corners and secret passageways to stalk my every move. Decaying officers smash through secret windows at every turn and bellow for me to “Move along!” Others stare at us with their dead eyes until we are spooked just enough to hustle past them. After maximum security, we head to an area called 13 Rooms. We move through laundry rooms, mess halls and the warden's office, meeting different scares at every turn. The warden's office is dimly lit, and a pallid warden laughs maniacally over paperwork at his desk. Once my group passes through here, we find ourselves at The Experiment, an area that requires us to wear 3D glasses and fumble our way through black rooms of fluorescent creepiness and glowing red blood. Cloth walls pulsate with hands that stretch to grab our shoulders, as ghouls jump out from the multi-dimensional landscape. Then we experience a new ESP feature called Night Watch. A zombie officer distributes mini-flashlights and leads us into complete darkness. As we make our way, corpses and mummies covered in goop hang from the ceiling. I scream as a ghoulish female corpse comes to life and grabs my flashlight. Next, we find ourselves in the dead center of ESP, and the terror is over. All of the frights and screams were definitely a thrill ride, and are highly recommended for anyone in corrections who wants to see what their job might be like in a haunted prison of Halloween horror. After the Fright 
Visiting ESP for Halloween is great for kicks, but history buffs will also get a glimpse of old-time corrections on the other tour.
“The most frequent comment we get from Halloween visitors is that they want to take the daytime tour,” says Kelley. “The Halloween tour definitely isn't for education. It's all about entertainment. If you want to know what really happened behind the walls here, the daytime tour is for you.”  Unhappy with Europe's approach to incarceration, which sometimes included corporal punishment, ESP focused on faith and good work. During the day, inmates served as shoemakers and weavers, but spent most of their in solitary confinement without visits from friends and family. Inmates were given bibles to study at night. Officials hoped that offenders would reflect on their crimes and repent their ways. In fact, “penitentiary” is derived from the penitent nature officials hoped to instill in ESP offenders. 
Some critics described ESP as a “forced monastery,” but the Philadelphia approach to incarceration was soon emulated in more than 300 prisons constructed during the 19th century. Even so, Philadelphia's approach was discarded in 1913, and changes were made to ESP. Mirrors were added for constant inmate surveillance and offenders received recreation time.Despite the changes, much of the monastery-like history, which includes Al Capone's stay, can be felt behind ESP's old walls and beneath its ancient watchtowers. The notorious gangster served time in a refurbished ESP cell for about one year, and is part of the historical tour. Expensive rugs and paintings to help make Capone's stay more comfortable made his cell a palace compared to others. “The history here is just so rich. People can hardly believe it when they see it,” Kelley says. So whether Halloween frights or historical sights are your fancy, ESP has something for just about every corrections aficionado or curious visitor. But beware; the facility is claimed to be haunted just as much during the day as it is at night (http://www.easternstate.org/halloween/sightings/). “Plenty of ghost hunters come with infrared cameras,” Kelley adds. “They do their research and they report a lot of ghost activity. The standard line we hear is that it isn't one or two ghosts that haunt Eastern State Penitentiary. It's thousands.” |
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