Terror Behind the Walls- #1 Haunted House in America
Let me start by saying I am a huge horror fan; Scary movies are my favorite and Halloween is something I look forward to all year. During the month of October I try to visit as many haunted trails, houses and hayrides as I can. When I heard about the Eastern State Penitentiary’s haunted house, Terror behind the Walls, and saw the Ghost Hunters episode when they visited there, I knew I had to experience this for myself!
Eastern State Penitentiary is located in Philadelphia and is a real, massive abandoned prison. Opened in 1829, it housed notorious criminals like Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton. After being designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 the Penitentiary experienced serious electrical and mechanical issues and most inmates were re-located. In 1971 the Penitentiary was completely abandoned and used by the city for storage.
The scariest thing about this place is that it is actually haunted. Nearly 50 paranormal teams visit the Penitentiary in a typical year. As early as the 1940’s officers and inmates reported mysterious visions and paranormal experiences.
Now, as I said, I’ve walked numerous haunted houses and typically I get excited and anxious beforehand but this time I got nervous and scared days before my planned trip. As I walked up to the enormous, eerily lit building, I wanted to chicken out. There were 4 men on stilts, in inmate straight jackets, with scary make up on. Among them were other staffers dressed in various zombie outfits. No one broke character while we waited in line. Already, the excitement was building.
The approach to the entrance of the haunted house was already amazing and quite a lead-up. I passed through real hallways of the Penitentiary, not decorated for Halloween. I saw the crumbling cell blocks and caged doorways. All the while the watchtower light was frantically circling the property below as if someone escaped the prison!
Finally at the entrance, a man dressed as a dead officer separated everyone into groups of six. “Intake” was the first part of the haunted house, meant to feel like the cell block when it was full of prisoners. I walked by cages and solitary cells while ghouls and prisoners snuck up on me, making bone chilling noises. Here, custom-built animatronic props, high tech effects and large props from Transformers 2 were featured. They even filmed some scenes for the movie there in 2008.
Next was “Lock Down.” I entered the looming facade of Cellblock 12, said to be one of the most haunted locations inside the prison. Inmates were lined up on each side, standing very still. It was very chilling and intimidating.
“The Infirmary” followed just after and if you have even the slightest phobia of hospitals this is when you would be out the door. I walked through operating rooms complete with old fashioned operating tables with bloody tools strewn throughout where it was clear the procedure had gone wrong. “The Infirmary”, in my opinion, had the best and most effective props. Everything there was truly vintage; wheelchairs, operating tables, operating lamps, tools and restraining devices. There was one strait-jacketed ghoul in a cage, chained to the ground who kept writhing back and forth screaming bloody murder. I ran quickly past him.
“The Experiment” was a full 3-D section. Glasses were provided by a zombie nurse behind the medical stand. She instructed that they were our medicine and we would need to use them immediately. The black hallways were splattered with neon paint that made the walls appear to have depth. The ghouls were also splattered in this neon paint so they blended seamlessly into the background. It wasn’t until you felt someone breathing on you that you noticed they were right in your face!
“Night Watch” was the last part of the haunted house. After returning your glasses, a ghoulish officer gave you a keychain flash light. “Night Watch” is the completely dark portion of the attraction. My group decided not to use their lights unless they were needed for steps or turns. This was a fantastic idea since it made it MUCH scarier. Zombies and inmates had a field day jumping out and scaring us. If they saw that you were terrified that just prompted them to follow you further into the darkness.
I finally took a deep breath once I reached the end of the haunted house. It seemed like a great accomplishment, since I’ve heard not many make it all the way. The whole experience was an amazing production of Hollywood-quality sets, custom designed props, animatronics and digital sound effects, all taking place within the walls of this, already terrifying, prison. It takes an elite team of 14 makeup artists almost three hours to prepare the cast of more than 200 performers each evening. All of the hard work definitely paid off because it was truly the best haunted house I’ve ever experienced. It was extremely frightening and felt all too real, which is something a lot of haunted houses lack.
I have already planned my next trip to Eastern State Penitentiary to experience their daytime tour that explores the prison and its history. Perhaps then will I have a real paranormal sighting!
Tickets can be purchased ahead of time. I recommend doing this and upgrading to a Quick Pass because you can be waiting at least a half hour. There are always coupons and deals on the site so be sure to check this out before your visit.