Halloween & Haunted Jails

Everyone knows that I love all things spooky. However, I always said I would never ever ever go to Eastern State Penitentiary because I don’t play with things that are haunted for real. I’m not the typical black person in a scary movie because I wouldn’t be in the movie to begin with! But my friend convinced me to go so I had to swallow my fears and tackle Terror Behind the Walls - the haunted attraction at the penitentiary.

Eastern State Penitentiary was an operational prison from 1829 to 1971. When it was built, it was the largest and most expensive public structure in the country and once housed Al Capone. The jail is reportedly haunted and every Halloween season they host “Terror Behind the Walls.” The jail is located in Philadelphia and is truly beautiful to see. It towers over the street and looks amazingly creepy.

My friends and I drove to Philly a little early and got some cheesesteaks because you don’t go to Philly and not eat cheesesteaks! We then hit the bar and took shots of Jameson because we needed liquid courage before being scared out of our minds obviously.

As you stand in the ridiculously long line to enter the jail they have actors outside that pop up on you to scare you. But my friends are thugs and we’re from Baltimore so we were fine. Anywhoo- we finally get closer to the front of the line and the anxiety starts to kick in. I really love all things spooky but I’m going to be honest with y’all- I’m a punk as well! Loving to be scared as much as I do could probably be best described as a mental illness. I watch scary movies with the lights on and haunted houses always have me grabbing my friends extra tight.

When you first enter the jail you have to sign a crazy long waiver that basically says “Hey, this place is literally falling apart so if you get hurt that’s on you playa.” Terror Behind the Walls is made up of 6 attractions: Lock Down, Machine Shop, Infirmary, Blood Yard, Quarantine 4D, and Break Out. When you enter the jail you have the option of choosing the interactive experience which means the actors can touch you and you can be snatched away from your group. We all said absolutely tf not. No way! So if you choose not to participate you go right instead of left. My cousin led the group and turns left for the interactive experience. We were all looking at her with extreme confusion and she basically told us to come on and stop being soft!

Out of all the attractions, the Infirmary was the scariest to me. It was gory and creepy. Random fact about me: I hate the sound of chainsaws. They really creep me out. What happened in the Infirmary? Chainsaws of course! There were 6 of us. Imagine being afraid and trying to link arms with 5 other people. I’m sure we looked absolutely ridiculous but we were trying so hard not to get separated from each other. That didn’t work out because my friend got snatched down a hallway and I tried to save her and let me tell you- I will never be a hero again! We went down a hallway that had these inflatable walls. You couldn’t see anything in front of you- you just had to push through the walls until you made it out. Whew Chilè. My claustrophobia was on level 1000.

I really enjoyed all of the attractions. The experience was so much fun and it ends in a courtyard with bars to help with your anxiety after being scared for about 45-60 minutes. It was the perfect way to kick off Halloween!

What are your spooky plans for All Hallows’ Eve?