For Halloween, my friends decided it would be a good idea for all of us to go visit the converted state penitentiary in Philadelphia. For those who don't know, the pentitentiary has been converted into a haunted house filled with rooms designed to scare the shit out of anyone. They all thought it would be a good idea...I on the other hand, did not.
Much to my dismay I was talked into going on the trip and participating in the night's festivities. The bus ride there seemed to take forever and maybe that's because it did. But as we waited to arrive at our destination, my stomach grew more and more nervous with anticipation. When we finally arrived we unloaded from the bus and got into a long line to enter. As we waited in line, one of the workers walked up to a friend of mine and began talking to our group. My roommate and I were scared out of our minds by the worker who was not phased in the slightest by out screams of disapproval.
Much to my dismay I was talked into going on the trip and participating in the night's festivities. The bus ride there seemed to take forever and maybe that's because it did. But as we waited to arrive at our destination, my stomach grew more and more nervous with anticipation. When we finally arrived we unloaded from the bus and got into a long line to enter. As we waited in line, one of the workers walked up to a friend of mine and began talking to our group. My roommate and I were scared out of our minds by the worker who was not phased in the slightest by out screams of disapproval.
Eastern State Penitentiary on October 25, 1829 and is considered the country's first penitentiary. The cells had a metal door and a wooden door to muffle noise. Some thought that the small door frames were designed to make it harder for prisoners to escape. The halls were designed to replicate the feeling of a church and they had a single sky light which was called the "Eye of God". Many prisoners were kept in isolation as to get closer to God, however the long amounts of solitude caused a lot of mental illnesses in prisoners. In 1913, solitude cells were abandoned due to over crowding reasons. The prison was a congregate prison until it closed in 1970. Al Capone was once kept in Eastern State Penitentiary.
In April 1945, twelve prisoners escaped from behind the prison walls by digging at 97 foot tunnel underneath the prison.
The title of the frightfest is "Terror Behind the Walls" and boy are they not kidding. Some may say that I'm a scardy cat. I can barely make it through a horror movie without curling up into a ball and hiding my eyes. So as a participant in the number one haunted house in America, let's just say I gave my title as a scardy cat justice. On the website itself under the FAQ, they mention that they will do their best to scare you. And boy did they. Well at least I was scared. You are taken around to five or six different areas of the prison all of which are equally frightening. There are robots that jump out at you as well as real people who are paid to scare you silly. Loud noise, fog, and dark lights make the location even scarier. To say that I barely survived would be an understatement. I could not wait until I was out of the prison. It was a miracle I didn't lose my voice. I wanted to kiss the ground outside and say a thank you prayer to God because I survived.
That night I barely slept. My roommate and I wanted to sleep with the lights on. Our friends thought we were crazy. However, we both thought it was justifiable. Luckily we didn't have any nightmares.
But, on a lighter note, a friend who came along, who is an architecture major at Lehigh, did point out the different architechtural details that were popular when the prison was built.
The title of the frightfest is "Terror Behind the Walls" and boy are they not kidding. Some may say that I'm a scardy cat. I can barely make it through a horror movie without curling up into a ball and hiding my eyes. So as a participant in the number one haunted house in America, let's just say I gave my title as a scardy cat justice. On the website itself under the FAQ, they mention that they will do their best to scare you. And boy did they. Well at least I was scared. You are taken around to five or six different areas of the prison all of which are equally frightening. There are robots that jump out at you as well as real people who are paid to scare you silly. Loud noise, fog, and dark lights make the location even scarier. To say that I barely survived would be an understatement. I could not wait until I was out of the prison. It was a miracle I didn't lose my voice. I wanted to kiss the ground outside and say a thank you prayer to God because I survived.
That night I barely slept. My roommate and I wanted to sleep with the lights on. Our friends thought we were crazy. However, we both thought it was justifiable. Luckily we didn't have any nightmares.
But, on a lighter note, a friend who came along, who is an architecture major at Lehigh, did point out the different architechtural details that were popular when the prison was built.
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