Opened in 1829, the Eastern State Penitentiary was deemed a technological marvel, with central heating, flush toilets, and shower baths in each private cell. Since then, this prison has housed countless criminals, both well-known and not-so-well-known. Inmate number one was Charles Williams, a farmer sentenced to two years for theft. From that point forward it would be used to imprison people as notorious as the famous mobster Al Capone. To ensure no one escaped, prisoners were escorted inside with an eyeless hood over their heads to make sure prisoners would never see the prison beyond his private cell. Communication with guards was done through a small feeding hole and the inmates lived in complete isolation, with a Bible as their only possession, and chores like shoemaking and weaving to occupy their time. Over 300 prisons throughout Europe, South America, Russia, China, and Japan would be based on this Eastern State Penitentiary model, both architecturally and systematically. In 1913, Eastern State gave up on the Pennsylvania System of isolation and penitence; Prisoners would now share cells, work together, and play organized sports. By the 1960s, Eastern State Penitentiary was falling apart and in 1971 it was officially closed by the state of Pennsylvania. Afterward, the prison was opened as a historic site in 1994, meaning it was now open to tourists for informational as well as haunted walkthroughs. In accordance with the Halloween spirit, Central Regional High School chose the haunted walkthroughs to be our first Senior Class Trip for the graduating class of 2025.
Generally ranked as one of the scariest haunted houses in the United States, our students didn’t have the faintest idea of what to expect. The bus ride there was both apprehensive and suspenseful: about an hour an
d a half of tension and uncertainty. Once there, students lined up, were handed their tickets, and began to enter past the massive walls that surrounded the haunted penitentiary. Once past security, most students ran to grab glow sticks to wrap around their necks to serve not just as necklaces, but as a beacon. The brave souls who dared to wear one gave full permission to the actors to touch them, move them, or do anything else they felt to be appropriate. My group and I chose to wear a necklace, this is how it went.
The lines were pretty long toward the entrance so my group and I chose to move a little farther back and start with the house themed with machines, specifically chainsaws. We entered a dark room and the house began. Inside were a countless number of props, actors, and machines. The jump scares were frightening, but what was even worse was when the actors separated your friends from the group. One of my friends was forced to leave the group and enter a dark tunnel followed by a jump scare. Once we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, that same friend was jumpscares, cursed out of fear, was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, and pulled back into the beginning of the haunted house followed by a “No Cursing” from the actor. He had to do the entire run-through again by himself…
The rest of the other houses were relatively similar, each one of us getting separated at times and jump-scared at others. They all had different themes though: glow-in-the-dark, clowns, nightmares, and then the finale. Granted, the finale wasn’t all very different from the rest. I’d say the real finale was the French Toast stand at the end. The line was long, and the wait to receive the food was even longer, but those Pumpkin Spice French Toast Sticks were simply something else. Unfortunately, the wait for those delicious treats made my group extremely late for the buses which forced them to leave way behind schedule but… they were worth it. Overall it was a fantastic experience not just for my group and me, but for all the participating seniors at Central Regional.
