Two years ago, I visited the West Virginia Penitentiary with my friend Nicole and my sister Beckie. We heard that they had overnight ghost hunting tours of the famously haunted prison.
Nothing could have prepared me for the enormous prison nestled in between the quiet residential homes. We pulled up to the ominous building and thought about what we had signed up for. In the late hours of the night, the place seemed to be shouting for us to turn back.
We went inside, though, and a tour guide walked us around and gave a history of the prison’s gory past. We learned that the prison was considered one of the most violent correctional institutions in the United States, and that almost 1,000 people died within its walls.
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| Psych Ward |
During this visit, we were equipped with flashlights, digital cameras, and a voice recorder. The guide talked about different techniques that we could use to see if there was spiritual activity.
One technique was called the “flashlight game.” This is when you place a flashlight down and see if you can ask a spirit to turn it off and on.
Other techniques that we used were simpler. They involved using our cameras and voice recorder to see if we could detect ghosts in our midst by asking questions.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get much. We couldn’t hear anything on the audio recordings other than ourselves. In the photos, there were no “shadow people.”
However, there were many orbs. It is difficult to determine whether orbs are ghosts, or whether they are just bits of dust reflecting in the flash. It is understandable for a place that hasn’t been cleaned in 20 years to be dusty. The strange part was when the orbs began appearing outside in the open air too.
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| Outside |
The Cell Blocks
A good bit of time was spent exploring the cell blocks. We were able to go inside them, to feel what it would have been like to live in there. They were incredibly small, and our guide told us that at one point there could be as many as three people squeezed into these cells.
Some had artwork drawn on the walls, others were plain. To spend so much time in such a small space must have had its toll on the former prisoners there. They had to brighten up their lives somehow, and for some that meant art.
The picture below is one that I took inside one of these cells. I don’t know who drew these drawings, or why, but it seems as though they were trying to make their sentence better in whatever ways they could. The prison was a dangerous place to be, so the smallest things could be used to lighten up those dark halls.
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| My sister Beckie examining a cell |
The Sugar Shack
One area that we went into was called The Sugar Shack, which used to be a recreation area. It is a large, open room with cement support beams spread throughout. As soon as you walked in, you could feel a dark presence in the room.
Apparently, when it was in use, a lot of fighting occurred down there. Our tour guide told us that guards didn’t pay much attention to what went on down there, so The Sugar Shack became a good place to get away with gambling, rape, fighting, and in some instances, murder.
This is where I had my ghost experience. We were standing in this room when it was pitch black. We couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces. The person closest to me was my sister, who was at least four feet away. I began to feel a light tug on the right sleeve of my coat.
I didn’t think much of it… I thought that it was just my sister, trying to play a joke on me. What I didn’t understand is how she had gotten closer to me without my hearing it. I swatted at me elbow trying to get “her” to stop, but the tugging resumed.
“Stop
touching me,” I told her. There was a pause.
“I’m not touching you,” I heard her
say from afar. I reached out again for the hand that was still pulling at my
sleeve, only to find that there was nothing there.
I turned my flashlight on, and saw that my sister was in the same spot she was in when we turned out the lights. I was afraid at this point, because if a ghost was touching me it was probably the ghost of a violent criminal. My sister thought that I was making it all up, but I knew what I felt. Something else was down there with us.
I did capture one picture in The Sugar Shack that stood out from the rest. I was just taking random pictures of the room to see if I could catch anything on film. When I reviewed the pictures later, I noticed something strange.
In the top right corner, I saw what appeared to be three red circles that were connected. In the same photograph, around the center of it is what appeared to be an orb. This one stood out, though, because it looked as though it were half-formed. It was also a lot brighter than any of the other orbs.
I’ve thought about possible explanations for these strange appearances, but I’ve come up blank. The room was dark when the photos were taken, besides the flash. There were no other light sources in the room. Could it have been a spirit trying to make itself known?
I turned my flashlight on, and saw that my sister was in the same spot she was in when we turned out the lights. I was afraid at this point, because if a ghost was touching me it was probably the ghost of a violent criminal. My sister thought that I was making it all up, but I knew what I felt. Something else was down there with us.
I did capture one picture in The Sugar Shack that stood out from the rest. I was just taking random pictures of the room to see if I could catch anything on film. When I reviewed the pictures later, I noticed something strange.
In the top right corner, I saw what appeared to be three red circles that were connected. In the same photograph, around the center of it is what appeared to be an orb. This one stood out, though, because it looked as though it were half-formed. It was also a lot brighter than any of the other orbs.
I’ve thought about possible explanations for these strange appearances, but I’ve come up blank. The room was dark when the photos were taken, besides the flash. There were no other light sources in the room. Could it have been a spirit trying to make itself known?
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| The Sugar Shack |
Thoughts on the Penitentiary
Overall, I thought that this was a great experience. It was unfortunate that we didn’t capture much on pictures or voice recordings, but that doesn’t mean that it was a complete waste of time. To be able to explore such an interesting place and learn about some of its violent history was fascinating.
I learned a lot about myself by doing this. I now know that I am capable of more than I thought I was. I’ve had people tell me that I’m crazy for doing this. They tell me that they never could have done it, that it would be was too scary for them.
I had never done anything like this before, and I’ll admit that when we pulled up to the prison, I was scared. The building itself was huge and intimidating, especially at the late hour that we arrived. Yet, I still wanted to wander through it in the dark. I was nervous, but the adventurous side of me that doesn’t come out that often decided that I needed to go through with this.
I know that a part of me is crazy for having done this, but I have no regrets. It was a truly amazing experience, one that I would gladly do again in the future.
Related Links:
Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures
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