Alcatraz Prison

Alcatraz is known as the worlds most infamous prison, its shell of steel and reinforced concrete stands alone in a thick fog—not the best sight for the numerous criminals that were doomed to brutal captivity. Its murky and ominous history is riddled with horror and brutality, the worst of which still remains inside its impassable walls.

It began in 1853 as a fortress used because of the island's distinctive defensive position. It proved not to be the best place to inhabit, and a landslide caused the first of many deaths.

In 1861 in was turned into a military prison. Army deserters were confined there in irons in the basement cells, where the living conditions were extremely dismal. There wasn't any running water or heat in the cells, and disease was extensive.

In 1934 it beacame a maximum-security prison for America's worst criminals. Frank Bolt was the first prisoner and was given five years for sodomy. The most famous resident of Alcatraz was Al Capone, who was prisoner number eighty-five.

The system inside Alcatraz was very harsh. Armed guards patrolled the corridors and anyone who didn't follow the rules was thrown into the small cells of D-block, where they were lucky to get out for ten minutes a week to shower. A lot of the prisoners couldn't handle it and commited suicide, taking death over a life of deprivation and routine. They were constantly beaten, the halls echoed the sounds of metal clanging and screams of terror. It was impossible to escape and those who tried usually wound up dead at the hands of the sea.

Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963, and is now a tourist attraction that people actually pay to visit and learn about its hideous past.

It is now filled with a force that has all the fear and pain of those prisoners within it. The spirits haunted Alcatraz even before it was closed. Between 1946 an d1963 guards heard sobbing and moaning coming from empty cells; there were cold spots, nauseating smells, and a "thing" with red eyes that would chase them down the corridors. The laundry room often smelled of smoke, choking the guards. When they returned a few minutes later, the smell would be gone.

Once a prisoner in D-block was heard yelling that something with red eyes was in the cell with him. No one payed any attention to him and the next morning he was found dead with hand marks on his neck. The marks were not from the prisoner.

Several guards, who were at the Christmas party at the Warden's house, saw the apparition of a man in a grey suit sporting muttonchops. The room was icy cold and the fire in the stove went out. As the guards stood there the ghost just vanished.

Still the most haunted part is D-block, in particular Cell 14D. It is always cold, a good twenty degrees colder than the surrounding area. It has caused visitors to shiver intensly. Those who have gone into cell 12D have had the feeling that they were being watched. An evil spirit has put its cold fingers around the necks of many visitors. One roaming guest who had stayed behind actually got "locked" into one of the cells.

Those who work on the island now have reported many paranormal happenings daily. Crashing sounds, cell doors being slammed shut, screams, and a feeling of being watched are just a few of the eerie experiences that they report. A psychic investigator visiting the prison told of an energy field stronger than any that he has ever encountered: feelings of fear, pain, anger, and abuse.