In this episode of Booze & Ghouls, we head to Philadelphia to explore one of America’s most terrifyingly iconic landmarks: Eastern State Penitentiary. Once the world’s most expensive and technologically advanced prison, this crumbling Gothic fortress pioneered the use of extreme solitary confinement… and left behind a legacy of psychological torment, true crime horror, and lingering spirits who don’t seem ready to clock out.
We dive into the prison’s unsettling history, the infamous inmates who made headlines (and sometimes trouble), the deeply controversial punishment methods, and the modern encounters that keep ghost hunters coming back for more. From whispered voices and shadow figures to full-bodied apparitions and footsteps that pace long-abandoned corridors, Eastern State delivers hauntings as heavy as the stone it was built from.
Grab your drink, brace yourself, and join us for a snarky, boozy, and spine-tingling walk through one of the most haunted prisons in the United States.
Resources
- Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc.
- Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC)
- John Haviland Architectural Papers
- McKelvey, Blake. American Prisons: A Study in American Social History Prior to 1915.
- Teeters, Negley K. & Shearer, John D. The Prison at Cherry Hill: The Separate System of Penal Discipline.
- Rothman, David J. The Discovery of the Asylum: Social Order and Disorder in the New Republic.
- Lewis, Orlando F. The Development of American Prisons and Prison Customs, 1776–1845.
- Smith, Philip. “The Architecture of Confinement: Eastern State Penitentiary and the Evolution of Penal Reform.”
Journal of Architectural History, Vol. 42. - Capone, Deirdre Bair. Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend.
- Philadelphia Police & Court Records (1929)
- Sutton, Willie. Where the Money Was: The Memoirs of a Bank Robber.
- “Sutton Escapes Again.” Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 1945.
- Eastern State Inmate Intake Logs, 1830–1940 (digitized summaries)
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Court documents related to violent offenders housed in Cellblocks 12 & 15
- Eastern State Penitentiary — “Reported Activity Logs”
(Records kept by staff regarding repeated experiences: voices, apparitions, etc.) - Guided Tour Staff Interviews, 2018–2023
(Accounts from long-term employees describing recurring hotspots)Personal blog and eyewitness entries:
- “Ghosts of Cellblock 12” – firsthand reports compiled on phillyhaunts.net
- Visitor accounts archived on YourGhostStories.com (filtered for consistency)
- Independent paranormal investigation logs from Haunt Investigators of Pennsylvania (HIP)
- Audio anomaly collections recorded in Cellblock 4 and Cellblock 12
(Available through ESP’s official “Terror Behind the Walls” off-season documentation)
- American Correctional Association — “Historical Analysis of Solitary Confinement Practices.”
- Haney, Craig. “Mental Health Effects of Solitary Confinement.” Stanford Journal of Civil Liberties & Civil Rights.
- Philadelphia Historical Society — Urban crime and punishment in the 19th century
- Temple University Urban Archives — Prison overcrowding, reform debates, and post-closure deterioration
