Hunting for haunts inside historic Philadelphia prison

From New Jersey.com: Hunting for haunts inside historic Philadelphia prison

Do you believe in ghosts?

Well, as a fan of the paranormal — I love watching the TV shows “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Hunters International” — I wanted to know if they actually do exist.

Paranormal investigator Kris Williams, who got her start with TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) in 2003 and has appeared on both ghost-hunting shows, was invited to investigate Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia — once home to some of the most notorious criminals, including bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and Al Capone — and I got to join her on her haunted hunt.

Kris, along with Aaron Sagers of paranormalpopculture.com and Tony Bruno of 97.5 the Fanatic sports radio, was a guest at the historic prison for the 20th anniversary Terror Behind the Walls encore event and paranormal investigation held in early November.

When I arrived at the prison, I was taken to where Kris, Aaron, Tony and some others were greeting guests, signing autographs and snapping pictures with fans.

They were all equally excited to have me there (representing a local newspaper) and I, of course, was ecstatic — this was a dream come true for me.

After chatting for a while and closing up the 2011 haunt for another year, Kris, Aaron, Tony and I, as well as a group of guests who purchased tickets for the investigation, made our way to the central rotunda in the heart of the prison.

For the first part of the investigation, I went with Kris and a group of about six guests plus our tour guide into Cellblock 10. This cellblock is one of the cleanest in the penitentiary and has several artist installations in the cells.

For the most part it was quiet in there.

I had my K-2 meter (a gadget which measures electromagnetic fields) and Kris set it up in the middle of the block. However, it didn’t get any hits.

Upon listening to my digital voice recorder the next day, I didn’t hear anything strange there either.

Next, I joined Aaron in Cellblock 4. This was an entirely different and disturbing experience.

I’ve never been scared at Eastern State (well except for those scary guys — actors — during Terror Behind the Walls) but, in Cellblock 4, I was scared. I didn’t like it at all. It felt very heavy — not pleasant.

An inmate beat a guard to death in this cellblock because he thought the guard was putting something in his food. They were actually putting vitamins in his food to keep him healthy.

After we were settled, Aaron asked us to choose a cell and sit down on the step in front of it. As soon as I sat down, I felt something touch my back just above my waist.

Thinking it was my jacket falling, I reached back to fix it.

My jacket was in place.

I am a skeptic looking for proof — a symptom of watching “Ghost Hunters” — but I was freaked out. I didn’t want to sit there anymore. So I stood up for the rest of that portion of the investigation.

About an hour into the investigation, I heard what sounded like someone make an agreement sound, “mmm. hmm.”

I asked if it had been anyone living, and it wasn’t.

Later, when I listened to my digital recorder, the voice was there, but is still unexplained.

During our time in Cellblock 4, a few brave investigators walked to the end of the cellblock alone, where they said they felt a real heaviness, an overall creepy feeling.

Several people in our group reported seeing “shadow figures” moving at the end of the cellblock, but again, being a skeptic, I blamed it on my eyes playing tricks on me in the dark.

While listening to my digital recorder, I heard several things that I’ve yet to figure out and I believe to be EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon).

One hour and 20 minutes into the investigation, my recorder picked up a strange yell that sounded like it was off in the distance. I know for a fact, no one in our party yelled at any point during the evening and no other groups in the prison were close enough. So we couldn’t possibly have heard any of their yells.

Then, approximately four minutes later, a voice very close to my microphone clearly whispers, “thank you.”

I was alone with no one near enough to whisper into my recorder.

Finally, Aaron asked us to again choose a cell, stand in front of it, and stare into it.

This few minutes of quiet felt like an hour because of the tense feeling that surrounded me. Toward the end of our time in Cellblock 4, I took a picture into the mostly pitch-black cell.

When I turned the camera around and looked at the screen, there was a strange, white blob in the center of the frame. Curious, I took another picture. Then another. This blob did not appear in the two, other photos.

I showed Aaron the pictures on my digital camera, and he came over with his flashlight to check out the cell, to see if there was anything reflective in the shot, a bug flying around or dust that could create this kind of anomaly in a photograph.

There was nothing. And Aaron was unsure of what caused the orb.

I’m not a big fan of orbs, and most paranormal investigators aren’t either, but this one is pretty weird.

My final investigative spot was Cellblock 15 — Death Row — which is located outside between blocks 2 and 14.

According to those who had investigated the night before — this was a two-night investigation — Death Row is an active spot in the penitentiary.

On the first night of the investigation, two EVPS were caught — “Leave” and “Get out.”

So, upon entering the cellblock, I placed my K-2 meter and digital voice recorder on the floor and another guest placed two twist-on flashlights next to them.

These kinds of flashlights are sometimes used to communicate during paranormal investigations.

It was all quiet for a while until finally, Kris asked someone to turn on the flashlight and one of them lit up. From then on, it was a back and forth all night, with both flashlights going on and off, intelligently responding to our questions, and the K-2 meter reacting simultaneously.

While the flashlight action was interesting, my voice recorder caught even more evidence in Death Row than in Cellblock 4.

Kris and the other investigators were asking many questions that were being answered by using the flashlights, but also their voices.

Some of the responses I heard weren’t clear, but were definitely there, such as a four-syllable sentence, a quiet “yeah,” a creepy and breathy moan, both which caused my hair to stand on end.

Then, (whoever was with us) started to respond even more intelligently.

One investigator stated, “I don’t think you can turn on both flashlights at the same time.”

The response, “Can’t,” is heard loud and clear on my recorder.

Approximately five minutes later, while discussing trigger objects — familiar objects that sometimes spur activity — “Help me,” can be plainly heard.

Kris explained that our group was not there to judge anyone, but we were just trying to figure out what happens after death.

The response was two, loud hissing, heavy-breathing noises that coincided with both flashlights being lit. The group responded to the flashlights, but not the sounds, which were apparently only audible to my digital recorder.

A minute or so later, someone said, “You know you don’t have to stay here, right?”

The clear response, “I know,” was captured, at the same time a flashlight turned on in response.

Seeing the reaction via flashlight, Kris asked, “If you know you’re able to leave, why do you keep coming back? Is it a matter of feeling guilty?”

It was then that the responses got a bit erratic. The flashlights were going off and on quickly and non-stop.

“Are you mad right now?” I asked, and the recorder picked up the scariest sound of the evening.

The sound can only be described as an anguished yell.

My recorder turned itself off two minutes later.

As my first, real paranormal investigation, Eastern State was the perfect place. I love the site — day or night — and its deep history.

And to share that experience with Kris Williams — one of my favorite paranormal investigators — and, apparently, some unseen residents — made this the assignment of a lifetime.

For information about Kris Williams, visit kriswilliams.com and visit Aaron Sagers at paranormalpopculture.com.