- Prisons are inherently
disturbing places. The entire freedom of an individual is placed behind metal bars where they sometimes spend
the rest of their lives, wasting away, decaying like an old fence, and upon death, these prisoners' spirits sometimes remain restless, eager to carry out revenge on the living. (shrieking) Here are the 10 creepiest,
haunted prisons on Earth. Number 10 is the Bodmin Jail. Considered to be one of
the most haunted locations in all of Britain, Bodmin
Jail in Cornwall, England, has a dark past, one that clearly left a
mark on the institution in the form of angry spirits. Built in 1779, the prison
operated for 150 years before closing. But while the living
prisoners were transferred to other places, the dead
seemed to stick around. Shadows moving, whispers without a source, and even physical contact
have all been documented by those who visit. One of the most famous
ghosts within Bodmin's walls is Selina Wadge, a mother
who drowned her own child and died while incarcerated. She's been said to
torment expecting mothers and children who walk by,
tugging at their hair, or grabbing them in an
attempt to get their attention so that they can forgive her for the horrific crime that she committed. Number nine is Cripple Creek Jail. In the late 1800s, a gold
rush increased the population of Cripple Creek Colorado,
from just 15 people to over 50,000. This caused a big rise in crime, and those who broke the law
usually found themselves in Cripple Creek Jail. Of course, with only a few guards, and even fewer cells, the
prison was ill-equipped to handle the number of
prisoners it took in, and many inmates died. It's been said that angry
ghosts have stayed behind to torment others. One spirit, a female guard, has appeared before multiple visitors, revealing that she and the
ghosts of other jailers are still on the job, keeping the ghosts of
several inmates contained. Oddly, one of the most
frequently seen apparitions is that of a young girl, who will walk into the jail's front door and disappear right before
the eyes of witnesses. Number eight is the Ararat County Jail. Renamed J Ward in 1886,
the Ararat County Jail is rightfully located in Ararat County in Victoria, Australia. Opened on October 10th,
1961, the prison became home to the country's criminally insane, but today is the home of the
ghosts of those criminals. During its time, J Ward say its inmates put through horrific treatment, any of them completely undeserving of the ordeals that they were put through. The screams of those
put through therapies, such as lobotomies without anesthetic, can still be heard, and a
number of visitors have reported being touched or grabbed
by unseen entities. One particular spirit, an
evil nurse called Nurse Kerry, still protects her ward, forcing
anyone who visits to leave so that they won't see how
she and her fellow staff treat the patients. Number seven is Moundsville Penitentiary. Located in Moundsville, West Virginia, this gothic-style prison is well known for being
a paranormal hotspot. In the 1930s, guards at
Moundsville Penitentiary would frequently notice
an inmate out of his cell and walking the outer grounds, but when they sounded the alarm
and the cells were checked, they realized that nobody had escaped, and the figure out in
the yard had disappeared. This gave the prison a
reputation for housing ghosts, one which would only grow as more and more terrifying
instances occurred. But perhaps the most unsettling apparition stays within the penitentiary's walls, and has been nicknamed the Shadow Man. This dark spirit remains in the shadows and reportedly has no face, making it even more
horrifying to encounter, and has scared the wits out
of a number of visitors. Number six is the Tower of London. Founded in 1066, the Tower of London is actually made up of several buildings that stand inside two rings
of walls and a wide moat that surrounds everything. The entire castle was
a symbol of oppression inflicted by William the Conqueror, and later, in the year
1100, became a prison. The ghosts haunting the
Tower of London include some pretty famous faces,
including that of Anna Boleyn, who's actually been spotted walking around the fortress grounds,
holding her own severed head. Another tortured soul
who was held at the tower was Margaret Pole, the
Countess of Salisbury, who denied being a traitor and wouldn't lay down to be executed. A number of visitors to
the castle have witnessed the bloody scene played
out by Pole's ghost, who was butchered to death on the green. Number five is Ohio State Reformatory. Known as the Mansfield Reformatory, the Ohio State Reformatory was
built between 1886 and 1910, in Mansfield, Ohio, and
was made famous for its use in the production of the
Shawshank Redemption. The prison was ordered closed in 1990, after the brutal conditions
inmates endured came to light. But in 1995, the Mansfield
Reformatory Preservation Society opened the building to ghost tours. Today, it's widely considered
among ghost hunters to be one of the most
active haunted locations within the United States. If you ever find yourself
on one of the tours, expect to encounter cold
spots in random places, and to have any electronic
devices experience interference or otherwise malfunction. Photographs have captured
a number of orbs, and more disturbingly,
there have been several physical hostile encounters
that have been reported. Number four is the
Karosta Naval Port Prison. When it opened in the year 1900, the Karosta Naval Port Prison in Latvia, was a Soviet military detention center, housing soldiers who
committed serious offenses or attempted to desert. According to recorded history, since the prison's doors first opened, nobody incarcerated
there managed to escape. Inside, the walls still
contain grim messages carved into them by prisoners,
many which died while there. Karosta was designed to break the spirits of those within it, and those
spirits still roam the halls, creating loud footsteps, opening cell doors that were locked, unscrewing and smashing light bulbs, and even appearing suddenly
before terrified visitors. Since 2013, its hosted Extreme Night, where visitors can
actually spend the night locked up in their own
cells at the spirits' mercy. Number three is Alcatraz. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary sits on the appropriately
named, Alcatraz Island, in the San Francisco Bay, and is considered one of the
most haunted places in the US. But even before it was a prison, there were tales of evil
spirits inhabiting the island, told by the Native Americans. It was even described
by Mark Twain as being "as cold as winter, even
in the summer months." Everyone, from former guards to inmates, to modern-day tourists,
have claimed to experience paranormal occurrences
inside the walls of Alcatraz, with some simply hearing
whispers and cries from empty cells, while others witness the
appearance of actual apparitions moving along the dark corridors. There are even reports of
sudden temperature drops, and cell doors closing, as
well as locking, on their own. Number two is the Shepton Mallet Prison. Shepton Mallet Prison, also
referred to as Cornhill, is located in Shepton
Mallet, Somerset, England, and, just prior to closing in 2013, was the oldest operating prison in the UK. Being a functioning
institution since 1625, and also a category C prison, which meant it had the most
notorious and dangerous inmates, the facility saw a number of
grisly murders over the years. The grounds around Shepton Mallet Prison are littered with the
unmarked graves of the many who were either executed
by hanging or firing squad, or had died from various conditions, such as small pox, and malnutrition. Many ghosts haunt the complex,
including a woman in white, and several executed inmates
who cry out and laugh. In one terrifying instance, a guard was even attacked
by an invisible assailant, who burned him. And number one is Eastern
State Penitentiary. Opened in 1829, and closed in 1971, Eastern State Penitentiary was a prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was, at the time of its completion, the largest and most expensive
public structure built in the US. But what makes the massive
complex so famous today, is the number of ghostly encounters people seem to experience
while inside of it. Eastern State has a long
and unsettling history of torture, illness, suicides,
and, of course, murder, which has allegedly resulted
in the facility housing a number of terrifying apparitions. Cell blocks contain spirits of
prisoners that laugh evilly, whisper, cry out, or
dart from cell to cell, while the silhouette of
a guard has been seen watching visitors on tour. And in one of the most
terrifying documented encounters, one inmate even spoke of
being physically restrained by unseen forces. And that's it. If you enjoyed this video and you'd like to see more
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