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HAUNTED HISTORY – Eastern State Penitentiary

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Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is considered one of the most haunted prisons in the world. The prison first opened in 1829 and operated until 1971. It was designed to hold 253 inmates in solitary confinement for the entirety of their sentence.

Once the prisoner entered, a hood was placed over their head as a guard led them to their cell. They were locked inside for the entire day, fed through a slot in the door, permitted only a half hour of exercise and only allowed out of their cell once every two weeks to bathe at which time they were again hooded so they could not catch a glimpse of another inmate. Each cell was built with vaulted cleanings and skylights that allowed “God’s light” into the cell along with a toilet, running water, heat, and a Bible.

The two most well-known inmates were bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and “Scarface” Al Capone.

Eastern State Penitentiary aka Hell on Earth

The prison practiced the “sound of silence,” meaning that the inmates were not allowed to speak, sing, or hum. Prisoners who did not follow the silence rule might find themselves gagged with a metal tongue clamp which included chaining their tongues to their wrists. If they struggled against the chains, this would cause the tongue to tear. This rule caused many prisoners to go insane.

Along with silence came cruel punishments. These included:

  • The water bath – where inmates were dunked in a bath of ice-cold water and hung from a wall for the night.
  • There was also the mad chair that was inside a pit called “The hole,” an underground cellblock beneath cellblock 14 where there was no light and inmates were strapped tightly to a chair, restricting any movement for days with periods of starvation. Some prisoners, once removed from the restraints, were permanently crippled. This was for the worst behaved prisoners, these sometimes-lasted weeks.

Women were also inside the prison; they were in cellblock two for 100 years until 1923 when the last female prisoner was brought inside.

Eastern State Penitentiary

Al Capone was an inmate here from 1929 to 1930, serving 8 months for carrying a concealed weapon. He was housed in Cellblock 8 before being transferred to Alcatraz. He had the nicest cell of the whole prison. Capone was allowed to have furnishings which included lamps, paintings, and a cabinet radio.

He often complained that he was haunted by the ghost of James Clark, one of the victims from the St. Valentine’s day Massacre in Chicago. Capone did not fire the shot that killed Clark, but did order the shooting.

Executions were not done at this prison, but multiple murders took place including Two guards who were murdered along with many inmates over the years. Hundreds of inmates died of old age or disease.

On April 3, 1945, a major escape took place carried out by twelve inmates. Over the course of a year, they managed to dig a tunnel – undiscovered – that extended 97 feet under the prison wall. Renovations that had taken place during the 1930s led to the discovery of another 30 incomplete tunnels.

Many ghost stories have been heard from this prison as far back as the 1940s.

Visitors have reported seeing the ghost of Joseph Taylor who murdered an inmate named Michael Duran to death in 1884. After he carried out this murder, it is reported he quietly entered his cell and went to sleep. His ghost is reported to wander the halls to this day.

Another ghostly encounter was witnessed by a Locksmith. He was doing restoration work in Cellblock 4, trying to remove a 140-year-old lock from a cell door when a massive force overcame him and he was unable to move. It is believed once this lock was removed, a gateway opened that allowed spirits caught behind the door to escape. The locksmith states that faces appeared on the cell wall and swirled towards him.

Charles Dickens visited Eastern State Penitentiary in the 1840s, he said he found the living conditions of the inmates appalling. He described them as being “buried alive” and wrote about the phycological torture the inmates suffered.

The solitary confinement system eventually collapsed due to overcrowding in 1913. Afterwards it was operated as a congregate prison until it closed in 1970. It then housed inmates after a riot in another prison in Pennsylvania, officially closing in 1971. This prison was made a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and opened its doors for public tours in 1994. This location is now open as a museum and for tours

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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