ScaryPlace Reviews - Eastern State Penitentiary

What a perfect setting! Crumbling walls, the smell of dampness and very old despair. And the simple sight of those cramped prison cells should make a Halloween tour of this place a surefire thrill.

So what went wrong?

Nobody likes to wait in lines, but even Scuttles will put up with a 30 minute wait if the end result is worth it. However, in the case of the Eastern State Penitentiary Halloween tour, it wasn't even worth driving into Philadelphia to see it.

This year's tour was even worse than the 1998 version. At least with that one, the actors were somewhat skilled and seemed to be trying to do a good job. There were just too many people crammed into each tour group to be able to see and appreciate the performances. This year we still had the oversized tour groups, but the production values and actors seems to be bargain basement quality, as if they expected the creepy environment of the prison to do all the work.

The story line, if there even was one, was disjointed and lame. The actors were out of character more often than they were in, and their idea of being scary was of the "Jump out and go Boo" variety.

All in all, it was a big rip off. The only part that has true scare potential was after the tour was over, you have the opportunity to visit the small museum and view some videos about what life was like behind these walls.

Scuttles advice: Just visit the prison during normal working hours and take the regular tour. The reality is scary enough. It may be worth trying next year. Go visit http://www.easternstate.org/ for more info.

Interesting note: The film "12 Monkeys" (starring Bruce Willis) featured the prison in it's scenes of the future.