There are many infamous buildings that are rumored to be. Prisons occupy a special place among them. The convicts contained in them are often the personification of evil, they represent the worst in people.
However, often their imprisonment could be considered hell on earth. Violence, torture and insanity were common. One of the most famous prisons was Alcatraz, which is one of the most visited places in the world.
The military fort on Rock Island (the Spaniards called it Isla de los Alcatraz - Pelican Island) in San Francisco Bay was built by prisoners in the middle of the 19th century. In 1934, the army surrendered the island to the Federal Central Prison Administration to create a maximum security prison. Alcatraz was supposed to be a place with minimum comfort for prisoners and maximum security.
Although there were 14 escape attempts, due to the difficult conditions and rocky terrain, none of the prisoners managed to escape. There were many guards on the island watching over the prisoners - one officer for every three inmates. The costs of running Alcatraz were enormous, so in 1963, Attorney General Robert Kennedy decided to close it.
Alcatraz ghost stories have been around for a long time. The first of them appeared even before the fort was built. Pelican Island was also called Bad Island. The Indians used this place to expel people who broke their rules. According to their beliefs, evil spirits and demons lived on the island.
Many people talk about the sense of danger and panic they felt in certain parts of the prison. Prisoners often reported screams and moans that could be heard in the hallways at night. The ghosts of the inmates and the guards were also seen. Museum staff, tourists and explorers who came to the island also heard voices, groans and whispers. Blue lights and strange shapeless shadows were seen in the corridors.
In the hospital block, you can sometimes hear chants or words spoken by invisible characters. Interestingly, you can hear the voices of not only men, but also women. The guards spoke of voices from empty, closed rooms, ghosts in civil war prison uniforms that walked the corridors. Indian warriors have also been spotted. The guards spoke of the appearance of a man dressed in gray clothes and with sideburns. In the prison, footsteps, knocks, groans are heard, and invisible hands touch visitors.
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The most dangerous criminals were held in Block D, which had six isolation rooms called “pits”. You can also hear whispers and voices in this part of the prison.
In the 1940s, one of the prisoners in the cell told the guards that he was clearly not alone in it. According to him, it was not a person, but "something" that he could not identify - a dark figure with red eyes. The guards did not take the prisoner's words seriously and, despite the terrible screams, did not answer. In the morning, his lifeless body was found in the cell, and there were signs of suffocation on his neck. On that day, when counting the prisoners, people saw the deceased in the ranks. He disappeared in front of the surprised guards. Many inmates who were later in the same cell, as well as staff, tourists and ghostbusters, reported strange sounds. There, you can also feel sudden changes in temperature, hear voices, whispers and the sound of the cell door closing.
The isolation ward in Alcatraz.
In the basement of Block D, there was a dungeon containing the most aggressive criminals, they were chained to the walls. In the 1940s, this method of punishment was abolished. This is where most of the paranormal activity has been recorded. The people who entered the dungeon felt a sharp deterioration in their health. This was accompanied by anxiety, shortness of breath and dizziness. Here, the researchers were able to record strange sounds. Recordings of ghost hunters make it possible to recognize entire sentences in mysterious sounds.
The famous Al Capone was serving his sentence in Alcatraz. Months after his arrest, he informed the guards that the spirit of one of his victims, James Clark, was haunting him. He believed that Clark's ghost also came with him to Alcatraz. Capone was sick with syphilis and could not adjust to prison life. As punishment, he was forced to clean the restrooms. He found solace in playing the banjo. There are frequent reports of people claiming that the ghost of a gangster is walking around Alcatraz. Banjo music can be heard near his cell and bathroom, where he used to work.
Block C is also haunted. Usually this is the prisoner Abi Maldovitz, who died at the hands of inmates. The ghost of Alvin Karpis was seen in the kitchen and bakery. The couple vowed that they saw the spirit of the famous Alcatraz Birdcatcher - Robert Stroud.
The gloomy, dark building, located on a rocky island, causes fear and anxiety among visitors. The cold, seething waters of the bay and the strong, piercing winds that blow there made this place one of the most feared prisons in the world. The conditions in which the prisoners were held, their pain, anger and fear, undoubtedly remained within the stone walls. This place deserves to be called one of the creepiest places on earth.