Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary: Grounds for Scrutiny

Eastern State Penitentiary: a huge medieval style building surrounded by hipster coffee shops, public schools, and a pleasant garden. It is on the mind of many Philadelphians in the weeks preceding October 31st. The penitentiary is transformed into a vast haunted house, which is, according to the experts at USAToday, one of the ten best haunted houses in America. 

The idea of a penitentiary was theorized by the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons (PSAMPP), the world’s earliest prison reform group. Members had witnessed the appalling state of the prison system. For example, at Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia (pre-ESP) there was an abundance of thievery, rape, and corruption.

One PSAMPP member, Dr. Benjamin Rush, thought of a new system. It was that of the penitentiary, where prisoners would hopefully experience sorrow and repentance for their actions. This involved keeping convicts in solitary confinement. Until 1913, prisoners were kept in cells 23 hours a day.  

Today, solitary confinement is considered a form of torture opposed to reformation. According to the United Nations, after 15 successive days, solitary confinement becomes torture. In 2020, the Prison Policy Initiative published a briefing describing the chronic effects of solitary confinement. Although 6%-8% of convicts are placed in solitary confinement, those same people make up 50% of inmates that commit suicide. 

In the time of the penitentiary, notes were taken on whether prisoners were indeed “reforming.” Forty-five percent of people over 20 years old and 64% of people 20 and under were recorded as having “no hope”—especially for young inmates, the experience of the penitentiary was devastating. This penitentiary technique was far from the plethora of reformation that the PSAMPP imagined.

Despite Eastern States’ mission of mental retribution, physical torture was far from absent at Eastern State. Laurel Dalrymple from National Public Radio described, “there was the water bath, in which inmates were dunked then hung out on a wall in winter until ice formed on the skin. The mad chair, which bound an inmate so tightly that circulation was cut off, later necessitating amputations. The iron gag, in which an inmate's hands were tied behind the back and strapped to an iron collar in the mouth, so that any movement caused the tongue to tear and bleed profusely (NPR).

Following riots in 1933 and 1961 and overcrowding issues, the prison shut down in 1970. Around 75,000 convicts were imprisoned at ESP in its history. 

There were a number of ideas for what to do with the space through the 70’s and 80’s. The Eastern State task force, a group dedicated to preserving the penitentiary, got its way; ESP remains a historic landmark. To earn revenue, the penitentiary began holding a Halloween event, funding tours of the building that examine the criminal justice system, bringing in 300,000 people annually.

The haunted house that the prison becomes for seven weeks each year sells itself as a thrilling night in Philadelphia. With attractions such as the Hospital Flashlight Tour, S’mores and lore, Big Top Terror Haunted House, and Nightmares haunted house, the experience is a fall-must for many Philadelphians. Tickets begin at $39 a person, and the event is often sold out. 

Now that we are all familiar with the history of Eastern State Penitentiary, I impose a heavy question upon us. What must we consider when throwing or attending an event in a place that imprisoned and tortured thousands of people? In the 300,000 years humans have walked the earth, the land where grief, devastation, and death took place is all around us. What differentiates Eastern State from the countless other gatherings held in places previously of anguish is that the setting of Halloween Nights is done with both great knowledge and great intention. Brutal mental abuse and physical torture were pervasive at Eastern State Penitentiary. Halloween Nights both capitalizes on the horrors of Eastern State Penitentiary’s past and the lore of a prison setting. Actors parade around the prison, adorning costumes of horror tropes including prisoners, wearing striped jumpsuits and jumping out, eliciting screams from unexpected guests. 

When asked to comment on the question mentioned above, ESP responded with a quote from their 2023 annual report:

...Halloween Nights incorporates our most popular and engaging educational experiences into the Halloween festival, opening the door for dialogue about how our nation can move toward a more equitable and effective criminal justice system...By partnering with Fair Chance venders such as Triple Bottom Brewing Company, Down North Pizza, and others, and through our own Fair Chance hiring practices, Halloween Nights supports living-wage jobs for people with lived experience of incarceration.

The report also noted the significant revenue Halloween Nights provides that is put towards "historic preservation, innovative new exhibits, and workforce development programs."

All of the described positive outcomes of the event involve promoting changes in criminal justice. However, this message becomes almost futile when the past that those employed at the penitentiary work to correct is taken advantage of for lighthearted fun. 

The 75,000 abused inmates have the horrific conditions in which they were trapped casually reenacted for enthused visitors to have a night of excitement. Thus diminishing the gravity of the inmates' experiences and the collected perception of how they should be remembered. Hence, I implore anyone interested in the event to think twice before taking part.