Well, I did it. I survived in a suspected haunted prison overnight.
I want to do this review for anyone else who is interested in going on one of these tours b/c I found it really hard to find information.
So here are the stats:
West Virginia State Penitentiary
Moundsville, WV
I'm not going to give you the history......that's pretty easy to Google.
You can do several different tour options (you can find them at http://www.wvpentours.com), but ours was the:
Ghost Adventures: Public Ghost Hunt- (Here is the blurb from the website)
Want to see what it is REALLY like to spend the night in prison – but with no living residents…..book your Saturday night with us for Ghost Adventures! Tour the facility with a guide for about ninety (90) minutes, and then roam the halls on your own. See who you can “find” living in the Sugar Shack or the Alamo, look for patients in the psych ward, visit with Shadow Man - if he is home, or try to sleep in a cell – we dare you! Bring a friend, bring all your friends or come by yourself on Saturday nights! MUST BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER
7 hours (11:00pm – 6:00am)
$60 per person Up to 60 people only
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
I don't really want to say negative things about their website, but maybe just some constructive criticism. But I'll get to that later.
The booking:
I didn't book this tour. I came back from my cruise (Carnival Dream, see my review) and my friend calls me and says, "Hey, on April 2nd we are going ghost hunting at West VA State Pen. I paid for your ticket, hit me up later." Nice, now I've got something to look forward to between my now and my next cruise!
Well, that was back in Jan. and we waited and waited......the week of we got to thinking......"What do we need for a ghost hunt?" So, I did what I know how to do best, researched on the internet. I found all of pretty much, NOTHING useful, including the website. So, a few of us emailed and got no response, then we finally called, but didn't really get anymore information. So, I plan on trying to give you everything I wanted to know before I went, so that you don't have the same problem. PS-The people were really nice there, just not helpful about preparation.
So here we go, what do you need to take: (I'll explain whys and hows during the review)
1. Flashlight, maybe more than one-I recommend something hands free. I actually had a Joby brand light that has bendable legs on it. I twisted it around my wrist and it stayed with not problem and kept me hands free.
2. If you are going in the Winter or even this time of year then you need to bundle up. The front gift shop area is heated, but the rest of the facility is NOT and has many broken windows and underground areas. Plus there are outside areas to explore. I can only tell you what the conditions were like for me and how I handled them. It was around 38 degrees when we got there and had been raining. The fog rolled in pretty thick in the early morning hours. I felt extremely comfortable in:
Blue Jeans with a pair of leggins underneath
Long sleeve shirt with a thick sweater on top
A heavy winter pea coat with scarf and gloves
Tennis shoes with reg. socks
3. There were wet spots in areas that will get your feet or pants wet, so think about that when choose clothes.
4. Snacks. You can bring them with you, but you can only eat them in the gift shop area. Do NOT bring alcohol with you! They stated to us at the beginning of the tour that it is a state facility and they can charge you with a state crime for alcohol or drugs. Just leave the Jack Daniels at home.They will check your bags.
5. Extras: We were told we could bring sleeping bags and fold up chairs, but to be honest we didn't use them. If you plan on doing some long term EVP work or staying in one spot for a long time and don't like sitting on the bare ground then bring something. We didn't use ours at all and it was just more stuff to carry. Maybe just bring a towel if you don't want to sit on the ground.
6. You can bring video tapes, cameras and other ghost hunting devices. Just know that you will be in the prison with up to 60 or so people (We had about 17), so some evidence can be skewed.
7. Bathrooms. They have them and real ones! They have a men's and women's, but only one stall per each. The restrooms are in the gift shop area.
8. You can enter and leave the gift shop area as you please, but the front gate gets locked, so that they know who is still in the prison and who isn't. Its really for your own safety.
9. They ask that you don't go anywhere by yourself. At least a pair. Again for your own safety. Perhaps you fall or something and need help........its just wise.
10. Be aware that other groups are around trying to have fun, but being a bit serious too. Have the courtesy to wait or move on to another area if someone is in there. Or at least ask if you can pass through. Some people are truly serious ghost hunters and are trying to get accurate readings and if you are down the hall giggling, whispering, banging doors around then they get bad results. We didn't have too much trouble and we tried to do all the things I mentioned out of respect for other groups. Just take note.
I think that's all I can remember of things I wanted to know or think someone else would for right now. If I have more I will come back. If you have questions, please comment and will try to answer ASAP.
Okay let's get started:
Like I said we had this planned way back at the end of January and we didn't do much prep work. Basically, we took cameras, and a digital recorder. We didn't want to invest in a camcorder. We aren't professionals either, just hobbiest I guess.
*Side Note: I took my cannon XSI with me thinking I'd get better pictures b/c it has a stronger flash. Well, I'm not an expert with cameras either and it took me all the way through the tour to figure out I needed to take my autofocus off. B/c its so dark, the camera couldn't find a focus when on auto. So, I lost a lot of photo ops b/c of it. If you have one of these cameras and are new to them like me........put it on man. focus.
We had a six hour drive ahead of us, so we met up with our group and then headed up together. We left about 3pm and after one gas stop and dinner, we got there about 9:45 (Cracker Barrell was PACKED!). We tried to take a short nap, but driving up to that place was certainly intimidating. My friend and I tried to walk down and take a picture of the front of the building, but this is where I needed my idiots guide to cameras. Oh well, we did have enough street light to get a glimpse of the Indian burial mound a few feet away. Then we had the pleasure of a black cat running out from the prison across our path. This was the first of many times curse words escaped my mouth that night.
We waited for a while and then they opened the gates for us to come in. Take what you need in, including money for tipping or the gift shop because you can't get back out to your car (you probably could ask nicely, but we didn't try that). They check your bags at the door. Be sure to have your tickets. They will have you sign in on a sheet so they know who comes and goes, then you must sign the waiver form if you haven't already. Take this time also to go to the bathroom. I used this time to put on my additional layers. They will try and wait for all the parties to show up, we got started a bit late because of this, but they lady was nice and let us go forward without waiting any longer.
The first 90 mins or so is a guided tour through the facility. The guide gives you the rules at the start.
Note: The doors are those electronic sliding ones and you have to push the button to open and close. So when you come back and the door is shut......don't worry, just press the button.
The guide will take you through all the areas you are allowed to go and tell you several of the stories that go with each area. You start off in the main hallway outside of the gift shop area. We then went to the Old Cafeteria where the riots took place, down the Shadow Man hallway, to the New Cafeteria, out to the Yard, down in the Hole, then to Wagons Gate, through the cells for the Worst of the Worst, through the Admin. Building, up the stairs to the Infirmary/psychiatric ward, down to the Main Hall again and out to the Recreation Yard, down into the Sugar Shack, Back up to the Reg. Cell Blocks and then into the museum area. Its a lot to cover. But we made it to every area that night. Once the tour was over you can purchase some merchandise or gather your group and head back out into the prison. I would suggest not going to the "big" places right off the bat. If you aren't the first group out, then you will just end up with half of the people in there. Even if you are the first group out.........people will have the same idea. Try the other areas first, then go back around. The later in the night, the better your chances of getting a spot to yourself. In fact, most of us left around 3:45am, so those who stayed behind probably had some people free areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment