Alcatraz Hauntings

Alcatraz: Home to wrongdoers, gangsters, and… ghosts. It's no wonder this federal penitentiary is rumored to be haunted by the men who lingered there. It has all the ingredients to hold a person's tormented soul: misery, confinement and fear. Ịt is even rumored by the Native Americans to be an energy portal where evil spirits are allowed to come through. This may explain "The Thing" with glowing eyes that has been witnessed by prison staff and inmates alike. There are reports of ghostly figures, screams, banging metal doors, putrid smells and sobbing.

Death was no stranger to Alcatraz. The first reported ones were in 1857 where Daniel Pewter and Jacob Unger passed away under a landslide while excavating between the wharf and the guard-house. There were fatal confrontations between fellow prisoners, guard beatings, and failed escapes off the island. For many, Alcatraz was the last stop before entering Hell which is why it is sometimes called Hellcatraz.

To this day, there is an unexplained disturbing event that occurred in the isolation block of the prison, known as "The Hole" or the "Strip Cells". This level was located on the bottom floor of the prison, in Cell Block D, where they kept inmates who broke the more serious of rules at Alcatraz. They would be stripped of their clothes and held in a cold cell that only contained a sink, toilet, and a small light. They were given a mattress but only at night and it was promptly removed in the morning to ensure continual discomfort and punishment. In the 1940's it was reported by the guard that a figure seemingly from the 1800’s haunted the block. The apparition was seen on several occasions and prisoners claimed they had been attacked by a man with glowing eyes. Since The Hole was an isolation chamber, it's likely that most guards thought the on-going screams claiming attack were hallucinations. On one particular evening, one inmate screamed the night through that he was being attacked by the man with glowing eyes but was ignored by guards who had become numb to such claims. After a night of screams and pleading he finally fell silent. The door to his cell was opened in the morning and the inmate was found dead, a horrible grimace marred his face and handprints were visible around his throat. An examination later determined that these marks were not self-inflicted. This victim, whether at the hands of the glowing-eyed ghost or by an irritated guard, became a ghost of Alcatraz himself as he was reported in a line-up with other inmates but promptly vanished to the amazement of everyone present.

Numerous psychics have reported cold spots, harsh and sudden emotional bursts, apparitions claiming abuse, vibrations and a myriad of other ghostly traces. In fact, there are few spots in the prison where you can't see or feel other worldly energies including the hospital, the Warden's House, Cell Blocks C and D, the lighthouse, the therapy and utility rooms.