Well that was crazy. After a 4.5 hour trip west, we arrived at dusk at the imposing former West Virginia Penitentiary. Heeding the warnings to dress warmly, we packed in our bags, coats and folding chairs into the small lobby and waited with about 75 other ghost hunters. Mostly college students, I saw my fair share of moms and grannies in there ready to mix it up with whomever messed with their hair.
Speaking of hair, my own was fondled a bit in the Death Row Cafeteria during our tour. I'm used to having a grunt or hair tug when I work on investigations but these boys must've enjoyed picking on a chick with long hair. I marked that section down to come back to after the tour and we moved on to see the Hole, Sugar Shack - not as nice as it sounds, people - the cell blocks, gymnasium and psycho ward - painted white and pink. Unfortunately for us, the night was relatively quiet.
A few odd things of note:
- Men's bathroom on the psych ward: no electricity in the building save the lobby and we heard the distinct hum of a fluorescent bulb. Not feeling perky about this since we were standing in water due to leaks throughout the building. Checking with the lobby lady later, she told us the power refuses to turn off there, even after removing the breaker. Noting the bulb, she said she has taken it down time after time only to find it replaced the next morning.
- Hallway window across from the Maintenance room near main cafeteria. Every time we passed by there, we'd hear a tapping as if someone was trying to get our attention from the
outside. Only they can't reach the window due to bars set two feet back from the glass. I chalked this up to poorly hung windows and wind as the weather outside had some gusts (and daaaaaaaaaang cold). Teaming up with others, one member went outside to tell us when the wind kicked up via walkie-talkie. The other lead member and I asked questions in the general direction of the window and were amazed when we'd get knocks/tappings back regarding questions pertaining to a murder in the Maintenance room years before. Going into the Maintenance room, the other lead member and I searched a larger room in back of it to check out any floating heads. As we asked questions and poked around, the tappings increased wildly in the hallway, said our team.
EVP: LaMishia is excellent ghost bait. This EVP was taken in the solitary confinement section of the prison. No other investigators were present; what do you think?
