West Virginia Penitentiary Ghost Hunt

A couple friends and I recently picked up a hobby we've dreamed about for a long time... Paranormal Investigating. Our first adventure was a trip to the former West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, WV.

This massive Gothic stone fortress housed the most violent criminals in the state's history. Over 900 people, inmates and employees, have died in the facility. They have died by execution, murder, suicide and natural causes. Across the street is an Indian burial mound. This is the making of the perfect horror movie.

For $60 a person, the three of us had access to the intimidating facility along with 57 other ghost hunters. Bags were briefly checked at the front gate. Inside the lobby, we checked in at the counter and peeled a name tag from a sheet.

The lobby was small. It used to be the visitor's area when the prison was in operation. You can see the visitation booths where inmates and their loved ones would talk to each other via phone and a pane of glass between them. The check-in counter sold souvenirs... t-shirts, postcards, books, etc.

Once the 60 guests signed in, we broke into two groups for the guided tour. The guided tour took us through the prison to get us familiarized with the layout and where the "hot spots" were. Our guide told us stories of the hauntings, how the person died, precautions and many other things to make the night safe and enjoyable. She also warned of the bats.

The guided tour took us to "The Hole", a filthy room in the basement where inmate R.D Wall was slaughtered for being a snitch. This is a highly active paranormal spot in the place. My two friends and I were the first to enter the room with the guide. We positioned ourselves in one corner where a small cavernous room was. One friend, not knowing anything about R.D. Wall or "The Hole" thought he felt something behind him, a disturbing feeling. The guide told us R.D. Wall was murdered in the corner where we were.

We went to the Sugar Shack, where the guide told us she has had horrible experiences with the paranormal. The Sugar Shack was decorated in inmate artwork. Some of the artwork was not from inmates, instead from MTV. The crew of the series "Fear" painted mothmen figures on the wall to make the place look scarier than it was. She said because of that, MTV was not allowed back.

The guided tour lasted about 90 minutes. We headed back to the lobby and waited around for the free pizza and drinks. The pizza arrived and everyone piled into the inmate section of the visitation booths to be served a couple slices of pizza.

Then we were off on our own. The three of us, The Eleanor Twitty Society as we called ourselves, were one of the first groups to venture out into the darkness. I pressed open on the automatic door and it slid open. We stepped through into the dark of the main hall and pressed the close button and the door slid back into place.

We took a left and headed to the unguarded visitation room, a room with tables and chairs where inmates can visit one on one with people and no glass separating them. This room has a sculpture of a family of indians, created by an inmate. It used to be in the museum at the mound across the street, but was brought back to the prison due to complaints of the nudity in the sculpture. On the walls were inmate paintings of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

We headed outside and took a staircase to the Infirmary to check out some sounds we heard in the dental room during the guided tour. We figured the clicking and popping sounds came from pipes on the ceiling. My EMF meter picked up nothing suspicious.

In "The Hole", with my EMF meter ready, I slowly made my way to the corner where paranormal activity takes place. My meter picked up high readings as I waked closer to the corner. It slowly peaked at about 12mG and went down as I continued to the back wall. I backed up and the numbers rose again. Stepped forward, the numbers dropped. I backed up again and moved the meter around, and pointed it up at some metal pipes. Bingo! The pipes were giving off EMF waves. I felt a draft right then, and found that it was air coming from where the pipes came through the wall. After a while, we headed back out. Near the entrance, a bat flies in and nearly bites the head off of my friend. Beware of the bats!

We did quick stops at those places along with the Sugar Shack, Wagon Gate (where hangings took place), Maximum Security and the cafeteria to get a feel for the locations and determine what to do next time around. We headed back to the lobby for a rest and then back into the darkness. The second time, we stayed in those places in the dark for as long as we could before another group wanders in, taking night vision pictures and EVP.

I noticed via my night vision camera that there are security cameras located throughout the prison. So you are being watched not only by the ghosts, but by officials to make sure there is no illegal activities or horseplay.

I experienced nothing paranormal on this ghost hunt. I have a few pictures that may be promising and some EVP that have possibilities. We recreated the famous "Shadow Man" picture with ease and figured it could be a hoax. One friend was certain he saw a chunk of drywall slide a few inches across the floor.

We went back to the lobby after 4:30am and signed out. Looking at the sign out sheet, we noticed some groups left early... 1:15am. Chickens.

For a productive ghost hunt, I believe having the place to your self is the key. With no other people or groups interfering, flashing their lights around, talking, making noise, will make a big difference. It definitely was hard to do with 57 others roaming around. For a higher price, private ghost hunts can be arranged to eliminate those interruptions.