Is This PA's Most Haunted Spot? Popular Website Says So

PHILADELPHIA — Every state, county, and town has at least one place or story that gives locals the creeps. And the popular website Thrillist listed the most haunted places in America to give non locals that eerie feeling as Halloween draws nearer.

So which Pennsylvania spot made the cut?

While the Keystone State has its share of spook-tacular sites, such as Pennhurst Asylum and the Gettysburg battlefield, it was Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary that was Thrillist's top pick.

The looming, stone castle-like penitentiary took in its first inmate back in 1829 and is infamous for housing Al Capone briefly.

It closed in 1971 but was reopened as a historic site in the 90s after considerable restoration and stabilization work.

And the folks who operate the penitentiary know just how creepy it is and take advantage of that each year by hosting haunted house called "Terror Behind the Walls" inside the actual penitentiary around Halloween.

Here's what Thrillist says about Eastern State Penitentiary:

Known locally as ESP (already a creepy touch), the 1829 prison intended to value reform over punishment, at a time when Puritanical America was embracing the penitent foundation of the penitentiary. Instead, this became a real house of horrors and the testing location for a number of "reform" techniques that included paranoia-inducing “panopticon” oversight, now synonymous with a constant threat of surveillance. The mix of weird science, gigantic brutal architecture, and famous inmates like Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton serves as a perfect staging ground for the nighttime haunted tours. If that doesn't do it for you, there's plenty of other haunts in PA to freak you out. -- BW

Terror Behind the Walls is open select evenings through Nov. 9. You can book a trip through the haunted house online here.

See the full list of America's most haunted places from Thrillist here.