Weekend in Prison

Last Saturday, the mood was all set for Mansfield Reformatory by the rain and thunderstorms. I had determined that I would not psyche myself out and it really shouldn't be scary at all (even though I'm afraid of the dark in my own house).





We arrived around 7pm and saw the towering castle-like prison looming before us. (Keep in mind, we had done lots of prep for the event - watching "Shawshank Redemption" the night before, 'Lil Wayne's rap video, and reviewing lots of online info and photos about the history of the prison and its haunts.) At first, we stood around a lot, not knowing how to help with the set-up, so instead, we just went shopping at the gift shop. I got my commemorative shot glass, and a cute shirt saying, "Ghost hunters do it in the dark" (it glows) and on the back it has the "Survivor" TV show logo, but says Ghost Hunt Survivor. There was a little museum set up that we got to look through as well that housed "'Ole Sparky," the resident electric chair. After making my final purchase, I saw two other members with adorable messenger bags with felt ghosts sewn on the front. I thought they made them together, but no, they just bought them in the gift shop. So, there I was, making yet another purchase! Now we were ready.



We had about an hour and a half tour of the prison. In almost every room, the tour guide was like, "Yeah, so lots of ghosts here. Yeah... be careful." (His stories were not impressive or convincing.) The only stories that stood out to me were ones from the Warden's Quarters. He said once he was "punched in the kidney" and he's never felt pain that strong in his life and he's been a club bouncer... I said, he probably had kidney stones or an appendix attack. In another room he said there's a little boy ghost and he likes to play hide and seek. Little kid ghosts spook me out. So, on the tour, we got to see everything from the showers, to the cell blocks (six stories high!), to Shawshank memoribilia, to the pink bathroom, to the old library, to the chapel, to the infirmary, and more... After the tour, we had some time to explore on our own. Adam and I checked out the command HQ and asked if anything else needed set up. Everything was good to go, so we headed outside for prison pizza!! Ick... I guess it's good to know that they're not feeding the prisoners super fine cuisine. It was not too delicious. I ate a square or two and then filled myself with chips and snacks we brought in the cooler.

Once dinner was done, it was time to begin the hunt around 11pm. Adam and I were paired with Darrin (a seasoned member) and five non-members. First we were in the Infirmary. Darrin gave us a run-down of how to use the equipment. Adam took the EMF and I took the temperature gauge. So, we were up in the dark in our first room. Everyone on our team was just walking around, chatting about pointless things like work, etc. and so I suggested that we all sit still, quietly for a few minutes. Video cameras were running already and Darrin turned on his digital voice recorder. Some of the group sat off in side rooms, and most of us sat in the main large room. We didn't hear anything for the longest time, the temp. didn't change, etc. Then we all heard the sound of a person whistling coming from down the stairwell. We knew no other groups were near us. But, it could've possibly been one of the prison staff wandering around. Either way, it was neat to have an unexplained experience right off the bat. We were looking to have more as it got later and later into the night. One other strange occurrence was that the base reading of the temp gauge was 71-degrees all hour, all over the room. Towards the end of the hour, we started feeling drafts and the whole temp in the room suddenly dropped to 69-degrees. The entire room had cooled.... creepy!



Our next post was the West Cell Block and showers. I was not looking forward to investigating in the cell blocks, as they were very creepy and run-down. However, I was actually more excited and anticipatory than anything. I really wanted something strange to happen. Adam and I wandered off on our own, stopping to look in each cell, using our video camera and the EMF detector. We would occasionally hear footsteps behind us, thinking it was another teammember behind us, only to find out that they were really two levels above or below us. We'd occasionally hear noises at the end of the cell walk and I'd get excited (not scared) only to see the flash of a camera or a flashlight - bummer! So that part of our night was paranormally uneventful, but very fun. There were all kinds of odd things left in the cells by old prisoners.









After the West Cell Block, it was time for the East Cell Block - the site of the "TAPS Cell." (On "Ghost Hunters," there was one particular cell, marked with an "X," where they heard and felt weird things.) We (Adam) decided to spend some time in the cell. As we were making our way down the cell row, I started hearing something at the end of the row near that cell. I was getting really excited and got Adam's attention. I kept hearing little sounds. A few seconds later, I see Darrin's blue headlamps - darn it again! Once we got to the cell, and knew we were the only ones down that direction, I stood in the doorway with the video camera while Adam layed on the bunk bed. We didn't feel or hear anything for a while, so we moved on. This set of cell blocks seemed a bit creepier than the West Cell Block because most of the levels were completely barred in, as you can see in the photo above, so you felt very enclosed.



Next, it was on to the Command post and the Warden's Quarters. We sat at the computer screens for a while because most of our group headed to the Warden's Room and we thought it might be too crowded (I guess we didn't realize how large that area really was). Every now and then on the cameras, you'd see an orb-like flash. Even though I'm an orb-nonbeliever, we realized that it was just dust, because the "activity" would pick up when someone walked by a camera. There was rumor that footsteps were heard from the main camera we were monitoring when no one was around. I, of course, was skeptical, because anyone could be behind/above/below the camera walking, never to be seen. I had to see and hear it with my own eyes and ears to believe it.



After a few minutes, Adam and I headed to the Warden's Quarters, armed with the EMF and voice recorder. There were so many rooms. We stopped by his living area first. We explored each room and the pink bathroom, where his wife supposedly haunts (allegedly - she was accidentally shot by a falling gun in the prison, and died two days later in a hospital). You were supposed to be able to smell her perfume, but we got nothing.

Finally we ran into some of our group members. They were advised by the staff to go into the meeting room where a little boy ghost was often seen and to sit for several minutes and see what happens. They said nothing happened, but I was determined to give it a try. As Adam and I went into the room, I noticed something I hadn't before... the words "HELL" were spray-painted on the outside of a closet door - yikes! That gave me the willies right there. I was kinda creeped out by the fact that I might see a little boy ghost. I chose not to look into the closets. They say he likes to play Hide-n-Seek in them. One thing I did notice was that your eyes can easily play tricks on you in the dark with flashlights. When you come around corners and the light catches something like a doorknob or banister, it casts a large shadow on the wall that looks like a shadow person ducking away. After realizing that, I wasn't really sensitive to the shadows. So, no little boy.

Next, we moved on to the kidney-punch room. The second that I stepped into that room, I wanted OUT immediately. It was the most bizarre feeling and the first feeling of panic or fear that I had had all night. My chest felt so heavy and I struggled to breathe. I felt very anxious and strange. However, Adam talked me into staying for a few minutes. I began to think that the strange feeling might be a good sign that we might experience something. Adam found that there was a stronger EMF coming from a wire in the floor. Maybe that caused some of the panic-feeling. So, we sat down and turned our flashlights off and our voice recorder on. I started to feel more brave as I sat there, yet still had the same paranoia/anxiety feeling as when I came in the room. I started talking and asking the spirits to move an object or to talk into my microphone or move towards Adam's EMF detector. (He later tells me he was praying in his head that nothing would move on its own, haha!) We waited a while and asked a lot of questions. When Adam said we could leave, I bolted out the door. Then I suddenly panicked and felt lost in a maze of hallways. I wanted out... NOW! We ran in to our group and we were all lost. I just had to get out of that wing for some odd reason. Once we were back to the command center, I felt fine. So, I guess that was my best personal experience of the night.





Our final stop of the night was Solitary Confinement. Oh, boy! Just what I was looking forward to after that last experience. We all went as a group because it was such a small area. I didn't feel scared at all, even though it reminded me of a scene from "Silence of the Lambs" for some reason. These cells even looked in better condition than the ones upstairs. Supposedly, a group earlier in the night had an experience where they felt like they were being watched, and everyone panicked and had to leave the area. We had no such feeling, other than the camera at the end of the corridor.

Finally we got to the part of the night that was the free-for-all. Adam and I both decided we wanted to go back to the kidney-punch room. We brought other members Mark and Tina with us this time. On the way, we saw some other cool stuff. We came across the metal mesh "cage" where prisoners could do visitations. Ick! We found some oddly placed toilets and rooms that were round with a window and about 4 feet in diameter. We also saw some more creepy spray-paint saying "Help" and "Help me."



Then, we made it back to my favorite kidney-punching room in the Warden's Quarters. I didn't feel quite as icky as I did the first time, but it still wasn't my favorite by far. Adam and I sat in the same spot, Tina sat in a chair, and Mark was walking around looking at the walls and ceilings. Another group of people were up there too, so we waited for them to leave and they all eventually trickled out. We were sitting there quietly chatting while Mark was looking around. Then, suddenly to my left, in a room behind where Adam was sitting, we heard a small voice. Right away I was like, "Adam did you say something?? Did you hear that? Tina, did you hear a whisper?? Mark, you didn't say anything, did you?" They both had and said it wasn't them. We discussed this for about a minute when Tina got up and turned on her flashlight and said, "Let's go see." As soon as she got up we heard, "Oh, that was me..." and one of the other ghost hunters came out of the room. Whew! He had been hiding up there in the dark all along and no one had any idea! At least he gave us an "experience" to talk about. After he left, we heard another group heading up the stairs to our room. We decided to try to scare them, hehehe! We turned off all our lights. As they came up the stairs we yelled "Hello!" and they didn't flinch. Of course it was Jim, our head honcho, and his posse of ghost hunting professionals. They looked more like ghost busters with all their techno-gear. One of them stood there and challenged the evil ghost, "Hit me with your best shot!" They can't be spooked.

I was getting dead tired at this point, knowing we had an hour drive plus 4 good hours of sleep before we had to drive down to Dayton for a party on Sunday. I went back to the Command Center to rest (it was a LOT of walking!) while Adam, Mark, and Tina continued to explore. I, along with several others, put my head down on a table to nap until about 5am cleanup. While I was resting I did hear several very bizarre, loud, siren-like noises and then I'd get random cold drafts out of nowhere.

FINALLY, (for both you as the reader and me as the typer), they decided it was time to call it a night. We wound up the miles of extension cords and put away the computers, TVs, and cameras. We got out around 6am, home by 7am, and in bed by 7:15am, only to incorrectly set our alarms for noon that morning. It was an awesome, but tiring night. Our next ghost hunt is scheduled for two weeks from now. We're really looking forward to it!