Would you dare to set foot in this haunted abandoned prison?
This Halloween thrill-seekers and horror movie enthusiasts in Chicago are in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will startle all five senses this fall.
The huge Joliet Correctional Center, known colloquially as Joliet Prison, opened as a haunted house for an inaugural Halloween experience last year and will next week reopen to the public for its second year again with an even more terrifying experience.
If you are the kind of person who is fascinated by the tales of purportedly haunted places, gets a buzz from exploring abandoned buildings, and wishes to celebrate this Halloween with more than a costume party, this is for you. For there will be few Halloween experiences spookier than a trip to what will be the Midwest’s only haunted house experience inside a real abandoned prison.
The Joliet Prison, which was originally built as a women’s prison in 1896, closed in 2002 and lay abandoned for years until it was opened for paranormal and ghost hunting tours in 2018.
Fans of the paranormal have visited the haunted prison and claimed tormented voices can still be heard echoing around the prison’s walls. Whatever you choose to believe, the stories of notorious inmates and violent deaths during the days Old Joliet Prison was active are enough to make your hairs stand on end. Entering these eerie confines, however, provides another experience entirely.
The prison has become a famous landmark over the years for its iconic castellated gothic architecture and its appearances in television, film, and literature. The limestone structure’s interior and exterior have featured frequently in film and television including in the motion picture The Blues Brothers, the gangster movie White Heat, Bob Odenkirk’s 2006 comedy Let’s Go to Prison, and as “Fox River State Penitentiary” in the first season of Fox Network’s Prison Break television show, among others.
Now the innovators of national haunted attractions, 13th Floor Entertainment Group, have again transformed the old prison into one of the most exciting (and terrifying) Halloween attractions in the state.
Located in the annex building at 401 Woodruff Road in Joliet, the breathtaking haunted house will open on Saturday, September 24, with two attractions – The Abominations and Tormented – all for the price of one ticket.
Prepare to tiptoe down the prison’s long-abandoned creepy corridors, peek inside the bleak prison cells from years gone by, and have your pulse race as you look anxiously over your shoulder for the next fright.
According to the Haunted Prison website, at The Abominations tragic beings who have been dormant for centuries have reawoken and, cursed with an insatiable appetite for living flesh, “cannot help but feast upon the innocent souls they capture, condemning everyone to eternal suffering.”
Whilst at Tormented, the inhabitants long ago suffered unspeakable atrocities at the hands of the paranormal scientists and now seek to lure others to their eternal suffering as revenge.
Guests can also partake in immersive mini escape games and indulge in on-site local food trucks.
Tickets are on sale now, starting at $19.99 Head to hauntedprison.com for more information or look out for what’s in store via the Haunted Prison Instagram and Facebook accounts.
[Featured image courtesy of 13th Floor Entertainment Group]