Javascript Menu by Deluxe-Menu.com
Welcome to Zuko the realm of Dr. Von Zuko
 

 
   

Enter with extreme caution! You are about to explore some of the strangest, most terrifying locations and paranormal occurrences on earth.  Do you question the existence of ghosts? 

   

 

Haunted Prisons and Tools of Execution

Back to Chapter Index
 

In the middle of San Francisco Bay is an isolated and rocky island once referred to as Isla de los Alcatraces (Island of the pelicans) by the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala. Frequently wrapped in a cloak of dense fog and surrounded by deep cold water and notoriously strong currents, it is indeed a foreboding place. Now known simply as Alcatraz (or The Rock) the island has an unquestionably dark and unsettling history.

In the early1850s it was determined that the desolate island was the perfect place for a military fortification and 85 cannon emplacements to protect San Francisco bay. During the American Civil War the armament was increased to 105 cannons. Due to the challenges of getting to and from the island, it was in this point in its history it started to be used as a prison. In 1868 Alcatraz was designated a military prison.

As a military prison, Alcatraz developed a well deserved reputation for tough discipline and harsh living conditions. In the 1930s Alcatraz was designated a maximum security Federal Penitentiary and became the residence of some of the most notorious gangsters in American History. The infamous Al Scarface Capone, Doc Barker, George Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin Creepy Carpis, and Robert Stroud The Bird Man of Alcatraz all did hard time on The Rock.

Alcatraz was not only a place of despair, lost hope, and isolation it was also a place of death and violence. Prisoner on prisoner violence took many lives, as did suicide and illness. It should not surprise anyone that throughout the years, inmates, guards, current National Park employees, and park visitors as well, have reported unnerving encounters with ghostly apparitions.

An unsettling reality:

In the main cell house the three story central corridor is referred to Broadway and back-in-the-day it was an active hub of prison life for the inmates. Today, the night-shift guards, watching over the old prison after the tourists leave for the day, frequently report muffled sounds of male voices, whistling, clanging metal doors, footsteps and even unexplainable foul odors that mysteriously dissipate as quickly as they manifest. Human apparitions are not uncommon here. More than one guard (or Park Ranger) has been startled by the appearance of a man in prison dungarees suddenly standing at the opposite end of the corridor, who briefly glances over his shoulder at them and walks out of view toward cell block D.

As you might expect, when they rush down the corridor to find out who he is, no one is ever there.

Nearly every building, corridor, workshop, infirmary and subterranean tunnel on Alcatraz has been the site of a ghostly apparition, disembodied sound or unsettling occurrence. In the years when Alcatraz was a fully functional Federal prison, it was a common practice to place less cooperative or troublesome inmates in solitary confinement (affectionately referred to as "The Hole") in one of the six windowless steel-walled cells in D Block. . . . On several occasions inmates did not return from D Block.

 


The Old Electric Chair of the State of Tennessee
 

 

This quite remarkable photograph was sent to us by Mr. Fred Leuchter, an "Execution Technologist" who has worked as a consultant for the Tennessee Department of Corrections.   

In his letter to us, he states that several years ago he had been retained as a consultant to direct the removal and replacement of  "the chair" and the supporting electrocution systems for the State of Tennessee.  

To maintain a State tradition, the new electric chair was to contain a piece of wood from the old  chair.  It seems that the wood used in the construction of the earlier electric chair had actually been salvaged from the State's original gallows, sometime near the turn of the century.  

As part of "standard operating practice," documentation photos were taken of the old chair just prior to removing any of the original wood.  To the amazement of many of the prison officials, and the team working on the project, the photograph contained some very strange, inexplicable images.  Within the images there are five identified entities.  

The puzzled officials, had the photograph analyzed and authenticated by Eastman Kodak (who did not identify what was photographed) but determined that the images were indeed real and part of the photo negative.  While the original exposure was reportedly made under some unique circumstances, when the Execution Technologist tried to duplicate the photographic results even by recreating the exposure conditions, he was never able to reproduce these eerie results.  

For your review we present the photograph:  Look closely, the faces of the condemned peer back at you . . . .  
 

by: Dr. Von Zuko 1998

 

    


 

Haunted Prisons & Tools of  Execution Index:

 

Dr. Von Zuko's Recommended Books and Films on the Paranormal:

 

  Find other great books on this or any topic:
 

Amazon Search:
Keywords:
In Association with Amazon.com
 

 

 

 


Never buy a used car without CARFAX

Shopping for a used car? Get Vehicle History at CARFAX!
 


CarsDirect.com
CarsDirect




Parts and Accessories for your car,
your truck, your off-road vehicle.




Special Offers: Save on quality tires with these manufacturer's promotions available from The Tire Rack.

Shop for American Racing Muscle Wheels at The Tire Rack.

Shop for Tire & Wheel Packages at The Tire Rack.
 


Motorcycle Repair Manuals
  PWC Tools and Manuals  


  Auto Parts
  Discount Auto Parts at PartsGeek.com


eBay Motors

Click here to sell your car online at eBay!

It's easy to sell your car at auction.
You may be pleasantly surprised by the price you get for your your well maintained used car.

 

   
   

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Dare to explore the unknown and you will find that there is much that man can not rationally explain. 

 

 
home  :  terms of use  :  privacy policy  :  advertise  


MMX © e'Media Inc.  All rights reserved