EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY TO OPEN NEW HAUNTED ATTRACTION IN ABANDONED PRISON PRINT SHOP
“Terror Behind the Walls” puts fear on lockdown inside real abandoned prison

Philadelphia, May 2003 – The massive Eastern State Penitentiary — a gothic, castle-like structure opened 173 years ago — was once the most famous prison in the world.  With stark towers and fortress walls thirty feet high, Eastern State was designed to intimidate.  It was home to such frightening characters as Al Capone and the flamboyant bank robber, “Slick” Willie Sutton, but stands today in ruin, a lost world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers.  Eastern State is so menacing, The New York Times called it “perfect for Halloween.”

Beginning October 3rd, 2003, the penitentiary will host Terror Behind the Walls, one of the nation’s premier haunted attractions.

For the 2003 season, event planners will unveil a new interactive 3 –D haunted attraction in the penitentiary’s former Print Shop.  These spectral spaces once housed choice work assignments for prisoners.  According to Joe Corvi, an Eastern inmate from 1951 to 1954, “one of the most sought after assignments in our vocational program was a job in the print shop.” 

But the Print Shop--like the entire penitentiary--was abandoned in 1971.  “It is an incredibly eerie, haunting space,” said Eastern State Program Coordinator Brett Bertolino. “It is as if time stopped in 1971.  The walls are steel-lined, huge rusted metal printing presses.”  The Print Shop has never before been open to the public.

Terror Behind the Walls’ latest attraction will be designed by a professional creative team, including nationally recognized haunted attraction consultant John Denley.   Mr. Denley’s Boston-based firm, Boneyard Productions, consults on the design and construction of haunted attractions throughout the United States.  Some of Mr. Denley’s recent projects include Universal Studios in Orlando, FL and Madison Scare Garden in New York, NY.

Eastern State’s new high-startle, low-gore haunted attraction will include Hollywood-quality special effects, digital sound, special effects lighting, animatronic creatures, and chromadepth three-dimensional illusions created by Stuart Smith, a nationally renowned mural and effects painter based in Michigan.

This will be Eastern State’s third major haunted attraction.  Terror Behind the Walls 2003 will also include “Maximum Security,” a three-story, concrete cellblock, full of a twisting and dark hallways, chain-link walls and electric fences.  The final haunted attraction featured for Terror Behind the Walls 2003 will be “Tunnel Escape,” a maze of rolling barrels, leaking pipes and twisting tunnels and passages, where the walls, ceilings and floors all slide down, lift up and otherwise expose grim surprises.  All three haunted attractions within the 173 year-old penitentiary complex are included in the price of admission.

The terror begins on Friday, October 3, and runs through Sunday, November 2.  Nights and hours vary.  Advanced ticket sales are available beginning on September 15 through TicketMaster by phone at (215) 336-2000, online at www.TicketMaster.com or at any TicketMaster outlet. Tickets will also be available at the door on each evening of the event.   Reservations are highly recommended for dates in late October.  Discounted admission is available for groups of 20 or more.  All proceeds benefit the preservation of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark.

Complete information about Terror Behind the Walls, including coupons, directions, and a full schedule of dates, hours, prices and promotions, is available on the penitentiary’s Web site: www.EasternState.org.

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The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is a non-profit organization dedicated to generating awareness of and visitation to Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com or call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence National Historical Park, at (800) 537-7676.

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Note to Editors: For story angles and photographic images of Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside, visit www.gophila.com/pressroom.     May 2003

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