THE MOST HAUNTED PRISONS & JAILS IN AMERICA.

Prisons and jails typically rank high on lists of America's most haunted locations. The level of trauma, suffering, and horror that prisoners endure frequently leaves a lasting effect, and the horrifying events that take place behind the prison's high walls frequently cause the spirits of the prisoners to continue to exist in death exactly as they did in life.

1. OHIO STATE REFORMATORY, Mansfield, Ohio

The Ohio State Reformatory, made famous by the movie "The Shawshank Redemption," was established in 1896 as a jail for criminals who were too old for juvenile detention centers but not yet tough enough for the Columbus-based Ohio State Penitentiary. Throughout its years of operation, it housed countless thousands of prisoners, and while it was previously praised for its ability to gently reform first-time criminals, the conditions eventually worsened to the point where it earned a reputation for abuse, torture, and murder.

Even after a federal lawsuit was brought by the inmates claiming that it was unfit for human occupation, the huge prison was kept open until 1986 despite already being regarded as overcrowded and inhumane by the 1930s. Since the reformatory's closure, rumors have gone about that it is haunted by the tortured ghosts of previous prisoners, guards, and prison officials who have never actually left. In the cells where the convicts formerly resided, suffered, and occasionally died, there have been reports of appearances, footsteps, and eerie encounters.

Helen Glattke, the wife of Warden Arthur L. Glattke, is said to be one of the local ghosts. In 1950, she passed away in an apartment in the prison's administration wing when a loaded revolver fell from a shelf and went off. Since then, her ghost has continued to haunt the residence, frequently appearing as the fragrance of perfume.

2. EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The prison was a place of complete isolation and was established by the Quakers in 1829 with the intention of creating a place where prisoners may atone for their sins (thus the name "penitentiary"). No interaction with living people was permitted and prisoners were kept in windowless rooms. Due to their isolation, many of them became mad. Suicides increased as a result of the harsh penalties for disobeying the laws. A century after the prison was shut down, solitary confinement was abolished in the 1870s. Paranormal encounters and ghost stories have now become widespread. There have been reports of apparitions, weird sounds, and unidentified footsteps.

3. OHIO PENITENTIARY, Formerly in Columbus, Ohio

Despite being initially denounced by reformers in the early 1900s, the Ohio Penitentiary did not close until 1979 after opening in 1834. The prison was later destroyed, but its eerie memories live on. Nothing compared to the tragedy of the fire that destroyed the jail in April 1930, which claimed scores of lives during its years of operation due to fire, cholera outbreaks, murder, and executions in the state's electric chair.

322 prisoners perished in the fire that consumed the penitentiary's west block in a single night. Inmates reported of ghost sightings and other spooky events while the jail was still operating, but after the buildings were finally demolished, rumors of ghosts around the ruins swiftly spread. The sports arena that eventually took the site of the prison and is said to be haunted.

4. ALCATRAZ, San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Penitentiary, also known as "The Rock," served as the model for all other American prisons. It served as the end of the line for a large number of the nation's worst criminals, bloodletters, bad guys, and fugitive artists. Although it began as a military facility, for 29 years the jail housed some of the nation's most infamous criminals, including Al Capone, Doc Barker, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and others, behind stone walls. Construction on the first prison began in 1859, but by the 1920s it had been abandoned.

In 1933, it was reopened as a federal jail with an escape-proof design. It was a harsh site of incarceration and punishment with limited rights. It became usual for people to commit suicide, murder, and even become insane. A deadly and violent escape attempt from the Rock was made in 1946, but it was unsuccessful. There were a few more attempts, but only three bank robbers were able to successfully escape in 1962 using homemade rubber rafts and dummies with real human hair.

An additional year later, in 1963, Alcatraz was abandoned. Since then, many people have reported seeing spirits at the location, which is currently managed by the National Park Service, making it one of America's most haunted locations. Along with weird noises, cries, rants, tears, and ominous music, ghosts have also been seen.

5. MAXWELL STREET POLICE STATION, Chicago, Illinois

Due to the rising crime rate in the area, the Maxwell Street police station in Chicago came to be nicknamed as "Bloody Maxwell." It was built in 1889. The Genna Brothers, who collaborated with Al Capone's organization to produce bootleg alcohol within blocks of the police station during Prohibition, lived at the time among the thousands of Italian immigrants who had settled in the area of the city where the police station was located. As a result of corruption, bribery, brutality, and torture, it rose to the status of an infamous police station. In the basement "dungeon," many criminals perished.

Security guards for the nearby University of Illinois Chicago campus began to use the station after it was shut down in 1997. At the moment, "Chicago PD" television show filming is taking place there. Stories claim that the station's former cops and criminals—particularly those who were brutalized and slain in the "dungeon"—still linger here, despite the fact that they no longer exist. Moaning, crying, and the sounds of rattling bars and handcuff chains have all been heard coming from the basement, along with screams.