Eastern State Penitentiary is visited by thousands of tourists each year, and recently added a new distinction as the world’s second most haunted place in the world, writes Fionnuala Boyle for Irish Star.

Recently, Planet Cruise analyzed TripAdvisor data to come up with the list, using search words such as “spooky,” “scary,” and “haunted.”

Eastern State Penitentiary finished with the second most mentions in the three search words with 236, 338, and 563 mentions each, respectively.

Located in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood, it was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, and was the first to introduce solitary confinement.

Now, visitors can experience a dark and unnerving insight into the lives of inmates through tours down ghostly corridors, peeks into cramped calls, and strolls through its courtyard.

The entire visit is believed to be occupied by ghosts.

“With suicides, murders and torture taking place in this prison, it’s no surprise it’s haunted – just one example of the way inmates were treated is the ‘mad chair’, where they were so tightly bound to a chair, circulation was cut off from their limbs, causing amputation,” the travel agency writes of Eastern State Penitentiary. 

Learn more about what makes Eastern State Penitentiary one of the world’s most haunted places in Irish Star. 

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