Random Horrifying Tales From Alcatraz, Notoriously Haunted Island Prison (15 items)

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  (#1) D-Block Was A Place No Prisoner Wanted To Go And Has Since Become One Of The Most Haunted Places On Alcatraz

  Cellblock D in Alcatraz was known as "the hole" and held the solitary confinement cells reserved for the most poorly behaved prisoners. These five cells were extremely cold: the prisoners were forced to strip naked and their mattresses were removed each morning, forcing them either to stand all day or sit on the cold floor. One of these cells was known as the "Oriental" and unlike the other solitary cells, prisoners were left completely in the dark with only a hole in the floor in which to relieve themselves.

  At some point in the 1940s, an inmate began screaming as soon as he was locked inside but the guards ignored him, believing he was just upset about the conditions. The next morning, they found the prisoner dead with a terrified look on his face and an autopsy revealed he had died from strangulation that could not have been self-inflicted. Whether it was a guard who killed him or a ghost (possibly that of former prisoner Rufus McCain since he had stayed in that cell) will never be known, but many report feeling uncomfortable and tingly when entering his 14D cell, and the room is often much colder that any of the others. A ghost hunter investigating cell 12D down the hall reported feeling icy fingers on his neck upon entering.
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  (#2) The 1946 Battle Of Alcatraz Lasted Two Days And Killed Five People

  Bank robber Bernard Paul Coy carefully observed the guards' patterns for several months as he was planning his escape attempt. In May of 1946, he and five other men managed to break into a gun cage in cellblock C and stole a guard's keys. Unfortunately for them, the key they needed to get out of the prison building was missing and they were unable to escape. Not letting that stop them, the men took several guards hostage and killed two before the Marines were called. Three of the attempted escapees eventually became trapped in a utility passage where they were killed by gunfire. The event lasted two days and became known as the "Battle of Alcatraz," the bloodiest escape attempt in the prison's history. Although the passage is concealed from visitors' view with a heavy door, bangs and clanging noises are often heard but disappear once the door is opened. Many believe the ghosts of the three men killed in the passage are responsible.
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  (#3) The C-Block Laundry Room Holds The Ghost Of Abie Maldowitz, A Prisoner Who Was Violently Murdered

  Alcatraz has become a must-see destination for paranormal enthusiasts, researchers, and investigators, and psychic Sylvia Brown was among them. She felt a very intense presence in the laundry room in Cellblock C and also received an impression that something very violent had happened there. Brown accurately described a tall bald man, the exact appearance of a prisoner named Abie Maldowitz.

  Maldowitz was also known as "Butcher" and was a hitman before he was arrested. Prison records indicated he had, in fact, died in the laundry room when he was brutally murdered by another inmate. Other mysterious incidents from the same room include the heavy smell of smoke in the air even though nothing is burning.
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  (#4) A 1938 Escape Attempt Resulted In A Guard Being Beaten To Death With A Hammer And A Prisoner Getting Fatally Shot

  In 1938, three men including Rufus Franklin attempted to escape by attacking the guard in the woodworking shop where they were laboring. Franklin beat the unarmed guard to death with a hammer and the three prisoners broke a window and climbed onto the roof. They didn't get very far as a guard in one of the towers open fired on the men. Two of the prisoners were shot and one died. Up until the 1946 incident that started the "Battle of Alcatraz," this was the deadliest escape attempt in the prison's history.
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  (#5) Rufus McCain Was Fatally Stabbed In The Gut By A Former Partner From A Failed Escape And Now Is Said To Haunt D-Block

  In 1939, prisoner Rufus McCain attempted to escape Alcatraz along with Henri Young, Arthur Barker, and two other men. They managed to get to the shore but guards caught up with them as McCain suddenly realized he couldn't swim. Two guards were murdered during the incident, Barker was killed, and both McCain and Young were put into solitary for almost an entire year. Young blamed McCain for the failure of the escape and tension between the two men grew.

  In December of 1940, Young snuck out of the furniture shop in which he'd been put to work, crept down to the tailor shop where McCain was working, and stabbed him in the gut. McCain was seriously injured and lived another painful couple of hours before finally dying in the hospital. Some believe either or both men haunt the solitary D-Block in which they spent so much time.
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  (#6) Many Alcatraz Prisoners Went Insane And Several Committed Gruesome Suicides

  Due to the harsh conditions and treatment prisoners received at Alcatraz, many of them ended up suffering from mental illness. Warden Johnson believed insanity, no mater how severe, was being used an excuse from working and refused to acknowledge that his prison was tormenting and abusing its inmates.

  Some men, like Rube Persful, worked out their anguish through physical activity. Persful was hospitalized after purposely cutting off all the fingers on one hand with a hatchet while working in one of Alcatraz's work shops. Laughing, he asked a guard to take care of the fingers on the other hand. Others, such as Ed Wutke who used a pencil sharpener blade to slice through his jugular, successfully killed themselves. Joe Bowers attempted something similar using his eyeglass lenses and when he failed, climbed the outer fence knowing he'd be shot. He fell 75 feet to certain death. With so much negative energy and tragedy at Alcatraz, it's no wonder the island prison is considered one of the most haunted places in America.
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  (#7) Alcatraz Was Formerly A Military Prison Where Civil War Soldiers Were Kept In Horrible Conditions And Many Died

  The US military first took over Alcatraz Island in 1847 and built a military prison, later used to hold captured Confederates during the Civil War. As many as 50 soldiers and sympathizers were imprisoned in the basement of the guardhouse and many died due to the horrible conditions. Forced to live without heat, running water, and bathrooms, the prisoners were given very little food, bound together with six-foot chains, and squeezed into a small space with a cold stone floor. Those who acted out against this treatment were put into "sweatboxes" as further punishment. After the Civil War but before the federal prison was built, Alcatraz was used to imprison captives from the Spanish-American War and rebellious Native Americans. People have reported seeing apparitions of men in military uniforms and have heard mysterious cannon and gun fire, so the ghosts of many of these prisoners may still be on the island.
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  (#8) The Dungeon Of Alcatraz Possibly Holds Many Lost Souls Who Died Alone And Are Still Screaming

  Alcatraz was all about punishment and what the prisoners went through is a horror story in itself. Underneath the A-Block was an area known as "the dungeon." These catacomb-like basement areas were left over from the days when Alcatraz was a military fort and were used as punishment areas for those that deserved worse than "the hole." Prisoners were stripped naked, chained to the wall in a standing position, and given very little food. While the screams of the inmates who were unfortunate enough to spend time there couldn't be heard in the rest of the prison, they can still be heard today. A worker claimed to have heard a horrible scream coming from the dungeon but found no one there. Even Ghost Hunters heard noises in the area and received an audible "no" when asked if the noise could be made again.
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  (#9) Although Al Capone Didn't Die Inside Alcatraz, People Have Reported Hearing His Banjo

  Notorious crime boss Al Capone was one of Alcatraz's most famous residents. When he began his four-and-a-half-year stay in 1934, he was unprepared for unsympathetic guards and being stripped of the privileges he enjoyed in other prisons. Capone was put in "the hole" three times during his stay for breaking the "no talking" rule and for bribing a guard. He was in several fights with other inmates and the conditions at Alcatraz began to wear on him. A banjo his wife sent seemed to be the only thing keeping him from insanity and guards reported seeing him making his bed over and over or crouched in the corner softly strumming his instrument. Capone spent most of his last year in the prison in the infirmary being treated for syphilis but took his banjo with him. He was transferred to a prison in Los Angeles in 1939 and died several years later at his Florida estate, but both Alcatraz visitors and guards have claimed to hear banjo music in several parts of the prison.
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  (#10) Alcatraz's Most Famous Warden Didn't Believe In Ghosts, But Couldn't Explain The Creepy Experience He Had

  James Johnson was appointed the first warden of Alcatraz and his hard stance on punishment set up many of the rules and regulations to which prisoners were subjected. As the longest-serving warden of Alcatraz, he had seen many things take place in his prison but refused to believe in ghosts. He could never account for what happened when he was giving a group of people a tour once, though. As they passed by the dungeon, Johnson heard the sounds of a woman crying that seemed to be coming from the wall. Just as the sobbing stopped, an icy wind blew through the room and startled everyone.

  Later, the house Johnson lived in on the island also became a frequent spot for ghosts to allegedly appear, as several guards experienced during a holiday party. An apparition of a man with mutton chops and a gray suit was allegedly seen by the men just as the fire extinguished itself and the room turned cold.
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  (#11) Long Before Anything Was Built On The Island, It Was Believed To Be A Native American Burial Ground

  People who visited the island on which Alcatraz was eventually built experienced dark sensations long before the prison was built. Early explorers noted the atmosphere on the tiny island was heavy and depressing. Members of the Ohlone Native American tribe told tales about the island and believed it was a gathering spot for evil spirits. They had such distaste for the area that it's believed indigenous Americans who broke tribal laws were sometimes sent there as punishment. Since human bones and artifacts have been discovered buried on the island, it's very possible it served as some sort of Native burial ground. The famous fog that often hangs around San Francisco, as well as the cold, cruel waters of the Bay add to these eerie tales and make Alcatraz all the more creepy.
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  (#12) Between B And C-Blocks Lies Broadway, An Eerie Place Where Many Visitors And Guards Have Seen And Heard Things

  The passage between B and C-blocks, the cell areas where most Alcatraz prisoners were kept, was affectionately called Broadway. Many visitors, guards, and park rangers have experienced something eerie in this area. Night watchmen have heard what sounds like men running on the upper levels, only to find nobody there. Visitors have also heard voices talking, moaning, or sobbing in these areas, as well as experiencing unexplained cold areas or strange smells. Prisoners had been known to witness ghostly events as well, claiming to have seen strange floating lights and heard whispers and slamming doors even after they were shut. Apparitions have also reportedly appeared, and at least one guard believed he saw a group of marching Native Americans that mysteriously vanished.
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  (#13) A British Couple Allegedly Captured A Lady Ghost In A Photo While On A Tour

  British couple Sheila Sillery-Walsh and Paul Rice were vacationing in San Francisco and decided a tour of Alcatraz was a must on their "to do" list. Sillery-Walsh immediately experienced an uncomfortable feeling as she stepped into the prison. Then, while on an audio tour, she saw a neat photo opportunity in a small cell window and took a picture with her phone. She immediately noticed the face of a woman looking out the window from the other side, but there was no one in the room. At first Rice brushed it off as a reflection of either Sillery-Walsh or another visitor, but the woman in the photo had clothing and a hairstyle from the 1930s or '40s. The couple asked some of the Alcatraz staff who had been there around that time if they recognized her, but none did. Both Sillery-Walsh and Rice are certain the woman was a ghost, but since there were never any female prisoners on Alcatraz, it may never be clear who she really is.
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  (#14) Robert “Birdman” Stroud Is Believed To Still Be Hanging Around The Hospital Along With The Souls Of Other Inmates

  Robert Stroud, another of Alcatraz's famous residents, is also known as the "Birdman" and arrived at the prison in 1942 after he murdered a bartender, then threatened other inmates and murdered a guard at another prison. By the time he arrived at Alcatraz, he had already developed a somewhat bizarre interest in canaries and completed years of research. Stroud was kept mainly in solitary confinement and in the hospital area of Alcatraz and wrote several books which the warden refused to let him publish. In 1959, he was transferred off the island and to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners where he died. Several people have claimed to see his ghost wandering the hospital area, as well as voices, screams, and other apparitions. Park rangers who have heard strange sounds coming down the stairs from the off-limits hospital section have investigated only to find no one there. 
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  (#15) Native Americans Occupied Alcatraz In The Late 1960s And The Daughter Of One Leader Died After Falling Down Some Stairs

  Alcatraz prison shut down in 1963 and six years later, Richard Oakes and a group of Native Americans occupied the empty island. They demanded a college for Native students and a cultural center be built on the land that was once sacred Native American property. About 100 people, including many students, set up camp on the island but the longer the government refused to give into their demands, the more the people grew restless. When Oakes's 13-year-old daughter fell down a stairwell and died, the government cut off the water supply and electricity and a large fire broke out which destroyed several of Alcatraz's buildings. Eventually, there were reports of assaults and theft of copper wiring from the remaining buildings. Finally, in 1971, the remaining Natives were forcibly removed from the island and the occupation ended, but it's reported that a few ghosts still remain.

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