Alcatraz Ghosts
By Alison Cole 

Alcatraz was supposed to be a prison for America's worst prisoners. But even before the department of prisons actually took over the island, the military used it as a place to keep the civil war prisoners.

Over the years, there have been a lot of ghost stories and sighting associated with the place. Legend says that even before the military used it, the Native Americans avoided the place as they believed it to be the home of evil sprits.

Some of the most reported haunted locations in Alcatraz are the warden's house, the hospital, the laundry room, and cell block C utility door, where convicts Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard died during their escape attempt. The most haunted place is the D cell block, or the "solitary," as it was called. The peculiar thing about the D block is that the area is intensely cold, particularly cell 14-D; sometimes it is 20 degrees colder than the surrounding areas.

The most horrific tale of cell block D is about a convict who began screaming the moment he was thrown in one of the cells. It is said that there was something with glowing eyes inside the cell with him. The guards, however, ignored the screams and after a while the convict stopped screaming. In the morning, the convict was found dead with finger marks around his neck. Since then, many visitors and guards have reported seeing the glowing eyes in different parts of the prison.

A number of guards from 1946 to 1963 have reported seeing extraordinary things from time to time, ranging from sobbing women to horrible smells. At times, phantom prisoners have also appeared in front of the guards and their families.

Over the years, many psychics have come to the island prison and all have experienced an intense sense of energy and dissatisfaction. Some claim to have had talks with tortured and dissatisfied souls, while others claim to have had ghosts touch and harm them.