West Virginia Penitentiary

Went there yesterday took 3 friends this was my second time there! Traveled 3 hours to get there! My first time was very enjoyable 12 people in the group that was in 1997! I was so excited to go back! And wow what a disappointment I felt I wasted a day for my friends and a lot of money also,gas food and our 12 dollar admission!! It's all about the almighty dollar to them now to heck with wanting to make sure people enjoyed it! We got there early bought our tickets and then looked around and took pictures,our tour was 2:00,we were prob the fifth people to start through the door the guide said move on up to the front so we can get everyone in here we turned and the people kept piling in we were crammed in that room like sardines!!To make a long story short it was a 90 min tour and 45 min of it was hearing her say is everyone in here can u hear me!! We couldn't even look at things along the tour it was so crowded!! I said something after the tour to the lady that sold us the admission and all she could or would say is yea there were a lot of people, no apology or nothing!!! So the next time we head out for a weekend it won't be in west Virginia!! This put a bad taste in our mouth!! Shame on you!! more

When the Penitentiary closed after more than 100 years in operation, they decided to take advantage of the history of the structure. You can now tour the pen on one of their daily tours to learn about the history of the prison and its inmates, some of whom still hang around according to legend. They do monthly ghost hunts, and leading up to Halloween they have a haunted house that runs through many areas of the prison. This haunted house I wouldn't waste my money on unless they've made changes. They had a great opportunity to incorporate some of the darker legends that surround the building to make it a truly frightening experience, instead they rely on cheap gags like strobe lights and people jumping out at you. more