Monthly Challenge/Travel Writing/Adventure
The Ghosts Of Alcatraz, The Rock and My Scary Silly Imaginations
Visiting one of the haunted places of San Francisco, California
Alcatraz Island is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It is known for the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the Civil War fortress, home to large colonies of brown pelicans and having the first lighthouse in the West Coast. It is known for its famous inmates – the most notorious American criminals, the likes of Al Capone and George Kelly.
Break the rules and you go to prison
break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz.
…….anonymous, Alcatraz Island
Most of the convicts that were brought to Alcatraz needed attitude refining and discipline.
The prison was closed in 1963 because of financial reasons.
Alcatraz is known to be one of the most haunted places in America
The empty prison cells of Alcatraz are said to be haunted by the restless ghosts of the prisoners that stayed in there. Ghosts of prisoners who had undergone harsh kinds of discipline. So harsh that even the spirits of the most notorious criminals would be broken.
In breaking the rules, the prisoners would be sent to the strip cell where they would remove all of their clothing and spend time there with no lights, no sink, no mattress and only a hole in the ground for the toilet.
With that, it was said that many of the ghosts were the ones who weren’t able to move on from Alcatraz’s life to the afterlife.
So.. this is the rock
On October 4, 2007, I joined the Alcatraz Island tour. I boarded the ferry at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. The Rock (the movie), Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage made me plunge into this adventure.
Being a fanatic of several crime television shows, I’m quite familiar on how an American prison looks like but not on how it feels like to be there in flesh and blood.
Fear
Aboard the ferry in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, the first fear gripped me. An unusual feeling as I saw the ruins of Alcatraz from afar.
The sounds of the movie, of the helicopter and the stumping of the marines’ boots were all alive in my brain. No wonder the movie was nominated for Best Sound at the Academy Awards.
I was alone and had never told anybody of my destination that day.
A Scary me
As I entered the prison, everything felt eerie. Even with the number of people in the tour walking here and there, I could hear the sounds of prison. A product of my imagination? Maybe…a little.
The banging of the metal doors as they open and close, the creaking of the bed, the sound of footsteps, and the glaring eyes of the prisoners. They were all in my head. I scared myself.
Each time I stopped and looked at the cell, I had the feeling that someone was staring at me. That some kind of spirit would come out of the wall.
And another thing that scared me was — my “what if”. What if some crazy dudes re-enact the scene where General Hummel and his minions seized the tourists in exchange for their evilness? My silly imagination.
The setting of the cells was never disturbed. As if the purpose is to disturb everyone who takes a look.
The Ghost of Alcatraz
There are many reported sightings of the ghosts of the departed inmates.
A park ranger heard banjo music coming from the old shower room, but found nothing. There was only one inmate who was given the freedom to play his banjo in the shower, Al Capone.
Sounds of men’s voices, screams, whistles and clanging metal doors.
Spirits lurking in the shadows were often felt, heard and seen by the staff and visitors.
Several guards had some extraordinary experiences like hearing sounds of sobbing and moaning, terrible smells and something they called “The Thing” (an entity with glory eyes).
Known as the Ghost Woman of Alcatraz, was seen staring directly into the camera’s lens of a couple who snapped the shot.
Visitors of cell 14D, which is considered the most haunted cell, have felt extreme coldness wrapping them as if the spirits of the dead inmates were still there.
Some musings
The former prison is much better than those in our country. Majority of the prisons here are inhumane in construction ( it is easy to say that prisoners deserve it). Packed like sardines in one cell, they sit and sleep on the floor, having skin diseases and dying of heat stroke in the peak of summer. No wonder the rich and the famous would do all in their power to be out of there.
Sixteen months before this trip, a man posing as a patient declared a robbery and pointed a knife at my neck. Watching crime shows gave me the courage to do what I need to do. The robber was put behind bars.
During the trial and hearing, the lawyer told me that the maximum sentence that can be given is only six months. For the reason that I was not hurt physically and no material things were taken. The lawyer also told me the reality of the situation in the prison. Give the man some compassion. Six months was enough to give him a lesson and possibly be reformed.
I gave him my compassion. Though that incident gave me mental trauma, like treating every male who seeks dental treatment as a “suspect”.
And me
After the tour inside, I toured the outside. It was scarier than the prison cells, the ruins and the San Francisco Bay in 360 degrees. I do not know how to swim. Just one slip or a push from a jerk would be the death of me.
I better leave the island.
Then, I saw those posters. Looking again for someone to click the camera for me, I saw an Asian couple. I asked for that favor and thankfully it was granted.
I had to crop the photo, for I looked like I hadn’t combed my hair and washed my face since the night before.
After Alcatraz, I went to the Palace of Fine Arts. To complete my “The Rock” experience: where Mason( Sean Connery) met his daughter Jade(Claire Forlani) and where Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) got hold of Mason.
