My Date with the Dead: Outside

While we took our outdoor break I decided to take advantage of the fresh air and walk to a building at the far end of the campus. As I approached I could see the window on the boarded up door was missing. I took the opportunity to place my camera through one of the open spots not covered by the board and snapped a quick picture of the inside. I do not know what building this was nor what it was used for, but I got the sense that I was not welcomed near it. Maybe it was just me being a little bit chicken since I was standing there solo, but I felt a bit uneasy. Just as I was turning around to head back to my group I thought I heard the sound of a cow. I knew that Pennhurst had its own farm back in the day, did this mean it also had ghost cows? Which prompted me to ask “what does a ghost cow say???” To which I answered my own corny joke with “the ghost cow says ‘MOOOOOOOOOOOOO’”

Picture taken through the boarded up building next to the Administration complex

As I made my way back in the direction of the Mayflower I noticed my group was actually walking along the catwalks and heading to some of the other buildings on campus. I quickly joined them, happy to have some company again. I took a picture of the administration building with its one lone emergency light. It just looked so eerie there in the pitch black. I know this building is open for the “haunt” which made me think about possibly coming back during the Halloween season just so I could get a peak inside, even if it meant subjecting myself to the cliché “haunted house” theme with actors that jump out to scare you and chase you around trying to make you shit yourself. Personally I feel it is a bit disrespectful that they have people dressed up as “staff” torturing other actors dressed as “patients” in an asylum. When I voiced my opinion on the matter my team leaders agreed. They did reassure me though that all money raised from the “haunt” goes directly to renovating the campus and trying to bring the other buildings to code so they too could be explored. That made me feel a little better, despite how saddened I felt for the real patients that were actually tormented in this facility.

The Administration Building – just one lone light shining on the outside in the pitch black

We made our way along the catwalks looking at some of the other buildings on campus. We passed the Philadelphia building, the Rockwell building, the dining hall, even a playground that was covered in weeds.

The Playground

Eventually we made our way to what is claimed to be the most haunted place on campus: The Quaker building. The Quaker building housed some of the most violent of all the patients. When patients acted out or attacked other patients they were put in the basement of Quaker for “rehabilitation.” The goal was to be able to return these vile patients back to their other facilities after they had been “fixed.” Rehab consisted of techniques such as pulling teeth if a patient bit someone, subjecting them to electric shock therapy, or if all else failed, performing lobotomies. “Ghost Hunters” has accounts of objects being thrown at their crew as well as people being grabbed or scratched in the building. We were not allowed to go inside, but were told that if we wanted to we could walk up to the doors and knock on them. It had been noted that if you knocked and put your ear up against the door you could hear scratching and voices calling out from within.

No one in my group really seemed overly eager to try this out with the exception of one of my friends and myself. Even the guide from SJSS said he didn’t feel comfortable going up to the door by himself. My friend and I walked up, knocked loudly on the door and placed our ears up against the door waiting for confirmation from the “other side.” We tried several times, but received no response back; this led me to believe either the ghosts were sleeping, or they thought we may be Jehovah Witnesses. I guess even ghosts have their limits and don’t always want to be bothered by unannounced guests.

The Quaker Building – one of the most “active” buildings on campus

We finished our tour of the campus and made our way back to the Mayflower to investigate the first and second floor. The second floor was the one that excited me most as there were accounts of a little girl that would sometimes touch you. I was wondering if she would think I was friendly enough to say “hi.”

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