Halloween Haunts: Eastern State Penitentiary

Looking for a great place to go to get in the mood for Halloween? One haunted place I love is Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary, that was first opened in 1829.  Although other prisons in the area preceded this one like the Walnut Street Jail, Eastern State had a different goal in terms of punishment.  People thought that by confining prisoners in solitude and making them work, it would change their behavior and encourage them to repent for their crimes. Some may have found a higher spiritual meaning of life through the valuted ceilings and skylights in the cellblocks, while others may have just gone insane. 

Ever wonder where the word penitentiary came from? The goal of this type of prison was to make the prisoners penitent and regretful for their crimes, hence the name.  This theory was nicknamed the Pennsylvania System, largely due to it's practice in the state.  Throughout it's use, Eastern State housed some famous prisoners like Al Capone, whose lavishly furnished cell is on display, and is the site where he was supposedly haunted by the ghost of one of the victims from the St. Valentine's Day massacre.  The prison also had an inmate that wasn't actually human... yes, Pep the Dog was sentenced to a life sentence for murdering a cat.

Various riots, fires, and a partially successful escape went on before the prison was officially closed in 1970.  Most of the inmates were moved to Graterford (where I volunteered to teach inmates last year!). Now the prison remains intact, right in the city of Philadelphia, reminding us of a gothic-style castle with the high walls and turrets. It is a national landmark and is open for tours during the year. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the audio tour unless you're a huge fan of Steve Buscemi, who narrates the tape.  You may also recognize the prison for it's use as a setting for various movies.  12 Monkeys along with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were both filmed here. 

But... on Halloween, things get a little hairy. The prison hosts numerous haunted houses, located right in the cellblocks of the prison.  Complete with scary volunteers and an eerie location, you're sure to have a great time if you love haunted house type things.  Or you can go to learn a bit more about penology and corrections. It really is a creepy, yet cool place.

Have any other favorite Halloween-themed tourist spots? Please share!!
Happy Haunting!!
Stephanie, WWT

Movie Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

As promised, here is the movie review of the second Swedish movie installment of the Stieg Larsson series.

All of the same actors return to play their respective parts in the sequel to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Noomi Rapace once again delivers a perfect Lisbeth Salander who kicks ass and researches like no other! The film pretty much follows the book storyline, although much more simplified in order to fit it into a two hour movie.  There are some graphic scenes and a couple very naked sexual parts of the film.

In my opinion, it would be necessary to read the book before watching this movie because there are just too many details that couldn't be included.  One might be a bit confused at the general point of the story, like the research that Dag and Mia were conducting on the side, or the joint investigation by Bublanski's team, Armansky's team, and Millenium.  Many characters with a smaller role weren't actually identified, and you would only know who they are from the book. 

Overall, the sequel was just as good as the first.  The ending is pretty amazing. That's all I'm going to say. Go rent it! I'd probably give it a 7 out of 10. I can't wait to read the final book and finish the series, but I'm on a hiatus know in order to focus on school work... boo.

Stephanie, WWT

Book Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

How impressive is this: my last post was about book 1 in the Stieg Larsson series and I've managed to read the second book as my next post! Ok, well sure, it's been a while since I've posted at all, but the point is, I love this series!! It's so good, although I have to take a break before reading the final book to focus on my studies. This semester has been killing me with four research projects along with numerous readings every day, ugh!
Anyway, back to the book. The second installment of the Lisbeth Salander series, The Girl Who Played With Fire, leaves off where the first book ended and promises a great ride and adventure that surrounds Lisbeth being accused of a double homicide.  As she goes into hiding at the same time trying to get revenge on people who have made her life awful, many allies come to her defense in the investigation, including her old partner and awkward lover, Mikael Blomkvist.  We learn more about minor characters from the first book including Lisbeth's on and off lesbian lover Miriam Wu, her guardian Holger Palmgren, and the mysterious Zala.

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first and would recommend it to anyone who likes reading about female empowerment.  Once again, Larsson has delivered a great read.  I haven't rented the second film in the Swedish movie series yet, but I plan on it sometime this week, so look for a movie review as well.

What good books have you read lately??

Stephanie, WWT