Philadelphia- Five blocks north of the Philadelphia Museum of Art whose steps Rocky Balboa ascended with his fists clenched in Pisano victory is Eastern State Penitentiary- a rather ominous place that once served as home to inmates like Al Capone and Willie Sutton. Charlies Dickens even visited to get some inspiration for his dour novels about life.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, the prison was closed and abandoned in 1971. Today it serves as a museum and overall reminder of spooks and goblins when Halloween rolls around.

The Internet also duly notes that the Eastern State facility has served as a popular location for television shows and movies about hauntings. Ghost Hunters and MTV’s Fear both explored the supernatural at Eastern State, while Terry Gilliam’s film Twelve Monkeys used it as the setting for a mental hospital. Ghost Hunters were also able to catch a full body apparition of a prisoner running between the walkway.

On 1 June 2007, Most Haunted Live! conducted and broadcast a paranormal investigation live (for the first time in the United States) from Eastern State Penitentiary for an unprecedented seven continuous hours hoping to come in contact with supernatural beings.

In June 2008, Paramount Pictures used parts of Eastern State Penitentiary for the filming of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Arrow’s Robert Interlandi, www.xxxdeepthroat.com who was in Philadelphia on business a couple of weeks ago took a tour.

Interlandi mentions one exhibit there called Terror Behind the Walls.

“Dude, it’s scary as hell,” he says. “They take you to the chamber where they have the electric chair and the guy fries right it front of your face, but it’s not real. It’s a real spooky house and pretty freaky. Really scary. Check it out- the sixth best spooky house in the world according to AOL.com.”