If being frightened to within an inch of your life is your thing, you will be in your element at the historic Philadelphia Eastern State Penitentiary. The penitentiary’s “Terror Behind the Walls” event, running from Sept. 21 through Oct. 31, is guaranteed to leave you shaking.

“Terror Behind the Walls” has been ranked as the 5th best haunted house in the United States by AOL City Guide and the 9th best haunted house in the country by HauntWorld Magazine. It has been described by The New York Times as “perfect for Halloween.” The penitentiary’s peculiar hauntings have attracted the attention of national television media including Fox’s World’s Scariest Places, TLC’s America’s Ghost Hunters and MTV’s FEAR. In June the Travel Channel, Most Haunted Live USA, brought the United Kingdom’s most popular paranormal investigation team to the penitentiary for a 7-hour live broadcast.

Considered by many to be America’s most historic prison, Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829 as part of a controversial movement to change the behavior of inmates. Elements of cathedral architecture can be seen in the penitentiary’s interior, inspiring thoughts of heaven and forgiveness. With its wagon wheel floor plan, the penitentiary was the model for more than 300 prisons around the world. Some of America’s most notorious criminals, including Al Capone, were held here.

The penitentiary closed its doors in 1971 and now sits as a world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers. However, this does not mean that activity has ceased in this notorious place.

In Philadelphia Ghost Stories, Charles Adams III describes a 1994 ghost sighting by the penitentiary’s volunteer locksmith. As the locksmith was removing a 140-year old lock from the door of an abandoned cell, he encountered an energy so powerful that he still shudders when he recalls it. Other penitentiary ghost sightings have been recorded in books about the paranormal, including Dan Afar’s Ghost Stories of Pennsylvania.

Intrigued so far? You can take a daytime historical tour. On your visit, you will see the cell of Al Capone, exactly as it was when he occupied it. As you note the cell’s oriental rug, lamp and other homey comforts, you quickly discern that Capone’s time at the prison was a little easier than that of others. You will also learn the fate of 12 inmates who attempted a daring tunnel escape in 1945. What happened to them is revealed during your tour. 

You won’t want to miss the hundreds of feet of red pipes, which represent imagined escape routes. The pipes, tracing paths around the original seven cell blocks, are actually a work by artist Dayton Castleman. As your eyes follow them, you can’t help but think about the freedom the inmates wanted so desperately.

Also be sure to see the plaque that honors war-fighting inmates. It lists only the inmates’ prison numbers not their names. 

Most visitors to the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site explore its cellblocks with “The Voices of Eastern State” audio tour. Narrated by actor Steve Buscemi (“Reservoir Dogs,” “The Sopranos”), the tour includes voices of 28 former officers and inmates. Special Topic Tours are also offered several times a day on such topics as escape, life behind the walls and uprisings. These tours last about 30 minutes and are designed to supplement the main audio tour program.

The tours allow you to truly put yourself in the place of the inmates, to imagine what they felt and what they thought. You will soon learn why the place gives everyone the creeps.

In addition to the prison’s more “normal” happenings, you will discover that some within its walls have been witness to a dark malevolent figure that jumps away if you come too close. Others have seen a dark shadow darting across a cell block.

Eastern State Penitentiary offers daytime historic tours from April through Nov., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A schedule of tour times can be found on the penitentiary’s website, www.EasternState.org. More information is available at 215-236-3300.

Tickets for “Terror Behind the Walls” go on sale Sept. 13. Check the website for scheduled dates and times.

Eastern State Penitentiary is located at 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue, just five blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and eight blocks from the Franklin Institute.