We are all taught from a very young age that there are certain rules in life that we must follow. It begins with the rules set by our parents, designed to teach us lessons, keep an orderly house, and help us fit into society as we grow into young adults. As we get older and our minds mature we are given a new set of rules designed by our government and legal systems. We know and understand that stealing will get us into serious trouble, and that killing is absolutely not tolerated. But some people choose to ignore these rules, some people act on their impulses and darkest thoughts; and those people are sent to jail.

In 1829 a new prison was built in Pennsylvania, and it was named Eastern State Penitentiary. It was designed by John Haviland to encourage the prisoners to think about what they had done, and spend their time in prison quietly repenting for their crimes. However, the strictly enforced ‘quiet’ began to hurt, rather than help the prisoners. The cells had soundproof doors, the guards wore slippers to hush the sound of their footsteps in the halls,  there were individual exercise yards and slots in the doors for food so that prisoners rarely saw another human face. Both the minds of the convicts and officers began to warp under these conditions, and by the time the prison closed many had died and others had been stricken with mental illness.

Be grateful my dear friends, that you did not commit a crime during the days when Eastern State was open.  You wouldn’t feel so comfortable dressing as an officer or a convict this year for Halloween if you had been there, and witnessed firsthand the worst years of that prison. For them, the game of  cops and robbers had a tragic end, and no one came out as the victor.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow