It's all very well watching movies and TV shows about prisoners forever locked in a horrifying, gruesome prison environment. Though actors may portray the anguish and fear in a highly realistic way, you cannot hope to empathize unless you yourself have witnessed, firsthand, what it's like to sleep behind the bars of a haunted prison ... or rather, try to sleep.
Spending the night in Pentridge Prison
Pentridge Prison, a notoriously violent haunted place, was first built in 1850.
Nowadays it is closed, but that doesn't stop keen spirit hunters and brave tour groups from delving into its shadowy depths.
Lantern Ghost Tours provides paranormal investigations and haunted tours of the building, where guests can hear and examine the history of infamous figures such as 'Chopper' Read, Ronald Ryan and Ned Kelly.
Jacqui Travaglia, our spokeswoman, was recently interviewed by the Herald Sun newspaper about what the Pentridge experience is like.
"It offers guests the unique opportunity to experience what it is like to be incarcerated for an evening," she said, discussing the sleep over portion of the event, where guests literally stay overnight in the creepy cells.
"For ghost hunters, they have the opportunity to join our paranormal investigation team and make contact with the other side. They enjoy looking for spirits throughout the night and well into the witching hour."
With the type of spirit activity that such a dark place attracts, however, sometimes things can become too much for the participants.
"Previous guests have felt claustrophobic or felt as thought they were being watched," Ms Travaglia said.
"The tour was eerie, especially with the stories told by out tour guide, Ross. I've lived in the area all my life but had no idea how brutal this place was," wrote one TripAdvisor reviewer in October last year.
Are you prepared to spend the night in Pentridge Prison? Contact us now.