A Terrifying Night Inside Brushy Mountain Penitentiary

This video was uploaded to the YouTube channel Paranormal Quest in October 2022.

No place is more infamously haunted than the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary! Tonight, we will celebrate Halloween with @Kalani Ghost Hunter and @Hauntings With Hodge by spending a terrifying night investigating the hauntings of this legendary prison.

This prison got a reputation from the beginning. The inmates said stepping through the gates of Brushy Mountain was like stepping through the Gates to Hell. The haunted history of this prison leads many to believe some of them may still be living out this hellish existence long after they have passed on. Brushy Mountain opened in 1896 as a mining prison, with the intention to make the state of Tennessee a profit from incarceration. The inmates were forced to work long hours in the coal mine and sleep in disgusting living conditions. Disease, starvation and torture claimed the lives of so many inmates inside Brushy Mountain in its earliest years. In the 1930s, a new sandstone prison was built by the back-breaking labor of the inmates themselves as they constructed the prison that would house them. Once the new prison was complete, this fortis within the mountains was used to incarcerate some of the most notable inmates in United States history. Most legendary of which was James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and this caused a lot of tension within the prison. Ray came here in 1970 and his presence spark hatred and anger amongst the prison population that led to a never-ending cycle of violence that made Brushy Mountain one of the most dangerous prisons in America. By the time Brushy Mountain closed in 2009, the casualties were astronomical. No one really knows the exact number of people who perished in the property, but estimates place the number of deaths well over 10,000. Many people believe the souls of the inmates still remain inside the cells and halls, still serving out their sentence while they wait for unsuspecting guests to enter the prison. Shadow figures have been seen, full bodied apparitions have been witnessed, disembodied voices have been heard, and many ghostly presences have been experienced by investigators and everyday tour guests.

When we enter Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary tonight, it'll be after 9 years of waiting. Since 2013 when the prison opened to the public, we've been dreaming about investigating this place. And as you'll see by the end of the night... It didn't disappoint!

The slick and entertaining YouTube series follows Ryan Zacherl, David Gear, Steve Hummel and Jason McKinney on their quest to seek out paranormal activity at reportedly haunted locations across America. Over a decade ago they set out on a quest to capture paranormal activity in the world's most haunted places. What sets them apart is their passion for documentary filmmaking. Their videos allow you to travel with them to some of the most terrifying locations and experience the thrill of ghost hunting.