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Eastern State Penitentiary's Terror Behind The Walls Halloween Attraction Opens Next Week

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Eastern State Penitentiary in Fairmount is getting ready for its biggest fundraiser of the year. The prison's Terror Behind the Walls Halloween attraction opens next week. Fans are marking the occasion in a special way.

Terror-Behind-The-Walls-themed tattoos were being offered at a special price inside Eastern State's newly-renovated makeup room. Skulls, ghouls and gargoyles were among the choices.

Many say they jumped at the chance for a permanent reminder of Eastern State Penitentiary and Terror Behind the Walls.

Fairmount resident Mike Ryan got a skull and crossbones tattoo. Melissa Mellon, a resident of Mount Airy, says she took off of work to get her special tattoo.

"That's kind of a funny byproduct but we are really excited for the opportunity to do this," said Mike Ski, a tattoo artist for True Hand in Fishtown, about the opportunity to give tattoos in the historic prison. "As far as I know, we are the first professional tattooing going on inside this prison. It's super cool."

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Kenny Wittwer is with Terror Behind the Walls' theatrical team.

"We are at our 29th season, so what's new for 2019 is we are stepping up our interactivity and we're making the show more interactive and more immersive than ever," Wittwer said. "So the show begins the second visitors enter gatehouse to get their tickets scanned and they stay immersed and entrenched in our wild, fictional universe until the second they pass back through the gatehouse upon exit."

The popular gargoyles make a return this year. They won't be up high at the front gate, they'll be down low to greet you.

gargoyle
Credit: CBS3

You'll be able to pose for selfies with them.

Terror Behind the Walls includes six Halloween attractions in one big haunted house -- or prison, in this case. It runs Sept. 20 through Nov. 9.

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