Category: Bizarre or Funny

Jeremy Busby describes how mental illness in solitary confinement is ignored by prison officials, even when a seriously ill prisoner communicates almost entirely through bird…

There are the ubiquitous ones - Stretch, Preacher, Shorty, Lucky, Cowboy, Solo, Fats, Junior, Nephew, Deuce, and Viking. Einstein makes rocks look like intellectuals.

Was Patrick Jones catfished in prison? He describes his experience finding connection behind prison walls, where letters, phone calls, and late-night conversations can feel real.…

Teenage prison guards and the incarcerated teenagers they’ll oversee share more than proximity — they share the same vulnerability to a system that has never…

Jeremy Nuckles recalls the day a simple whistle set off an unforgettable prison bet that turned an ordinary tier into a stage for comedy, chaos,…

James Berman describes the infamous prison food staple known as the state sandwich, enlightening us on its ritual preparation and questionable comfort. There are many…

The movie, THE STANFORD EXPERIMENT, is a fictionalized account of the notorious study conducted by Stanford Professor Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Here is a summary of…

James Berman recalls how learning the craft of prison cooking turned into both a survival skill and an unlikely connection to memories of making pasta…

A  ABORIGINE: (n) [sometimes derog.] A Native American. AGENT: (n) A snitch, usually on a specific mission from staff. [“Look out talking about the mota,…

Shawn Dustin Powell explains how you have to learn a few prison hustles if you want to afford the basic necessities in prison, unless you’re…

Chris Dankovich describes the summer they had Pokemon in prison. In 2023, the new game was added to prisoners’ tablets and became the #1 source…

The prison experience is different for different people. Nathan Gray — who’s 7 feet tall — lists 12 things one should expect if they’re that…

Prison life has revealed that even behind bars, the spirit of entrepreneurs can thrive in the most unexpected—and often disturbing—ways. There are all sorts of…

Jeremy Busby explains how he pulled off the biggest hip hop concert in Texas prison history — starring Trapboy Freddy. By the time I arrived…

Chris Dankovich describes how a group of prisoners experimented with “Holotropic Breathwork” in prison with astonishing results.  Nathan puts his hand to his head. “Bro, this…

When I arrived at federal prison in May of 2024, we had to go through an orientation for the first two weeks so they could…

Ben Wilkins describes a unique and very lucrative prison side hustle few people know about: the prison massage therapist. Do you think it’s possible to…

Charles details the chilling reality of having severe psychotic episodes in prison, offering a raw take on the mental health struggles many face behind bars.…

Frederick offers perspective on the intimate missed life experiences from within the walls of a maximum-security prison. What life experiences have you missed in 33…

Making cotton candy unveils profound gratitude in prison, highlighting moments of joy behind bars. Every quarter, the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) incentivizes us to complete…

The other day, my buddy Gary Wolf (think older dude, yet in really good shape) went on a visit with one of his family members.…

I said everything I could to get the Safe Prisons Sergeant to believe that what had actually happened was the truth, but no one seemed…

“Eric, let me get some of your piss,” said Flaco, holding a latex glove open as if he was asking for spare change in the…

Many are intimidated by the expensive trappings of yoga. When you take away all the specialty items, forget the retreats to faraway places, and make…

Hoowee. The “h” is silent. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language in which word meanings are enhanced by pronunciation of musical notes, emphases rising and…

Our prison slang list is straight from our incarcerated friends. One of the best lists out there. Period. What's a prison pocket?

Being tossed into prison at the young age of 18 forced me to endure growing up before having the actual chance to live. I never…

I’ve met multiple serial killers, hitmen, Dr. Jack Kevorkian (reviled in here for being a prison-snitch and an all-around jerk), the “Jenny Jones Show Killer”…

An informal, unedited phone conversation between two friends who both agreed to be recorded. One, a former Latin Kings hitman and the other, a female…

Squeak. The sound of a mouse atop the last riser to the stairwell. Seeing mice in prison is nothing special. An odd, yet not completely…

Everyone’s always shocked to learn that smuggling drugs into prison happens all the time. And everyone is always shocked to learn just how so many…

After two years of putting up with the rednecks as a permanent worker at the North Florida Reception Center in Lake Butler, I was guaranteed…

“Looking Back” is the name of my Native American comrade I met when I first arrived at North Dakota state penitentiary a few months ago.…

  During a 13-year period, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer brutally killed 17 men he lured back to his apartment, promising to pay them for posing…

“Man, this shit is loose up there. One of these bitches is gonna go, but I think it might have to be a white guy.”…

During my twenty years of incarceration I've seen some of the most bizarre things, but none have been more unnerving than the oddities I've witnessed…

  First, what prisoners think of Trump is that he’s done the impossible, which is to take prisoners who would otherwise vehemently despise each other…

  Here are two more unforgettable prison characters from the early days of my imprisonment.  Murph the Surf. And Bobby B. To maintain his dignity…

Women here in the Hobby Unit have pets, or “babies” as they are referred to in prison. These consist of frogs, turtles, mice, rats, and…

I had a cellmate who fought in the Gulf and would tell me about some of the things he had experienced. In many ways I am…

One day as I was sitting on my cubicle floor deciding which flavor of Ramen Noodles would be my lunch, my friend Lacy darted past…

To torture a person is to cause intense suffering to punish or coerce by inflicting severe pain or anguish to the mind or body. I…

I always wanted a boob job. In all my years as a stripper, drug addict and a prostitute, my first big dream was to have…

I was seven months pregnant when I was picked up for suspicion and noncooperation. Having never been arrested in my 36 years, my faith in…

  Jeffery Hofstedter was our prime example of schizophrenia augmented by religiosity. White, late thirties, anorexically thin, he balanced a supersize pair of bifocal chominators…

  I don’t think that anyone believes U.S. prisons will ever serve quality meals, certainly prisoners are not holding their breath. I have come across…

The internet is awash with anecdotes (many of them horror stories) of the pitfalls and ups and downs of being in an MWI (Met While…

Like many others who find themselves locked in a cage with no way out, he too had a breaking point. The day we met, he…

"Polling” prisoners is a no-no, it’s taboo. And not easy to do, because who would personally know hundreds of inmates in prisons all cross the…

All this contraband went from cell to cell with fish lines. A guy may be at the other end of the gallery, but a long…

As I stared at the cell phone screen prompting me to register and start to build my own Facebook page, what was shining back at…

In my 21 years of incarceration I have seen every hustle that you can think of- from smuggling hot pockets to cell phones, to selling…

As miserable as prison is, it can also be pretty entertaining at times. I remember one day when two women were about to “throw down.”…

Like thousands of other inmates across the nation, I had a job. I worked in the kitchen. In the stock room area, out of sight…

I have always been a private person in so far as wanting to be left alone when I’m reading, drawing, writing or just listening to…

I don’t generally start conversations with the pronouncement that I married a prisoner and my husband is still in prison. However, many of those who…

Jason Cooper from California writes about an unusual discovery his cellmate found on ground in the rec yard, something that was worth far, far more…

A few years back, some asshole came up with the idea to hold a pedophile footrace around the track here at our facility. (Pedophiles are at…

What would you think if I told you that amongst America’s prison blues, prison uniforms and prison commonality there existed a thriving and flourishing fashion…

The man’s kissing a skunk…in a photograph, that landed him in the hole for ninety days. The photo was used as evidence to convict him…

  Over the past twenty-two years I have had both the privilege and the burden to play witness to some righteously weird shit: guys cutting…

“Where did you make-up?” SGT. Holmes asked. I played stupid. “Make-up? What Make-up? I don’t have any because I can’t buy it on commissary.” SGT.…

Wayne Snitzky writes about surviving prison food dares and the ridiculous challenges that can happen when bored young inmates try to impress each other. “Eat…