There are countless books, TV shows, and movies dedicated to showcasing life behind bars. They show us how both violent and petty criminals interact. But what happens when things spiral out of control? When inmates turn on the guards and riots break out? Or when guards become power hungry and torture inmates?

A prison can serve a variety of purposes. It can be a place of rehabilitation where the system tries to reform the inmate and make it easier for them to reintegrate into civilian life. It can be a place that prizes punishment as a means to stop illegal behavior. And, in the worst circumstances, it can be a place of state sponsored torture that doesn't care if an inmate is truly guilty.

Though many of the prisons in this book tried to change an inmate's behavior through non-violent means, their systems almost always devolved into one of corruption.

Abuse, rape, unhygienic living conditions, and even murder make up the stories of each of these prisons. Their histories are dark and not for the faint of heart. The inmates and guards who lived, suffered, and died in these prisons still fill their cold, abandoned corridors with malevolent energy.

Before reading any farther, be forewarned that not everyone who enters these prisons will be let out…