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The Haunting of Pennhurst

Play trailer The Haunting of Pennhurst 2026 1h 21m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers -- many living with similar experiences that once sent people to Pennhurst -- put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living. Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite. Blending haunting archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité approach, directing trio Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak have crafted something far more powerful than either a horror film or a traditional documentary. THE HAUNTING OF PENNHURST is a horror story in its own right -- one about care gone catastrophically wrong -- that carries the visceral, cathartic charge of the genre.

Cast & Crew

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Nathan R. Stenberg

Director

Mike Attie

Director

Katarina Poljak

Director

Nathan R. Stenberg

Screenwriter

Mike Attie

Screenwriter

Katarina Poljak

Screenwriter
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The Haunting of Pennhurst

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Movie Info

Synopsis For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers -- many living with similar experiences that once sent people to Pennhurst -- put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living. Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite. Blending haunting archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité approach, directing trio Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak have crafted something far more powerful than either a horror film or a traditional documentary. THE HAUNTING OF PENNHURST is a horror story in its own right -- one about care gone catastrophically wrong -- that carries the visceral, cathartic charge of the genre.
Director
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak
Producer
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak, Daniel J. Chalfen
Screenwriter
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak
Production Co
School Project Films, Naked Edge Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 21m