Escape From Blood Prison (Mansfield, OH)
“A Haunt of Historical Proportions”
By Noah Wullkotte: jollypumpkin@aol.com
The Ohio State Reformatory is one of the most haunted places in America. Paranormal groups around the world have visited and experienced things that are unexplained. It was open from 1886 to 1990 and designed by Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield. The Ohio State Reformatory housed over 155,000 inmates until it closed on December 31st, 1990. Levi used three architectural styles; Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne to encourage inmates to become reborn back into their spiritual lives.
Some scenes for the Shawshank Redemption were filmed inside the reformatory in 1993 and the movie was released in 1994. Many events take place at Ohio State Reformatory. This includes Inkcarceration-Music and Tattoo Festival, Parapsycon, Shawshank Hustle and of course Escape From Blood Prison.
Escape From Blood Prison is Ohio State Reformatory’s annual haunted attraction. It’s one of the most unique attractions in the country since it takes place in a real haunted reformatory. People flock to this place every season in search of a scare and boy there are plenty!
Escape From Blood Prison features a plethora of eye catching props. You’ll encounter 2 claustrophobia tunnels, a vortex tunnel, an animated inmate strapped to a bed, an animated zombie, a massive killer mutant rat and much more. This is a haunt that doesn’t hold back when it comes to eye candy. Where else can you see large tanks, a crashed plane or a tree in the middle of the room. They really know what they’re doing at Blood Prison. My favorite prop was the animated inmate that rips his face off.
Escape From Blood Prison does a great job utilizing their environment. When you aren’t entering a decorated scene, you’ll be wondering through part of the prison that was once occupied by prisoners. Just escaping through the darkness and walking past prison cells will put a chill down your spine. Silence can be so scary. You’ll explore areas such as a spooky cemetery with wooden crosses, zombies and a Baphomet style creature. Bahoment is a deity allegedly worshiped by the Knights Templar that became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions.
Escape From Blood Prison is full of impressive scenes. Enter a kitchen with a killer cook that’s out to get you. A disgusting bathroom isn’t a place you want to be. You can run but you can’t hide was you try to escape to the church at Blood Prison. It’s a place of unholy Hell! You’ll explore a plethora or scenes such as the boiler room, a prison hallway with CGI inmates, a mental hospital, a crazy carnival and much much more. There are some dead spots where little is happening, but it’s not very common at Blood Prison. We also saw the large lighted speakers in some of the jail cells which took us out of the experience. These are minor complaints that could easily be fixed.
We definitely recommend that you you purchase the Touch Pass since your experience will be much more interactive and intense. We were grabbed, pushed, shoved into a prison cell and used and abused. We had a blast. Most of the actors are light on dialogue, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t scary. We were caught off guard a few times. The chainsaw manic cutting up his victim was very energetic and didn’t let up when he started to attack us. The actor dressed as a monkey also did a great job making us laugh and jump. The Warden’s Widow grabbed a hold of my head before entering the haunt. She’s definitely one of the most intimidating characters we’ve seen.
Total tour time was 36 minutes. Tickets are $35 for general admission and $75 for the Ultra Lighting Pass which reduces your wait by 1/4 of the general admission line. Add a touch pass for $7 which allows the actors to touch you. You must be 18 years or older for the touch pass. Escape From Blood Prison has changed to timed ticketing which has dramatically cut down on wait times.
There’s a wide variety of concessions outside in their carnival food area.This includes deep fried pickles, onion rings, french fries, onion chips, a fish sandwich, funnel cakes and more. After you’re done with the haunt, you enter their gift shop. You’ll find a lot of great gifts like hats, shirts, ornaments, books coffee, Shawshank Redemption merchandise and more. There’s also the new Scofield Café which offers drinks, snacks and more. Don’t forget to visit Blood Prison on December 9th and 10th for their Christmas Incarceration event.
Escape From Blood Prison has a lot to offer in terms of entertainment and scares. There’s something very bone chilling about a prison with rich history and many claims of paranormal activity. Violent men were kept here, and some never left — even after death.
Length-10 Design-9 Props/Animatronics-9 Acting-8 Scare Effect-8
Final Stab: 8.8
www.bloodprison.com