Historic prison haunt Columbus $$
Blood Prison
A 40 to 50 minute haunt staged inside the real Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, about an hour and ten minutes north.
Awards
Why Blood Prison why was this picked
Blood Prison earns the second spot on setting alone: actors work the actual cell blocks of the Ohio State Reformatory, the Shawshank Redemption filming site, including the world's largest free-standing steel cell block and a drop into The Hole. The route runs 40 to 50 minutes, longer than most indoor haunts. It plays Fridays through Sundays through November 1 with gates at 6:45 p.m., tickets are online only, and the building is not wheelchair accessible. Treat it as a planned night drive up I-71 rather than a spur-of-the-moment stop.
- Staged inside the real 1896 Reformatory cell blocks
- 40 to 50 minute route, one of the longest in Ohio
- Fridays to Sundays through November 1, online tickets only
Know before you go
Blood Prison runs inside the Ohio State Reformatory at 100 Reformatory Road in Mansfield and ranks second on our best haunted houses list. The route crosses the steel cell block and ends in The Hole.
Plan on about 70 minutes of driving each way from Columbus. The building is not wheelchair accessible and guests who appear intoxicated are turned away. Photo: Ohio State Reformatory cell block by Marianodemiguel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Parking
- On-site lots at the Reformatory.
- Reservations
- Online tickets only; nights sell out.
- Tip
- The daytime Reformatory tour route is shortened during haunt season, so do the history tour another month.
