✓-Free Parking✓-Restrooms/Porta Potties On-Site✓-Food/Concessions✓-Gift Shop/Souvenirs✓-Special Events✓-You may be touched✓-Uncovered Outdoor Waiting Line
This attraction was reviewed on October 6, 2018 by .
How Do We Get These Scores?
Our Rating System
UPDATE FOR 2022: Our former “Atmosphere” and “Theme” categories have now been combined and renamed “Immersion.” Our intent with this is to give more appropriate credit to attractions that have shown a clear focus on achieving and maintaining better customer experiences (both inside and outside the attractions) and developing creative storylines.
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
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Final Score: 8.64
How Did We Get This Score?
Final Scores:
(15% of Final Score) Cast: 8.35
(15% of Final Score) Costuming: 8.45
(10% of Final Score) Customer Service: 9.25
(10% of Final Score) Atmosphere: 10
(15% of Final Score) Special Effects: 8.18
(5% of Final Score) Theme: 7.83
(15% of Final Score) Scare Factor: 8.89
(5% of Final Score) Entertainment & Value: 8.3
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Summary:
With Vic Amesquita at the helm, Blood Prison has done it again and pulled out all the stops to put the already-creepy Mansfield Reformatory on the map as one of Ohio’s premiere big-budget attractions. Somehow, even with an incredibly lengthy show last time, our friends at the reformatory have managed to make the show even longer with new scenes, new scares and even more intense actors than before.
Cast: 8.35
How Did We Get This Score?
Cast Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of Cast Score) Did it seem like there were enough actors?: 7.5
(30% of Cast Score) How creative, believable and convincing were the actors?: 8
(20% of Cast Score) How interactive were the actors (verbally and physically)?: 9.5
(15% of Cast Score) How creatively & appropriately did they use dialogue?: 8
(15% of Cast Score) Was there a good variety of characters?: 9
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To staff this monster, there were 57 actors on site to scare patrons on the evening we went, and the owner admitted they were a bit short handed. Indeed they could have used a few more people, but the ones they had covered the area really nicely and they were not reluctant to scare any person from any direction or any angle.
The janitor zombie was a nice light-hearted addition, with his spray bottle and toilet brush, shambling and ‘cleaning’ visitors as they passed. We should mention that we received the touch pass upgrade and that the actors were NOT afraid to get handsy with us. Jason, at one point, was held by the neck down on a sacrificial altar, and Katie, who naively wore a ponytail that night, was grabbed by the hair and paraded around the room at the finale. If that doesn’t sound like your thing, then perhaps the touch pass is not for you.
Costuming: 8.45
How Did We Get This Score?
Costuming Scores (15% of Final Score):
(15% of Costuming Score) How complete / finished did the costumes appear to be?: 9
(25% of Costuming Score) How creative / detailed were the costumes?: 8.5
(20% of Costuming Score) Was their makeup creative? Detailed? Realistic?: 8
(15% of Costuming Score) How effectively did they use masks (if used)?: 7.5
(25% of Costuming Score) How appropriate were the costumes for their scene/s & theme/s?: 9
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Blood Prison keeps it real and puts a large portion of their cast in orange or black- and white-striped jumpsuits, whether they are convicts, clowns or zombies, and instead use makeup and masks to illustrate what sort of monster you’re staring down. In some of the more heavily-themed areas of the haunt, their costumes are also kept realistic and not overdone which reflected the realism of their surroundings.
Customer Service: 9.25
How Did We Get This Score?
Customer Service Scores (10% of Final Score):
(25% of CS Score) How easy was it to locate the attraction, park, and navigate the premises?: 10
(30% of CS Score) How safe was the attraction?: 7.5
(25% of CS Score) How professional, helpful and friendly were the staff members?: 10
(20% of CS Score) How easy was it to find their information before* arrival?: 10
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Because we live only 15 minutes away from Blood Prison, we frequently see the billboards that surround the area on every major road leading into town. Being that the Mansfield reformatory is a gigantic and popular destination in Mansfield already, it is not at all difficult to find even in the dark. The building is illuminated by colored lights and a long row of food trucks light the way to the ticket booth, which is situated directly in front of the building’s main entrance.
There are plenty of parking attendants to guide you inside the gates and to a parking spot in the yard as well. Security staff is stationed at many transitions inside the haunt and they are utilized at different points in the haunt to re-combobulate groups that have created a conga-line situation through catching up to one another. The ‘plain clothes’ security personnel standing at various points along the haunt (never in a room) always seem out of place and can be an odd sight to see. However, in a building of this size and design, it is a necessary evil in order to provide quick security and safety to patrons and staff. There are also several local police officers on site to assist if anything major were to happen.
As we were entering, the skies opened up and dumped rain on the patrons waiting outside. The Blood Prison staff quickly rearranged some things to move patrons inside and out of the rain.
Atmosphere: 10
How Did We Get This Score?
Atmosphere Scores (10% of Final Score):
(60% of Atmosphere Score) How obvious was it that you were at a haunted house before entering?: 10
(40% of Atmosphere Score) How well did the atmosphere prepare you for what you experienced inside?: 10
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It would be impossible to mistake the Mansfield Reformatory as anything other than a haunted house. The lights and fog surrounding the outside, loud rock music, and the big black prison bus that serves as their ticket booth all make it quite apparent that it’s not just an historical walking tour where you can rent an audio wand and learn about which scenes from Shawshank Redemption were filmed where. While we highly recommend the historical tours at the Mansfield Reformatory as well, this is most certainly not that. The building itself is an imposing sight, especially after the sun has gone down, and it certainly helps put you into the Halloween mood as you watch the lightning flash around it.
Special Effects: 8.18
How Did We Get This Score?
Special Effects Scores (15% of Final Score):
(20% of SFX Score) How effective were the sound effects?: 8
(20% of SFX Score) How creative / original were the scenes & props?: 9
(20% of SFX Score) How well were the scenes detailed?: 9
(25% of SFX Score) How well did they achieve & maintain the suspension of disbelief?: 7.25
(15% of SFX Score) How effective were the SFX at providing scares / entertainment?: 7.75
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There were quite a few new scenes in the haunt this year and many returning favorites that got a little glow-up in the off season. A moving baby doll prop we noticed tucked away in a corner last year got a more visible spot this time around, which we were glad to see. The vortex tunnel, which was sadly cut from the show last year by order of the fire marshal, was cleared for use this year, and it’s one of the more effective ones we’ve seen. Katie is not great at navigating them under the best conditions, but with the addition of a clown spinning her around, it almost put her on the floor. Blood Prison plays it conservative on the sound effects and it is nice to be allowed to hear the natural sounds of chaos inside the haunt, but we would have liked to maybe hear some eerie chanting in the church scene or mechanical beeps in the hall of cryogenic specimens.
Theme: 7.83
How Did We Get This Score?
Theme Scores (5% of Final Score):
(30% of Theme Score) Could you tell what the theme was?: 6.5
(50% of Theme Score) How well was the theme carried throughout the attraction/s?: 7.75
(20% of Theme Score) How well does their location authenticate the theme?: 10
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This year’s theme is largely the same as it was in 2017: escaped convicts from around the country have settled in to hide out amongst the cells that once held them captive and turn the tables on the public that convicted them of their crimes. This haunt has been historically difficult to theme under past ownership and the loose concept they have designed seems to be a happy medium between completely re-theming the building and just setting the monsters loose inside with no context. This ‘open’ theme works well and everything finds its niche, even the psychotic clowns that have created their own midway along a cell block.
Scare Factor: 8.89
How Did We Get This Score?
Scare Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of Scare Factor Score) How scary was it?: 8
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide scares to the entire group?: 10
(25% of Scare Factor Score) How predictable were the scares?: 9
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How well did they provide a wide variety of scares?: 8.25
(15% of Scare Factor Score) How strong was the ending / finale?: 10
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Team Horrific Epiphany is made up of seasoned haunt veterans. It takes more than your average haunt to scare us, but Blood Prison is anything but average. You can be sure that there are actors in the long corridors of jail cells, but good luck figuring out which one it is. Catwalks hanging overhead give actors the opportunity to scare from above, and the touch pass adds another level of terror to the experience. As we stated previously, the touch pass is for real and the actors are not afraid to rough you up a little bit. These are deranged convicts, after all. For the first time in years, Katie was broken at a haunt and suffered a big ugly panic attack in the final room. She vacillated between angry and impressed for the remainder of the evening. Either way, the experience was not one that ended just because the haunt was over.
Entertainment & Value: 8.3
How Did We Get This Score?
Entertainment & Value Factor Scores (15% of Final Score):
(30% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment received during the main attraction/s?: 8.25
(25% of E&V Score) How satisfied were you with the entertainment that’s available with* the ticket price, excluding the main attraction/s?: 7.25
(30% of E&V Score) How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s?: 9.5
(15% of E&V Score) Have they effectively used their available space?: 7.75
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Blood Prison has changed their admission prices a bit this year. General admission on most nights is $20, with Speed Passes and Lightning Passes (which offer immediate front of the line access) are $30 and $40 respectively. On the weekends of October 12th and 13th & the 19th and 20th, prices of each level of admission are increased by $10. The touch pass upgrade is available for General and Speed Pass admission for an additional $5 and is included for free with the Lightning Pass.
Please be aware, no patrons under the age of 13 will be admitted. We were told this is more than just a guideline, and is a rule set down by the Reformatory Preservation Society itself.
Our walkthrough time was an absolutely massive 50 minutes, which means that even for the premium ticket on the priciest nights, customers are still getting an average of one minute of entertainment for every dollar spent. This is a great value, and we highly recommend that you plan your visit soon!
How Did We Get These Scores
Our Rating System
Each of the category scores in this review are calculated using a weighted average of several questions that we rate on a scale of 1 to 10.
The following breakdown explains what these scores typically mean. All of our Teams use this as a reference for providing accurate ratings:
10: “Peak Performance”This score is treated as if it has a chastity belt on it. “10’s” are reserved for the best of the best; those that we feel could not possibly improve on what they’re doing.
9: “Innovative and Groundbreaking”It rocked! Nearly everything seemed to go as planned and it was one of the best we’ve ever seen! These guys are leaders in the industry, and attractions like this are truly hard to come by.
8: “Solid”A high score on our scale. They had a good handle on it and, overall, they knew how to use it well. Most attractions can learn from what these guys are doing.
6 to 7: “Good”We could tell that a good effort was made. However, we’ve seen this done much better at other places, or can detect areas where significant improvements can be made. This is about the top end of what we’d call “Family Friendly.”
5: “Average / Fair”Compared to the competition, they weren’t the best, but definitely not the worst. Scares and Special Effects in this range are usually considered “Family Friendly.”
3 to 4: “Below Average”We could see that a clear attempt was made, but most other professional attractions are doing a much better job at this.
1 to 2: “Poor”It appeared that very little time, thought or effort was contributed to this aspect.
0 (Zero): “Non-Existent”No apparent effort was made to make this a significant contributor to the attraction.
Afterword:This rating system is standardized across all of The Scare Factor’s official haunt review teams. However, keep in mind there will always be minor differences between Teams, as we all have varying levels of experience. Regardless, we do our best to remain true to our core values, which is to promote all haunted attractions!Perhaps the biggest thing to remember is: sometimes the score – in and of itself – doesn’t tell the whole story about an attraction’s merits. This is why we provide detailed explanations for each category… to help you better understand how and why we chose the score/s that we did.We do our best to not let feelings or emotions rule our judgement, while also viewing the attraction through the lens of the typical haunt-goer. But, because all reviews with ratings are inherently subjective, this is nearly impossible to completely prevent. Though, when in doubt, we tend to give slightly lower scores than our original “gut feelings” to account for this, and also give the attraction more room to improve over time.We also do our best to be fair and consistent across all of the haunts that we review. We know that you’ll be looking at these scores and comparing them to other attractions, so we hope this review helps you out in that aspect.Do you have some feedback about our review system? Contact Us Here to let us know what you think!
