RECAP:  Guards accompany and protect the Warden’s Widow, who stands sentinel at the foot of the ascent up a wooden staircase leading to the central foyer of Blood Prison. Unleashing a piercing scream she initiates the excursion past Shawshank Redemption cells, and beneath an archway of carved jack-o-lanterns into a festive photo-op area. A Kürbis-headed monster stalks progression dripping pumpkin seeds from its midsection as the site’s chilling soundtrack and howling winds take charge ushering guests into a decrepit shanty where Touch Pass participants are grabbed and threatened by a shovel-toting gravedigger who soon exchanges his digger for a deadly chainsaw, driving everyone into a funeral room where the “dearly departed” rises from the coffin! From there, a bloodthirsty vampire swoops forward on a bungee cord while another fiend leaps onto a collapsed pool table, leaving an empty fireplace as the only escape route!

The path continues through a mausoleum of caskets, some of which slide open on their own while others hide contemptable monsters. The Warden’s Widow reappears courtesy of a CGI window for another confrontation that culminates with her nerve-rattling, trademark scream! The next stops include a repulsive bathroom, a gruesome girl pulling out her own teeth and saying, “Here, I’ll help you smile,” and a deranged cook slamming a giant wooden spoon on a table before yelling, “Get the hell out of my kitchen!” and giving trespassers a parting swat! Intruders then traverse a laundry room and exit through a closet into a child’s candlelit bedroom filled with creepy dolls and unseen hands reaching out from beneath the bed. Lanterns and candles flicker along a wooden-floor corridor where a surly maintenance man sweeps and shouts, “Get out of my area!” before the route descends into deeper terror via an iron staircase that drops into the real cell blocks that once held Ohio’s most violent offenders.

Invisible entities clutch at legs and arms as inmates seize guests from behind and drag them into solitary cells. Others attack with horns and “Tasers.” The path winds past padded rooms, straight-jacketed lunatics, and the electrocution of a death-row prisoner before plunging into pitch-black darkness.

The East Cell Block explodes with apocalyptic warfare as searchlights sweep across crumbling corridors of machine guns and tanks , and gas-masked soldiers ambush from the shadows! Zombies swarm amid a graveyard of cars, a downed helicopter, and the fuselage of a crashed jet that’s plowed straight through the Reformatory’s concrete walls. A crazed doctor gnaws on limbs in an X-ray lab, while inmates in orange jumpsuits reach from the walls eating human flesh asking, “Want a bite?”

The claustrophobic Bunker 13 tunnel delivers visitors to the opposite cell block for a zombie horde ambush, complete with more spotlights; assist beams from a sharpshooter’s rifle, and shrieking survivors. A chaotic CarnEVIL follows, highlighted by circus music, the playful Hatchet the Clown tossing her severed friend “Eddie” on an elastic cord, and a vortex tunnel leading to a clown horde explosion complete with cannon smoke and a chainsaw chase-out!

The route continues past a fiend loading a body into an ambulance, then into NOTAUFNAHME, a gruesome emergency ward of gurney-bound corpses, frantic patients, and a morgue filled with open cadavers. The course progresses through a haunted cemetery of chained, moving coffins into a church-like cathedral where a bloody-faced nun lurks in the pews as a demonic preacher having a tattooed pentagram on his forehead announces, “I smell sinners! God has abandoned us!” and, “It’s time to atone with brimstone and only Lucifer can make you unclean again!”  before sending the congregation descending into the fires of Hell itself to face a horned demon and an animatronic, fallen angel spraying some sort of unholy mist!

Furtherance includes CGI doors, air cannons, a jailed berserker scraping a knife on bars, and a wicked lab of human experiments culminating with a towering, yellow-eyed actortronic beast bursting forth from within a sewer pipe! Caged hostages plea for help as a pig-faced butcher stalks with a large hook and a maniacal brute forces a captive into a roaring meat grinder that readily turns her into hamburger! Following her gruesome demise, survivors are funneled through a decontamination center and control room climaxing with a madman’s murderous chainsaw chase-out of Blood Prison!

ANALYSIS:   Last year’s Haunt of the Year aims to defend its crown in 2025 and does so with terrifying success! The authentic architecture of the Ohio State Reformatory elevates Blood Prison into one of the most immersive haunted experiences in existence, and combined with the sheer scope and quality of the props and added scares pushes them over the top! Blood Prison has reinvented horror! The looming cell blocks and decaying solitary chambers create a truly oppressive atmosphere. Being in the midst of these real-life prison cells once occupied by violent criminals adds genuine psychological dread few attractions can match. Set design is extensive and cinematic, covering multiple levels of the prison with sharp lighting and a thunderous soundtrack that seemingly shakes the walls to their very core!

Highlights include laser-guided sharpshooters, Taser-wielding escapees, the secret fireplace passage, crashed jet, tanks, zombie siege, and the spectacular chapel scene featuring the Nun and Preacher.

Standout performers include Pig-Face, the Tooth Puller, spanking Chef, Hatchet with her pal Eddie, Bungee Vampire, Meat Grinder and his victim, Taser villains, Warden’s Widow, and the diabolical Preacher. Costuming and makeup is top-notch throughout! Inmates appear in orange prison suits and some of the soldiers wear gas-masks! The optional Touch Pass heightens realism perfectly with physical interaction applied just enough to thrill without crossing the line to the point that it becomes excessive. The haunt transitions smoothly from gothic horror to apocalyptic warfare to carnevil chaos before culminating in blood-soaked gore and a frantic chainsaw chase-out ending cleverly in the OSR museum, gift shop and snack area

This year’s rendition scored 9.78, which is OVH’s highest rating ever! Blood Prison is now open Thursday through Sunday, and timed tickets are sold in half-hour increments available online ONLY! Their Ultra Lightning Pass gets you in up to 80% faster than General Admission, and their Instant Access Ticket takes you straight to the front of the line! Touch Pass option costs an additional $7.

Blood Prison is a proud member of The Ohio Valley Haunts Passport of Terror Tour!