One of the creepiest places on earth, the Ohio State Reformatory is one of the largest castle-like structures here in the US. It was designed by architect Levi T. Scofield in an effort to scare inmates from wanting to return to the place. Prison stays here were typically no more than 2 years & the idea was to rehabilitate inmates from their life of crime & if possible give them a fresh start.

Originally this spot was used to train 4,000+ Union Soldiers in the Civil War & later it was used to hold Confederate Soldiers as prisoners.

Famous American writer, O. Henry, spent time here & somehow smuggled out his papers to his publisher.

Notice how creepy it looks at night just form outside! It's even worse when you walk through it at night - as if thousands of eyes are staring at you. It houses the worlds largest free standing cell block of 600 prison cells. The preservation society is actively seeking to restore it thus offering tours, ghost walks, ghost hunts & even renting it out to parties & groups of people.

T.A.P.S. from SyFy's Ghost Hunters came here in 2008 but claim they did not catch much other than some unexplained lights. Upon arriving in front of the reformatory in broad daylight, one of the T.A.P.S's crew exclaimed, "This place looks like Dracula's Castle!"

Recently, this past weekend (Sept 2010), the crew from Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures team came for two nights (Friday & Saturday) and according to one of my friends who worked with them on this project, they caught some unusual EVP's of clear voices saying some very scary things.

Four movies were filmed on location here: "Harry & Walter Go to New York", "Tango & Cash", "The Shawshank Redemption" & "Air Force One". Also Lil Wayne & Godsmack have filmed music videos here at the Reformatory.

Every year the preservation society holds their annual 'Haunted Prison' bash from late September through Halloween to make money to help in the restoration process. Usually a troupe of actors/actresses from Cleveland State University & other colleges gather to make it a veritable & terrifying haunted experience. I took my niece & daughter through it in 2007 & we stood in line for an hour to buy tickets then another forty-five minutes in line to get in THEN the thing took roughtly about forty minutes to go through. We had a ball & my daughter refuses to go in there again.

This is the mausoleum of Louis T. Schofield, the architect of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH. Even his tomb has a Gothic-scary look to it, doesn't it?