Spend the Night with Ghosts of Ohio - Mansfield Reformatory: June 2008

INSIDE MANSFIELD REFORMATORY: KATHY’S REVIEW

It was finally time…time to get locked up behind bars for the first Spend the Night with The Ghosts of Ohio event! On the evening of June 21st, more than forty Ghosts of Ohio members, guests, and Spend-a-Night program winners arrived at Mansfield Reformatory to spend a night in prison. For some it was their first time, for others, a well-known haunt. But, for everyone, this was a night that will not soon be forgotten.

This infamous prison was opened in 1896 and remained open until 1990. Encompassing more than 250,000 square feet, it is now open for public and private tours and ghost hunts. The entrance fee for these events is used to restore and preserve this historical landmark.

After the hour-long private tour, which was filled with historical facts, movie trivia (the Reformatory has been the filming location for many movies including The Shawshank Redemption), and ghostly tales, it was time to start our investigation. By splitting into five smaller groups, each led by Ghosts of Ohio members, we were able to adequately cover the massive structure. Each group was well armed with equipment including EMF detectors, hand-held cameras, infrared thermometers, and digital voice recorders. Everyone was given the opportunity to try out the tools of the trade during the evening. There were also seven cameras and other equipment set up throughout the building to record any possible paranormal activity.

Each group was sent out to a “hot spot” for a 45-minute vigil. After each vigil, the groups reassembled in the command center for a 15-minute break and then headed out to the next spot. Participants could also stay at the command center to learn about the equipment hooked up to the monitors and computers. Command center visitors could sit and watch the monitors for any activity being recorded throughout the prison.

After the five groups visited all of the hot spots, there was free time to head back to any of the places that needed a second look. With dawn on the horizon, it was time to call it a night and pack up. We have many hours of DVR recordings and tapes to review—who knows what might have been captured in the prison this night?

Of course after reviewing all of the evidence, we’ll let you know what we find in the next newsletter, and you can watch for pictures from the evening on our website at www.ghostsofohio.org.

Does this sound like fun to you? Think you might like to come on a Spend the Night event? Here are some things our guests had to say about the evening:

"The Ghosts of Ohio is highly professional, yet fun. Absolutely on my list of things to do again!" — Steve

"It was such a cool opportunity to be here at night and explore the facilities." — Jaclyn

"It’s interesting to think about how much is coincidence and how much might be real. There was a place in Solitary where I just couldn’t even breathe. I loved it!" — Darlene

"Couldn’t have wished to go to prison with a nicer group of people!" — Sean