MANSFIELD — Don’t get mad at Vic Amesquita for injecting a little fear into your holiday season.
The owner of Blood Prison at the former Ohio State Reformatory on Mansfield’s north side is simply applying a bit of terrifying history into the mix of yule logs, candy canes and eggnog.
And hopefully scaring the reindeer excrement right out of you at the same time.
Historically, you can’t have Santa Claus without Krampus, the horned anthropomorphic figure who accompanied St. Nicholas in visits to children, according to European Alpine folklore.
St. Nicholas was there to reward well-behaved children. Krampus was there to punish those who failed to be good, perhaps scaring them back onto the right path — or kidnapping those who failed to see the light.
When the cell doors swing open Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9, for Blood Prison’s Christmas Incarceration at 100 Reformatory Road, Krampus and others will be waiting.
“It’s the opposite end of the deal,” Amesquita recently said with a laugh as his crew continued to prepare the traditional prison Halloween haunt for the third-annual, two-day holiday scare.
“Santa Claus brings presents for all the kids. Krampus kidnaps the bad children. That’s what makes it the scary part. It’s the total opposite end. Krampus is going to come and take your children as where Santa Claus is going to praise them,” Amesquita said.
The fact is that Halloween haunts have become so popular in the last decade that the frightening fun has been extended into other holidays, including the most wonderful time of the year.
“It has bled over into the holidays,” Amesquita said with another laugh. “We’re Blood Prison. We do a lot of bleeding.
“A lot of other attractions do many different things from Christmas to Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. Christmas is probably the biggest one because it’s a big holiday and there’s so many themes.
(Below are photos taken during a recent walk through as Blood Prison prepares for Christmas Incarceration coming up Dec. 8 and 9.)
“There are movies like “Krampus,” even “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which is still popular. It really kind of transforms into another scary holiday, which you can make it, and you make it a lot of fun by doing it like that,” Amesquita said.
“We love Halloween, so anytime we can take over another holiday, we jump at the chance.”
The haunt itself is a scaled-back and less expensive version of the popular Halloween haunt since the cell block areas are being used for tours and other things during December.
Tickets are available online and the dark march though the haunt will likely take 20 to 25 minutes, according to Amesquita, whose Halloween haunt has been ranked above the best nationally by various fright websites.
But the terrifying Warden’s Widow will be on hand, along with Krampus and more than 60 actors whose main goal is to make your holidays a little less cheery and bright.
“It’s a different vibe when you jump into a Christmas haunt. It’s not all the same Halloween people. You get some Christmas people that come so you get a kind of a different mixture of people that come in for this event.
“It’s very well-received. We really theme out the haunt for Christmas. I’ve never had a complaint,” he said.
“It’s a short, little Christmas event. But it’s a lot of fun.”