MANSFIELD, Ohio — The stately stone edifice known as the Ohio State Reformatory hides within its walls a dark history and an even more sinister present.

Closed since 1990, the prison remains active, used as the backdrop for several movies, a destination for ghost hunters and the site of an annual haunted house program created by Haunted X Enterprise.

Owned by Myron St. John and his wife, Kathy, Haunted X produces haunted houses and mazes. Now in their seventh year at the reformatory, their newest fright fest is themed The Night "They" Came Home, alluding to the spirits said to haunt the building.

"We're not actually quite sure who 'they' are, but they know what scares people," joked Myron.

Myron, who has also worked in special effects and horror movie production, said bringing his arsenal of special effects to an existing building is both inspiring and challenging.

"It's an extremely difficult haunt to do because its extremely old and you can't change it around," he said.

The dismal surroundings also save the St. Johns the effort of creating an environment.

"The building itself, it's like a multimillion dollar movie set all the time."

Opened in 1889, the reformatory was designed by architect Levi T. Scofield. The facility for young male offenders achieved near self-sufficiency by employing its inhabitants to make clothing, food and furniture — trades the mainly first-time offenders could use once outside the reformatory walls.

Over time, however, testimonials from inmates cited increasingly poor living conditions and violence among inmates.

The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, which now manages the site, lists several inmates' tales on its Web site, www.mrps.org.

"There was no hot water, and roaches by the millions," said one inmate who spent time at the reformatory in the 1980s.

"At night, to be able to sleep, I would take my shoe and beat the walls to get the roaches to go away long enough to stuff toilet paper in my ears to keep them from getting in my ears."

Haunted X's haunted house program begins at the top of a staircase where false walls have been created to hide ghouls that lunge through windows and jump out of dark spaces.

After wandering through several unidentifiable rooms and hallways, groups pass through the airy and open guard room, a quick breather before entering the cell block.

Creepy noises and lurking terrors are intensified by the six levels of cells, left to rot since the last prisoners exited their barred cages.

Chipping paint sways from the steel bars and ceilings like autumn leaves.

In between scares by dark figures jumping out of cells and unknown passages, light is sufficient to see inside the small concrete cells, each about 6 feet tall and providing only a couple feet of standing space beside the pair of bunks hung on the wall.

The entire walk takes between 30 and 45 minutes.

Outside the prison, vendors are available, selling sandwiches, T-shirts and other Halloween-themed merchandise.

The tour of the aged facility involves a great deal of stair climbing and is not for the children or the faint of heart. Pregnant women are also advised not to take the tour.

Despite the fear factor, Kathy said that 25,000 to 30,000 brave souls visit Haunted X's yearly haunt, which is reinvented each year, resulting in growing attendance figures.

For those more interested in lingering spirits than special effects, all-night ghost hunts and two-hour walks are offered several times throughout the year by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, which manages the site.Would-be ghost hunters must plan well in advance, however, as reservations are now being accepted for 2008 events. Information is available at www.mrps.org.For history buffs who choose to forego the scarier side, a schedule is also posted on the Web site of regularly scheduled tours of the east cell block, guard tower and sites where scenes from "Shawshank Redemption," "Air Force One" and other movies were filmed.

Just a few miles from the prison, the Richland Mall in Ontario, Ohio, is the site of another of Haunted X Enterprise's frightful creations.The Undead Haunted Experience opened for the first time last week in the space of a former Lazarus department store.A background story at the entrance suggests the now-vacant store was built on the site of an old medical laboratory, and the human test subjects are now the undead that traipse its vacant halls."If you want to do a really decent haunt, you have to theme it out," said Myron, who created the fictional background story for the zombie event.Visitors wander the corridors at their own pace, sidestepping to avoid air gun-wielding spooks or slowly pacing themselves through a black lit hall draped with glowing Silly String.Unlike group tours where those in the back watch those ahead face the terrors of each new space, the self-guided tour makes each visitor the focus of every spooky moment and scream."It's very intense," said Myron.Glowing arrows keep spooked navigators on track to the exit doors, which open to the cool night air.The Undead Haunted Experience is open concurrently with The Night "They" Came Home at the reformatory. The mall site will also be open from 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 31.Information is available at www.undeadhauntedexperience.com.

For an eerie Halloween experience without the screams and dark labyrinths, Malabar Farm State Park, located in the southern part of Richland County, offers its annual dinner theater based on the true story of Celia "Ceely" Rose, an area youth who, in the 1890s,was accused of poisoning her father, mother and brother.The story recounts not only how Ceely first poisoned her family, but why she was dropped from the suspect list, later to be found guilty of the three homicides.Converting the story into a play was the work of Mark Sebastian Jordan, who also directs the performance, now in its fifth season."He (Jordan) has a good background in historical research," said Brett Mitchell, a interpretive ranger at Malabar Farm State Park, who noted the play closely follows history."The truth in the story is just as powerful as any fictional story."Shows are held in a restored barn at Malabar Farm, the homestead of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, in Lucas, Ohio.Advance reservations are required, and Mitchell noted that shows sometimes sell out.Information on all seasonal events in Richland County is also available at www.mansfieldtourism.com.