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Halloween “Boo” Guide
Halloween is filled with many special events, theatrical performamces, and haunted house experiences throughout the Chicagoland area. While conventional wisdom holds that Halloween is for kids, the fact of the matter is that many adults never “grow out” of their love for all things frightening and scary. So where do you go in the region to get your thrill on? Here below we present BOI Magazine’s annual Halloween Guide to the best spots in the area.
Chicagoween @ Daley Plaza
Washington & Dearborn Streets
(Downtown) 312.744.3315
For the second year in a row, this city-sponsored Halloween celebration comes to The Loop as Daley Plaza becomes Franken Plaza featuring pumpkin carving, mask decorating, and daily performances by Midnight Circus. Additionally, there will be a special day of Trick-of-Treating, contume contests & hayrides on October 24; Pyrotechniq at night; and Saturday evening showings of classic movies.
Franken Plaza
Daily, October 23-31: 11am-8pm
Midnight Circus Performances
Oct. 23: 12pm, 2pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm
Oct. 24-28, & 31: 11:30am, 12:45pm, 2pm
Oct. 25: 11:30am, 12:45pm, 2pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm
Oct. 29 & 30: 11:30am, 12:45pm, 2pm, 5:30pm
Pyrotechniq
Oct. 23 & 31: 7:30pm
Oct. 29 & 30: 6:30pm, 7:15pm
Movies (@ 6pm) (BYOChair):
Oct. 24: Gremlins; October 31: Young Frankenstein
The Fear Haunted House @ Navy Pier
600 E. Grand Ave (Downtown Lakefront) 312.595.7437
“The Captain has traveled the globe in search of the darkness. Under his command, the captain’s crew has captured the most feared creatures known to man. Chained in shipping containers, these beasts claw for their freedom and wait for their revenge” during Halloween at Navy Pier.
Thru November 1
- Sundays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays: 6pm-10pm
- Fridays & Saturdays: 6pm-11pm
Admission: $20; VIP Fast Pass: $25
DISTURBED @ Oracle Theatre
3809 N. Broadway (Lakeview East) 773.244.2980 www.oracletheatre.org
Originally conceived in 2006 as an ‘inverted haunted house’, DISTURBED is a 15-minute performance piece devised to create “crap-your-pants scary” theatre performed continually throughout a performance night. This year’s creation is a horrifying spectacle transposed from the beginning cantos of Dante’s Inferno. It features grotesque, trancelike performances and shocking special effects that will lead audiences through a nightmare world on a journey to the edge of hell. DISTURBED is going further than it’s ever been.
Performance schedule:
October 16-17, 21-25 & October 28-November 1.
15-minute shows run every half-hour beginning at 8pm
through 10:30pm.
$8 suggested donation
Fright Fest @ Six Flags Great America
542 N IL Route 21, Gurnee (Northern Suburbs) 847.249.4636 www.sixflags.com
One of the biggest Halloween celebrations in the metropolitan area, Fright Fest takes over the Gurnee amusement park this coming weekend and next. “Thrills By Day” is targeted for families and kids while “Chills By Night” turns up the fright intensity with four Haunted Houses: The Mausoleum of Terror, Cell Block “A” Scare Zone, Rise of the Demon Scare Zone, and Studio 13. Shows will include Susan Rosen- Mistress of Mesmerism and the musicals, Dr. Fright’s Dead Man’s Party, Mr. Six Spooktacular Street Party, and Love at First Fright.
Thru November 1
- Fridays: 5pm–11pm
- Saturdays: 10am-10pm
- Sundays: 10am-9pm
Ticket Prices @ Park: $54.99; Online Special: $34.99
Fear @ The Neo-Futurarium
5153 N. Ashland Ave. (Andersonville) 773.275.5255 www.neofuturists.org
The world of Edgar Allen Poe is unearthed in this literary take on all things terrifying as presented by the Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind folks. Travel through the dark corners of the Neo-Futurarium with your own guide, stopping at stations that explore different pieces by Poe. This “thinking man’s haunted house” invokes terror through twisted stories using familiar themes, sensations and situations.
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through October 31
Admission: $15; $10 for Seniors/Students;
“Pay-What-You-Can” on Thursdays.
Rhymes With Evil @ Storefront Theater
66 E. Randolph St. (Downtown)
Creepy puppets and visual spectacle accompany this InFusion Theatre Company presentation about an imaginative and inventive stay-at-home dad who creates for his young daughter a beautiful yet bizarre world filled with costumed characters and fanciful stories. However, all is not what it seems in this suspense-filled and disturbing tale that’s appropriate for adult audiences in the Halloween season.
Thru November 8
- Thursdays – Saturdays @ 7:30pm
- Sundays @ 3pm
- October 30 & 31 @ 10pm (rather than 7:30 pm)
Admission: $25; Seniors/Students: $15; Pay-what-you-can Sunday on October 18.
Eleventh Hour Haunted House @ Berthold’s Garden Center
434 E. Devon Ave., Elk Grove Village (Northwest Suburbs)
This year there are four haunts, including Intensity, Creatures of the Corn, Catacombs, and Eleventh Hour. 2009 also features the return of “Chain Reaction,” a frustrating maze with walls you can see through.
Thru November 1
- Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7pm-10pm
- Fridays - Sundays: 7pm-11pm
Admission: $19.50 (Online purchase); $23.50 (door); VIP: $26.50 (Online purchase only)
Carpenters Halloween @ Mary’s Attic
5400 N. Clark (Andersinville) 773.784.6969
Presented by The Scooty & JoJo Show, this spine-shivering send-up of John Carpenter’s horror classic is set to the music of the Carpenters. What could be scarier than THAT?!
Tuesdays – Saturdays thru
November 7 @ 8pm
General Admission: $15; Reserved: $20.; Standing Room: $10.
Dream Reapers Haunted House
1945 Cornell, Melrose Pk (West Suburbs) 708.344.2084 www.dreamreapers.com
Considered by many to be the best haunted house in Illinois, Dream Reapers is representative of a new genre of haunt, mixing the traditional with contemporary technology. Amidst 14,000 square feet of darkened space in 22 rooms, restless souls and grudge-holding goblins roam around in nooks and crannies while actors and actresses, augmented by more than 40 high-tech animatronics, play grisly characters lurking around every corner. Mix in Dream Reapers’ signature scents based on each room’s theme and those in attendance experience sensory bombardment and overload.
Schedule: October 15-18, 22-25 & 27-31.
- Sundays - Thursdays: 7pm-10pm
- Fridays – Saturdays: 7pm-11pm
Admission: $16; VIP: $30
Statesville Haunted Prison and City of the Dead
17250 S. Weber Rd., Crest Hill (Western Suburbs) 877-722-7332
Visitors become prisoners and get to experience bloody terror that is unleashed upon them by the escaped criminal “inmates” of Statesville Prison. You will find your way through the prison’s dark ancient walls, into thirty of the prison’s maximum-security cells, and encounter over 200 of the most dangerous monsters ever imprisoned. (For 2009, ten new rooms have been added). Once you journey through the prison is complete, a visit to the City of the Dead, a separate house on the same grounds that offers a macabre look at the underworld, is a must and included in the cost.
October 15-18, 22-25 & October 27 - November 1.
- Sundays - Thursdays: 7pm-10pm
- Fridays – Saturdays: 7pm-11pm
Admission: $30; VIP: $40
