Confession time: My 3-year-old daughter and I put up some Halloween decorations yesterday. Yes, I know, it’s only the second week in September. (Relax, they’re just pumpkin window clings… and she begged me all morning.) Ever since we got her new Halloween costume a few days ago… listen, I refuse to hang my head in shame about this since my daughter had to wear a giraffe costume a size too small last year (she changed her mind twice). I made the mistake of waiting until the second week in October to purchase it and apparently savvy parents in these parts snatch up all the good costumes in the appropriate sizes during the last week in August.
In any event, our Halloween preparations are well underway here and to get you in the spirit of spooks and scares I’ve decided to highlight some frightening finds I’m familiar with in the Chicagoland area. If you’ve never been to Chicago, October is a wonderful time to visit. If you’re from around here you’ll be happy to know some Halloween favorites are returning for another year.
FRIGHTMARE HAUNTED HOUSE
This haunted house if one of the Windy City’s most popular Halloween attractions. It’s been around for more than 15 years and each year it gets a bit creepier. This year Frightmare 2007 is combining the best Haunted House scenes since Frightmare’s opening in 1991. You’re sure to get your scare on somewhere in the 600-foot maze of sheer terror. Frightmare is considered one of Chicagoland’s premiere haunted houses and is located just 10 minutes south of the I-55 Stevenson Expressway at the intersection of 79th and Harlem in Burbank, Illinois.
STATESVILLE HAUNTED PRISON
Statesville Haunted Prison has been voted the No.1 Haunted House in the Chicagoland area for the past 4 years. What makes this spooky site so popular is the fact that the Haunted Prison recruits amazing theatrical actors from throughout Chicago and they come up with some truly frightening skits. The actors take on the roles of the “prisoners” while you tour the underbelly of the house of horrors. During the tour you make your way thought dark ancient walls, into thirty of the prisons’ maximum-security cells. In the darkness, you encounter more than fifty of the most dangerous monsters ever imprisoned, including Hannibal the Cannibal, Gacy the Killer Clown, the Demon of Darkness. The prison is open Thursday – Sunday during the month of October.
DUNGEON OF DOOM HAUNTED HOUSE
The Dungeon of Doom Haunted House has been a Chiacgoland staple for more than a decade. What I like about this haunted house is that it offers new scenes each year. The Dungeon of Doom also employs incredible state of the art technology to freak out guests and they also hire hundreds of professional performers who delight in scaring the socks off of customers. Each room of the Dungeon of Doom Haunted House features a unique production scene. The ghoulish good times get underway during the month of October at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Grayslake on the northwest corner of Rte 120 & Rte 45. Just 10 minutes west of Six Flags off of I-94.
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