From deranged factory workers to undead convicts, there are more than enough creatures of the night to scare the wits out of you this Halloween season. And for those who are faint of heart, a few haunted houses are a bit tame or offer lights-on times.
Here’s a sampling to help you find your share of scare:
*Burbank
Frightmare Haunted House at Haunted Trails, 7759 S. Harlem Ave.; 708-598-8580; www.frightmare.org.
Open Oct. 9 to Nov. 1. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 to 10 p.m. Oct. 12.
A bit more PG-rated of a haunted house, this one has creepy creatures roaming a two-story maze.
Kiddie Matinee with lights on: Oct. 31 from noon to 4 p.m. Matinee admission is $5.
The 501st Legion Midwest Garrison (Star Wars cosplay group) will be outside the Haunted House in conjunction with a Haunts against Hunger food drive 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 16 and 17.
Tickets are $12 per person. Packages that include other Haunted Trails attractions are $25.95.
*Crest Hill
Statesville Haunted Prison and City of the Dead, 17250 S. Weber Road; 877-722-7332; [email protected]
Open through Nov. 1. Tickets, $30-$45; $65 includes Zombie Paintball ride. Hours are 7-10 p.m. Sundays and Thursdays plus Oct. 28, and 7-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Statesville and City of the Dead have more than 40 rooms and an average time of 40-50 minutes required to get through. Kids must be 11 or older; 11- to 15-year-olds must be accompanied by a legal guardian.
If they weren’t scary enough upon conviction, the “prisoners” at Statesville Haunted Prison have taken over, and visitors are left to walk/flee the cells. But there’s more: the City of the Dead, where the wardens dumped the dead prisoners, only they didn’t stay dead. If you feel like seeking revenge, you can continue on and ride an Army troop carrier truck through the field and take aim with zombie neutralizing paintballs.
*Evergreen Park
Resurrection Graveyard Home Haunt, 9421 S. Country Club Drive; 708-252-3323; www.facebook.com/ResurrectionGraveyardHauntedHouse
Open Oct. 2-31.
Another home haunt that has grown over the years now includes about 25 live actors in addition to the myriad animatronic monsters and madmen. Four people at a time walk through the themed rooms, so the live actors can adjust their intensity. The more timid are given glow sticks, and actors will wish them a “Happy Halloween” instead of screaming bloody murder.
Admission is $7.
*Frankfort
Creepy Hallow, Fawn Landscaping and Nursery, 24405 S. LaGrange Road; 708-532-6668; www.creepyhallow.com
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Open Oct. 9-31. Hours are 7 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets are $21 for the cornfield and paintball and $12 for the coffin simulator, with combo pricing available.
You can bring your little ones during the daylight for pumpkin patch fun and activities, but when the sun goes down, the monsters come out big time. On the Terror Trails, a hayride will drop people off in the field, and they must find their way back through the corn maze, where they’ll find out they’re not alone.
Zombie Paintball Hunt pits people in a trailer against unarmed zombies for a more kid-friendly experience.
The Coffin Simulation ride lets you feel what’s in store for most of us one day: the experience of lying in a coffin and being buried. Downside is you’re still alive to feel it; upshot is it’s not permanent.
*Oak Lawn
Midnight Terror, 9531 S 52nd Ave.; 708-639-3279; www.midnightterrorhauntedhouse.com
Open 7 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, through Nov. 1, plus 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 28.
Two haunted sites in one location, a “factory” where the workers aren’t quite right, and the nearby hospital where the patients and the doctors are disturbed and dangerous.
Lights-on hours are 3 to 6 p.m. on Halloween.
Tickets are $18 per person for admission to both the Factory of Mallum and the Blackwood Hospital.
*Orland Hills
Dark Shadows Home Haunt, 16741 88th Court; www.darkshadowshomehaunt.com
Open dusk to 10 p.m. Oct. 23-30, noon to 10 p.m. Oct. 31.
One of a growing trend of elaborate home Halloween displays that have grown into full-blown Halloween attractions. Visitors may walk among animatronic ghouls in the front yard, and wander a haunted maze in the garage that has live actors. An all-ages haunt. Free admission, but non-perishable food items will be collected for the Haunts against Hunger food drive to benefit area food pantries.
*Palos Park
Spooky Wood Shed at the Children’s Farm at The Center, 12700 Southwest Highway; 708-361-3650; www.thecenterpalos.org
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends in October and Oct. 12.
A G-rated experience for little ghost hunters, the shed is part of The Center’s Pumpkin Playland. Admission (includes petting barn, straw bales to climb, corn maze) is $8 for people 2 and older.
*Plainfield
Village of Screamfield, Plainfield Police Department, 14300 Coil Plus Dr.; facebook.com/villageofscreamfield.
Tickets, $5-$10. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 16-17 and 23-24 and 6 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 25. Family-friendly hours 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17, 18 24 and 25. The haunted house is a hair-raising fundraiser for Plainfield School District 202’s Foundation for Excellence. It has grown in the past six years, and has more jump scares than gross-outs.
Tickets are $10. Lights-on times, $5 for 5 and older.
Kid-Friendly Mayor Scream’s ScreamFest, an all-ages lights-on version, is open 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. Kids can trick-or-treat in the haunted house staffed by actors in kid-friendly costumes, play games and get their faces painted.
*Worth
Nightmare at the Terrace, Terrace Centre, 11500 S. Beloit; 708-448-7080; www.worthparkdistrict.org
Open Oct. 9-25. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.
The park district converts Terrace Centre into 12 rooms of terror, recommended for children 8 and older.
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Lights-on times are 4 to 6 p.m Oct. 15 and 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 24. Actors will not jump out, but will be wearing nonscary costumes, greeting visitors and passing out candy. Fee for Lights-on times are $2.
Teen discount night is Oct. 9; admission for ages 13 through 19 with a student identification is $5.
Tickets are $8 for all ages.
Paige Fumo Fox is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.