What began 15 years ago as a Halloween street festival with live music, realistic props and zombies on the prowl has grown into one of Elgin’s signature events.
Nightmare on Chicago Street returns Saturday for its lucky No. 13 edition (it was canceled twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic). From 6 to 11 p.m., the area around Chicago and North Spring streets will be awash with the undead like something from a fictional apocalypic bad dream.
More Top Picks Buying Guides
The event is designed for adults 17 and older, although children under 17 can attend as long as they remain with a parent or guardian at all times.
“What started out as a crazy idea and a few super-dedicated folks 15 years ago has grown into a humungous undertaking that requires basically every department in the city to work together,” said Amanda Harris, director of Elgin’s Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events director.
“When it started, it was just a few streets in our downtown. And now we have semis full of props and equipment that come out for this event. We plan and work the entire year for this one.”
New this year is a bevy of pre-Nightmare live performances on Friday night, including a salsa dance duo, electric violinist, sword swallower, tarot card reader, burlesque dancer, fire eater and more.
“It’s kind of a sneak peek into Nightmare,” Harris said. “Some performances are happening inside the businesses and some are happening on the street. They start as early as 5 p.m. and go until 10 p.m.
“We are definitely still setting up … there’s no food or drink out on the street. But we encourage people to come and see the drum line or hear some live music. It’s really fun. You get to see the small bits. Like, you might see how we board up some of those business windows. That’s a small detail, but we spend so much time on the details.”
Last year’s early-entry ticket worked so well, organizers this year are offering an all-access pass for $80, which admits pass-holders at 5 p.m. and provides access to one of several specialty-themed pop-up bars and one free drink. Local businesses in the zone of the event created pop-up bars.
“They’re all themed and they are immersive experiences,” she said. “And the last two hours of the event, you get to visit all of them. It’s something new we’re trying this year that we’re really excited about.”
The pop-up bars are Be Kind, Rewind … Or Die, a bar inspired by cult VHS horror classic and slasher flicks; First Contact, an alien-themed bar; 9 Niveles, a bar inspired by ancient mythology; and the Cadaver Club, a bar that’s also the home base of a deranged doctor.
The bars are not age-restrictive and serve non-alcoholic options as well. Only those with the all-access pass can enter the pop-up bars.
Also new at Nightmare this year is a partnership with Paramount Scares, a division of Paramount Pictures.
“We’re really excited to partner with them to create these photo opportunities,” Harris said. “These are extremely realistic movie props we created with them. So people can come and get their photo taken with lots of scary things.”
Re-creations from “Friday the 13th,” “Halloween,” “The Ring” and “World War Z” will be represented.
As always, there will be new, fun things appearing on the streets — over-the-top props, decorations and live actors have been a stalwart of the event since the beginning.
“This year’s theme is First Contact, so there will be some alien activity,” Harris said.
The final change this year is to the Cirq D’ Freak, she said.
“We relocated our circus area and upped the ante on that as well. We have a whole new circus area that will have stadium-style seating and interactive vendors — tarot card reading and caricatures,” she said. There are also side show acts and games in the circus area.
Nightmare Alley is the haunted house, featuring a truly sick doctor creating abominations with his own blood.
“We have people performing inside the business windows, lots of street theater happening — specifically on the Plaza street — Plaza Mictlán,” Harris said. “We have a mariachi band performing as well as Aztec dancers. They are coming back again this year; they are such a huge piece of that street. It absolutely stops the crowd in its tracks, it’s amazing.”
The streets all offer themed experiences; like Kingdom of Plantae, a post-apocalyptic jungle, Thunder-Dome: Welcome to the Blood Lands and First Contact alien invasion.
“And, of course, Chicago Street is all zombies, all the time,” she said. “That’s what we call the safe zone. We have some really fun things planned for that one.”
Svengoolie’s B-Movie Boulevard honors the Chicago TV icon, Svengoolie. The legend himself will be signing autographs, taking photos and waving rubber chickens.
There will be three stages of live music, including a main stage, DJ stage and Plaza stage. Headlining on the DJ stage is Jump Smokers.
“They’re really popular and we’re really excited about them,” Harris said.
The Plaza stage will have La Pobreska, Future Nobodies, DJ JTC and headliners La Misa Negra.
Playing on the main stage is Take the Reins, Nerdvana and My Son the Hurricane — one that’s been on Harris’ wish list for a few years, she said.
More Top Picks Best Calming Sensory Toys For Toddlers
Svengoolie will host the costume contest on the main stage, along with folks from Side Street Studio Arts.
“He’s kind of an institution for this event,” Harris said.
Those interested in participating in the costume contest should sign up at Side Street Studio Arts between 6 to 7:30 p.m.
“People go absolutely all out,” she said. “I have seen some of the craziest, most intense costumes ever at this event.”
People can win cash prizes in categories like Best Horror, Best Zombie, Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy, Best Couple or Group and overall winner.
Plenty of food and beverage vendors will be out too.
“If you come to Nightmare and you leave hungry or thirsty, you did something wrong,” Harris said, laughing. “We have so many food vendors and they have a little bit of everything. The same with drinks.”
Finally, there will be a Bizarre Bazaar marketplace with all sorts of oddities and treasures for sale.
Remote parking is available at Elgin High School and Larkin High School, where free shuttles will be running to and from the event between 4:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., she said.
Nightmare on Chicago Street isn’t just for horror fanatics and scare lovers, Harris said.
“I am not a person who typically enjoys scary things, and I love this event,” she said. “It’s not just about being scared. You’re not just going to a haunted house. There’s artistry here, there’s entertainment, there’s food, there’s drinks, there’s live music.
“It’s immersive and down every street there is something different and that is not something you see anywhere else. You will not see this event or anything close to it anywhere else and it happens one night a year.”
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.