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Neighborhood Guides

Your Guide to Halloween Season

Posted on October 15
Emily Mack

Emily Mack

A large troll animatronic at 5 Points haunted House.

A massive monster at 5 Points Haunted House. (Emmi Mack / City Cast Chicago)

Haunted houses, big parties, buckets of fake blood … that’s what spooky season means to me. But don’t worry, we’ve also got leaf-peeping recs for the faint of heart.

Halloween Parties and Parades

On today’s podcast, expert Yareni Murillo popped off with an extensive list of cool Halloween parties. We’ve got our eye on:

Haunted Houses

Chicago’s absolute scariest haunted house, La Casa de Satanas, did not return this year 😭 But if you’re craving an off-beat scare, I like 5 Points Haunted House in West Chicago, which was started by a local teen. It’s full of massive animatronics and ‘80s-esque scenescapes.

In the city proper, there’s also The Park After Dark in Ravenswood, haunted sites, and other spooky spots … Discover more haunted houses here.

Fall Fests

Don’t worry, Chicago has family-friendly fall affairs, too:

I personally recommend the Fall Festival at the North Park Village Nature Center; you can build your own scarecrow. Growing up, I won the Zaniest award twice, but never the coveted Most Likely to Scare a Crow …

Fall Foliage

Leaf-changing is a bit behind schedule due to warm weather, so there’s time to plan your nature getaways.

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