Naperville resident thrives as All Hallows Eve volunteer

British-born Hilary Decent hadn't had much experience with witches, mummies, vampires and werewolves before moving to the United States 2½ years ago.

"In England, Halloween is not such a big deal," she said.

So when a friend told her and her husband about Naper Settlement's "All Hallows Eve: A 19th Century Halloween," they signed up to be costumed volunteers.

For the past two All Hallow Eves she portrayed a Victorian witch, complete with a distinct green tinge. Her husband, Ross, was a butler in the Martin Mitchell Mansion.

"It's tremendous fun," Decent said. "It gives you the chance to behave as a child, really."

The couple will return in new roles this year for the historical Halloween extravaganza, to be held from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, at 523 S. Webster St., Naperville.

The event, which draws more than 3,000 visitors annually, will offer new frights along with popular sinister attractions, said Donna DeFalco, marketing communications coordinator. Two hundred costumed volunteers and 100 other volunteers help put on the show.

Decent will be in the thick of it as Mrs. Lovett, the pie maker who obtained unusual meats for her pastries from murderer Todd Sweeney, also known as "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett were part of All Hallows Eve last year, but they have expanded roles this year in which they act out a scenario of their nefarious business partnership.

"I want people to be really scared," Decent said.

Decent hastens to add that she means that she hopes visitors find the entire All Hallows Eve event spine-tingling. She personally hasn't come off as the frightening sort in the past, she admits.

"Even when I was a witch, I wasn't scary. The children used to come up and cuddle me," she said.

A self-professed perfectionist, Decent says she spends "ridiculous" amounts of time preparing her costume.

"The better the costume, the easier it is to be someone else," she said.

Her husband will play Col. Mustard in a traveling Clue game, a new addition to this year's event. Dr. Frankenstein's Laboratory will be back, but for the first time the Bride of Frankenstein will make an appearance.

Visitors will meet Jim Nesci and his coldblooded creatures in the settlement store, and a satyr will join the Grim Reaper on stilts.

The Victorian mansion will be transformed into a voodoo mansion. A new group, The Blue Monkey Side Show, will perform on Saturday night. "Their entertainment ranges from a bed of nails to sword swallowing," DeFalco said.

Two magicians will be on hand. The popular Ghost Pirate Ship, Civil War surgeon and the jovial undertaker, Mordecai Graves, will be back.

This year when visitors gather around the campfire for ghost stories, they'll also be able to purchase their own s'mores kit, DeFalco said.

Decent loves it all. She and her husband decorate the outside of their Naperville home for the season. When their 25-year-old son, Robin, says he's coming from England to visit for the holidays, he means Halloween.

"It's become my favorite holiday. I love everything about it," she said.

Decent wasn't always a Halloween character, of course. She started her career in London as a newspaper reporter and currently writes columns for two local publications. She also had a stint teaching English as a foreign language at a British university.

But Decent said she and her husband had long wanted to come to the United States. Ross, an employee of Computer Associates, had been offered a job transfer years before and turned it down because their son and daughter were still young. After taking an around-the-world trip for their 25th wedding anniversary, Decent urged her husband to actively seek the move.

"We're living our dreams," she said. "What we try to do is embrace the culture as much as possible."

For Decent that has meant joining the Naperville Rotary and becoming an active member of Congregation Beth Shalom. She's also volunteered at the DuPage Children's Museum and the Naperville Cultural Center.

"I volunteer all over the place," she said. "I didn't realize until I got here quite how big volunteering is in this country. It's not (as much) in England."

Decent said she likes the spirit of the people she meets and small-town feel of Naperville.

"It's a well-planned town," she said. "There's this tremendous optimism and positivity in people here."

Decent said she and her husband hope to obtain visas to become permanent residents. Meanwhile, they are trying to partake of all their new home has to offer.

"It's astonishing how many things you can do in a small area," she said. "We've gone into Chicago less than I thought we would just because there's such a lot here."

That includes a whole cast of ghastly characters at All Hallows Eve.

If you go

What: All Hallows Eve: A 19th Century Halloween

When: 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday amd Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24

Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville

Cost: $10 (not recommended for children younger than 8)

Info: (630) 420-6010