Sci-fi horror meets frightful fun at Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street

Downtown Elgin has become ground zero for an extraterrestrial invasion with the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street on Saturday, Oct. 25. Using televisions and lost VHS tapes, they have unleashed cosmic horror upon the citizenry. Experience the mayhem and carnage on the front lines as the brave Zombie Defense Initiative fight back this intergalactic threat.

The event runs from 6 to 11 p.m., with early access for ZDI All Access passes at 5 p.m. Within the Safe Zone, select businesses will be open to provide food, beverages, shelter, and other supplies you'll need to have an evening of frightful fun!

Friday Night Frights

Once again before the big event, they are hosting “Friday Night Frights” with various performances, including a drumline, fire eating, and sword swallowing, at various locales around town before the main event on Saturday.

From 5-7 p.m., there will be face painting and balloon artists at La Michoacana Paradise, 215 E. Chicago St., and the contortionist CaityFlows at Whatnots & Whimsies.

From 6-8 p.m., see the Human Pincushion Sanjula Vamana at Funky Rooster Tattoo & Art Gallery, 73 S. Grove Ave., and Caricatures by Andrew at Churros y Chocolate, 66 S. Grove Ave.

The Lady Wolves Drumline will be performing from 6:30 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Union Bank, 8 S. Spring St., followed by singer/dancer Xitlali from 7 to 7:30 p.m. and DB Stereo from 8 to 10 p.m.

Cryptid Kid, the Sword Swallower, will be at Elgin Public House, 219 E. Chicago St., from 7 to 9 p.m., and see fire performer From the Ash from 8 to 10 p.m. at El Patio Mexican Restaurant, 64 S. Grove Ave. La Rosa Oscura Flamenco will be performing from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Martini Room, 161 E. Chicago St.

Specialty themed pop-up bars

For those with the ZDI All Access, specialty themed pop-up bars offer immersive experiences like a forgotten video store, a secret sci-fi facility, an Aztec underworld, and a mad scientist's mansion. These spots are not age restricted, and serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. One complementary drink is included with this experience.

The four themes are:

• Be Kind, Rewind … Or Die: Step into a forgotten video store where the ’80s never died. This is a hidden pop-up bar and immersive horror experience inspired by cult VHS classics, slasher flicks, and previous Nightmare years. Sip twisted themed cocktails, snack on bloody-good eats, and explore aisles packed with haunted nostalgia.

• First Contact: Beneath the city lies First Contact a hidden facility. Now declassified, you're invited to explore its corridors, where the last crew vanished and something otherworldly remains. Sip themed cocktails and snack on cosmic finger foods in an immersive sci-fi station featuring retro-future tech, alien autopsies, and the eerie hum of a station that should have stayed sealed.

• 9 Niveles: Descend into the forgotten depths of Mictlán, the Aztec underworld, in 9 Niveles — a secret pop-up where each level reveals a darker layer of the afterlife. Inspired by ancient mythology and steeped in horror, this immersive experience blends ritual, shadow, and story with themed cocktails and ritual-inspired snacks. ​

• The Cadaver Club: The secret parlor of a deranged doctor whose own blood fuels a terrifying undead serum. Step inside his decaying mansion, where failed experiments roam and the line between science and madness is long gone. Enjoy twisted drinks, and snack on foods served straight from the morgue.

Street Experiences

Check out any of the seven new “Street Experiences” with the themes of “First Contact,” “Plaza Mictlán,” “Safe Zone,” “Cirq D' Freak,” “Kingdom of Plantae,” “Thunder-Dome: Welcome to the ​Blood Lands,” and “Svengoolie's B-Movie Boulevard,” where you can cap it off with a meet-and-scream with Svengoolie himself.

On stage

Performing on the main stage will be the 12-piece brass/funk powerhouse from Niagrara, Ontario, My Son the Hurricane; Nerdvana with throwbacks to the ’90s and before; Chicago’s own DJ Cold; and the alt-punk band Take the Reins.

On the DJ Stage, there will be Chicago’s Jump Smokers with DJs Roman and Flipside, “The Chi” cast member DJ Pharris, Chicago’s powerhouse DJ Nehpets, and DJ Jana Rush with her dark experimental listening music.

Headlining the Plaza Stage will be La Misa Negra from Oakland, California, bringing their cumbia and Afro-Latin grooves with a punk-rock energy; Chicago’s Future Nobodies with their dreamy post-punk sound; Latin-based DJ JTC; and hardcore/ska band La Pobreska.

Bizarre Bazaar

This haunted marketplace teems with eerie trinkets, handcrafted horrors, occult oddities, and more. Local and traveling merchants offer creepy crafts, custom masks, glowing artifacts, and other bone-chilling baubles. Street performers and roaming creeps add to the uncanny ambiance as you haggle under a cursed moon.

Tickets

General admission is $35 in advance or $40 on site, not including fees. This includes access to the haunted attraction, scare zones, shows, special photo ops, music stages, and general food and drink vendors. This event is for age 17 or older. Those under age 17 are admitted with, and must remain with, a parent or guardian at all times.

A ZDI All-Access Pass for $80 online only, plus fees, features early entry, priority waiting at the haunted attraction and special photo ops, as well as exclusive access to your choice of special themed pop-up bar (which includes one complementary drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic).

You also can purchase VIP parking, online only, for $50, plus fees. Shuttles will be running from Larkin and Elgin high schools, starting with service every 15-20 minutes between 4:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. For tickets, go to nightmareonchicagostreet.com.