All Hallows Eve brings out the dead — and the living — at Naper Settlement
It's not just that there's about a 100 percent chance Dracula will be hanging around.
Or that Lizzie Borden will have access to her favorite cutlery.
Or even that visitors can get a preview of their own obituary.
It's all of that plus a full 12 acres of historical horrors that make Naper Settlement's All Hallows Eve a creepy experience that promises to make visitors shudder and scream the way people did way back when. The grounds of the Naperville museum will be haunted Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17.
“We're a little bit different from a normal haunted house in that all of our buildings get turned into a different skit,” said Adison Glick, the settlement's special events coordinator.
And those skits pay homage to some of the scariest moments in history, both real and imagined, against the backdrop of the historical museum village.
Glick said visitors will learn about the lifestyles and life spans of people who lived during and just after the Civil War by witnessing the customs and rituals surrounding injury, disease and death in those days.
For example, he said, those who enter the log house will be presented with a death certificate.
“We then send them to the print shop where they can get their obituary,” Glick said.
After that, it's off to the stone carver's shop.
“They get measured for their coffin by the mortician,” he said.
The schoolhouse features a remembrance of Edgar Allan Poe, while the carriage house promises a glimpse of the Salem witch trials.
“You could come at 6:30 p.m. and stay until 10 p.m. and be entertained the entire time,” Glick said.
In the center of the property, on the Village Green, a concert stage will present live entertainment, including fire eaters, contortionists, circus sideshow-style performers and magician Steve Chezaday, Glick said.
Back again this year is the zombie maze.
“It has all sorts of special effects and something around every corner,” Glick said.
All Hallows Eve got started at Naper Settlement about 13 years ago, said Donna DeFalco, settlement marketing and sales representative.
“It's become an annual Halloween tradition,” she said. “What makes our All Hallows Eve unique is the entire 12 acres are haunted.”
DeFalco said explorers roaming the grounds those nights likely will run into a few unsettling creatures, monsters or zombies.
“The lighting is dim. It's very mysterious and very scary,” she said.
The event is not recommended for children younger than 8. Costumes are not allowed.
Admission is $15 per person and free for settlement members. Food vendors will offer chili, hot dogs, Italian food, doughnuts and kettle corn.
DeFalco said 150 volunteers annually help stage the event, which drew nearly 4,000 visitors last year.
“That was one of our biggest years ever,” she said.
All Hallows Eve
<b>Where:</b> Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville
<b>When:</b> 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17
<b>Tickets:</b> $15; free for members
<b>Info:</b> (630) 420-6010 or <a href="http://www.napersettlement.org">napersettlement.org</a>