Naper Settlement, Lisle Park District offer up frightful fun

Irrational fears have many faces. For some, that fearsome face has a rubber nose, primary colored makeup and bright red hair.

"A lot of people are afraid of clowns, naturally," said Maureen Malloy, education event coordinator at Naper Settlement.

Playing on that fear, a new funhouse attraction at the settlement's annual homage to Halloween will feature the comic-yet-creepy characters.

"The whole funhouse is based about clowns," said Malloy, who didn't want to give away too many surprises. "I really don't want to say any more than that."

Malloy and the rest of the settlement's "Scream Team" have concocted a batch of new thrills for this year's two-day scream-fest, All Hallows Eve, set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct 25-26.

"We have a lot of repeat visitors," Malloy said. "We always like to do new vignettes for them."

Like mini-dramas, the scary and suspenseful vignettes play out inside several of the settlement's historical buildings while visitors witness the frightful fun.

Reminding visitors at the 19th-century museum village of the fears prevalent in that era will be new vignettes from "Sweeney Todd," the story of a legendary homicidal barber, and another featuring a wolfman, or werewolf. There's also the story of a headless, living woman.

"The woman was in an accident and lost her head and the doctor was able to save her life," Malloy said.

Also new this year will be the presence of creepy creatures from Cosley Zoo in Wheaton.

The hissing cockroaches, lizards, snakes and tarantulas won't mind if visitors pet them, Malloy said.

As visitors tramp across the lantern-lit, wooded grounds, they'll encounter another new feature - their friends and neighbors imparting tales of supernatural phenomena.

"This year, we're going to tell local ghost stories around the campfire," Malloy said.

They'll also come across a magician performing tricks in a haunted graveyard. And the seven deadly sins will make their presence felt, too, she said.

Visitors also may bump into a few characters known to frequent the settlement on past All Hallows Eve nights - the Grim Reaper, mummies, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula.

Back again this year will be the Davenport Brothers conducting séances inside the Martin Mitchell Mansion, pirates and Civil War-era surgeons using 1860s-style operating techniques.

For anyone who still has an appetite, there will be refreshments available for purchase.

"We'll have all kinds of food - hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, kettle corn," Malloy said.

Though there is face-painting available for tots, much of the event is aimed at adults and older children, from junior high level on up.

"It's not geared toward little kids," she said, adding that the vignettes are recommended for children ages 8 and older. "This year we're upping the ante in scariness. We're taking it to a new level."

Similarly, the Haunted Dungeon in Lisle is open to all ages but may not be appropriate for most children younger than junior high school-age, cautions Lisle Park District aquatics and fitness supervisor Jenny Porrevecchio.

"People going through get the feeling they're in an insane asylum and the inmates have escaped," she said. "We've had adults ask to leave before."

Those brave enough to venture inside the two-story mazelike attraction, built in a parks department truck bay, will spend about 10 minutes roaming up and down the halls and through the rooms, Porrevecchio said.

"There's a slide involved, as well as a section of crawling," she said.

The park district added a sixth night this year to accommodate demand at the popular annual event, now in its 11th year, Porrevecchio said.

"We did five nights last year," she said, "and we got a little over 1,000 people."

If you go

All Hallows Eve: A 19th Century Halloween

When: 6:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24-25

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

Admission: $9 at the door, $8 in advance

Info: (630) 305-5555 or napersettlement.museum

Haunted Dungeon

When: 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 29-31

Where: Lisle Parks Garage, 1820 Short St., Lisle

Admission: $7

Info: (630) 964-3410 or lisleparkdistrict.org