Suburban spook houses offer chills for every taste
Several years ago, Round Lake Beach resident Steve Kristof met with the two friends who operate Realm of Terror Haunted House with him to talk about the haunted house's future.
The question they discussed: How can we make our haunted house stand out?
The answer they came up with: Go extreme!
"I don't think there's any haunted house out there that goes as far as ours does," Kristof, a fervent 19-year-old horror fan, said with glee. "Parents be warned, this is not for kids!"
Realm of Terror, located in Round Lake Beach, plunges visitors into a nightmarish insane asylum, each room of which presents another bloody, gruesome sight: from graphic surgery to gore-streaked inmates.
"When you look at the popular horror films out now, things like the 'Saw' films, this seems to be what fans are looking for," Kristof said. 'We've gotten a very positive response from those who've gone through."
Realm of Terror is just one of the many haunted houses waiting to scare the pants off suburbanites this Halloween season.
Some of them, like Realm of Terror, go for the jugular in terms of gore and violence. Others offer milder frights suitable for a younger crowd. What they have in common is that the people running them absolutely love to scare people.
Consider Nick Hadac, chairman of the Lombard Jaycees Haunted House, now in its 39th year.
"I've always just loved horror and Halloween and being scared," Hadac, 39, said. "I've got a collection of about 750 DVDs at home, and I'd say that 95 percent of them are from the horror genre. I have so much fun with this stuff."
Designing, staffing and building a haunted house can take five to seven months. Kristof and his partners, Brad Cannon and Jeff Standeven, started planning Realm of Terror in April.
First came a series of brainstorming sessions. The trio had to figure out what each room would look like and what scares each would provide.
"We totally redesigned it this year," he said. "We wanted to establish one theme and then use that throughout."
Once the design was reached, the three started building it. Then they hired between 30 and 40 actors to bring the scares to life. Kristof, Cannon and Standeven also play roles in it.
Hadac and the other volunteers with the Lombard Jaycees, who started planning their haunted house in July, used some classic haunted house tropes in their designs - the executioner's room, a room of doors - and then attempted to put a contemporary spin on them.
One of Hadac's favorite rooms is the one that riffs on the 1982 film "Poltergeist," a film that Hadac considers a horror classic.
"I designed that room, which was such a great time because that's one of my favorite movies," he said.
Between 20 and 25 people work on construction and teardown, and between 50 and 60 people help with the operations of the haunted house, Hadac said. All are volunteers.
The Lombard haunted house isn't as extreme as Realm of Terror, but Hadac said it is scary, and that parents of young children should think about whether it's something they can handle. Those parents in doubt can attend a Kiddie Matinee on either Saturday, Oct. 17, or Saturday, Oct. 24. Both will be more fun than frightening.
Kristof and Hadac said they hope all suburbanites, whether they're looking for extreme or mild thrills, get out to a haunted house this season.
"It's a chance to forget about things for a while and enjoy a good old-fashioned scare," Kristof said. "Everyone needs that once in a while."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Suburban scares </p> <p class="News">Looking for a nice scare this Halloween? What follows is a sampling of the haunted houses that will be open for business in the suburbs during the next few weeks. Dates and hours vary, so check ahead. </p> <p class="breakhead">Addison</p> <p class="News">Disturbia Torment of Fears, 880 W. Lake St. (Links and Tees Golf Dome). $18. Call (630) 430-6420 or visit <a href="http://disturbia2009.com" target="new">disturbia2009.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Aurora</p> <p class="News">Nightmares Basement of the Dead, 42 W. New York St. $13. Call (630) 896-2466 or visit <a href="http://42fear.com" target="new">42fear.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Batavia</p> <p class="News">Crypts of Campana, A Factory of Fear, 901 N. Batavia Ave. $13. Visit <a href="http://factoryfear.com" target="new">factoryfear.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Elgin</p> <p class="News">Evil Intentions Haunted House, 900 Grace St. $15. Visit <a href="http://evilscarecrew.com" target="new">evilscarecrew.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Elk Grove Village</p> <p class="News">Eleventh Hour Haunted Houses, 434 E. Devon Ave. (Bertholds Garden Center). $18-$23. Call (708) 243-6864 or visit <a href="http://eleventhhour.info" target="new">eleventhhour.info</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Fox Lake</p> <p class="News">X-treme Hauntings Haunted House, 76 Honing Road. $14, $12 on Sundays. Call (847) 702-7227 or visit <a href="http://x-tremehauntings.com" target="new">x-tremehauntings.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Gurnee</p> <p class="News">Six Flags Fright Fest, 1 Great America Parkway. Multiple haunted houses inside theme park. $34.99 (online price) or $54.99, plus $15 for parking. Visit <a href="http://sixflags.com/greatamerica" target="new">sixflags.com/greatamerica</a>. </p> <p class="breakhead">Hawthorn Woods</p> <p class="News">St. Matthew Haunted House, 24500 N. Old McHenry Road. $12 for adult house, $6 for children. Call (847) 438-7099 or visit <a href="http://stmatts.net/haunted" target="new">stmatts.net/haunted</a>. </p> <p class="breakhead">Lake Zurich</p> <p class="News">Barn Haunted House, 200 S. Rand Road. $8. Call (847) 438-5146 or visit <a href="http://volz.org" target="new">volz.org</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Lisle</p> <p class="News">Lisle Haunted Dungeon, 1820 Short St. $7. Call (630) 964-3410 or visit <a href="http://lisleparkdistrict.org/haunted.htm" target="new">lisleparkdistrict.org/haunted.htm</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Lombard</p> <p class="News">Lombard Jaycees Haunted House, 1000 N. Rohlwing Road. $10, or $5 for children. Visit <a href="http://haunted-house.com" target="new">haunted-house.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">McHenry</p> <p class="News">McHenry Area Jaycees Haunted House, 300 S. Route 31. $6. Call (815) 482-5885. </p> <p class="breakhead">Palatine</p> <p class="News">Psychosis Haunted House, 603 N. Hicks Road. $14. Visit <a href="http://psychosishauntedhouse.net" target="new">psychosishauntedhouse.net</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Round Lake Beach</p> <p class="News">Realm of Terror, 421 W. Rollins Road (Kristof's Entertainment Center). $13. Call (847) 363-8799 or visit <a href="http://realmofterror.com" target="new">realmofterror.com</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">St. Charles</p> <p class="News">St. Charles Jaycees Haunted House, 901 Aqualand Way. $10. Visit <a href="http://stcharlesjaycees.org" target="new">stcharlesjaycees.org</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Wheaton</p> <p class="News">Wheaton Jaycees Haunted House, 2015 Manchester Road (DuPage County Fairgrounds). $8. Call (630) 803-8727 or visit <a href="http://wheatonjaycees.org/halloween" target="new">wheatonjaycees.org/halloween</a>.</p> <p class="breakhead">Zion</p> <p class="News">Dungeon of Doom, 2701 Deborah Ave. $15 -$35. Call (262) 553-9003 or visit <a href="http://dungeonofdoom.com" target="new">dungeonofdoom.com</a>. </p>