About Haunt 31

Haunt 31 began well before our move to Lake in the Hills, IL in 1999. As a child I had always loved Halloween. Growing up in Willowbrook, IL on a few acres, I would stuff black garbage bags with leaves in the fall, tie them up, flip them upside down and with white spray paint apply scary faces to them. In the dark, my friends and I would play ghost in the graveyard, every so often coming face to face with one of the make-believe ghouls.

Fast forward to October 1999 — our first year in the new home. I built a few painted plywood tombstones and a static zombie. We had fifteen trick-or-treaters that year. The following year, the Village of Lake in the Hills offered a "scariest house" contest. I added a two-story spider web, more static zombies, and tied for scariest house. Tie? Really? I spent the next year on improvements and built a pneumatic body-slinger. When the judges came, we set it off — and knew instantly we'd won.

The props at Haunt 31 are mostly designed and built by myself, family, and friends. Very few animations are store-bought. This hobby has taught me pneumatics, welding, painting, theatrical lighting, crowd control, and security — the kind of things the average person doesn't stress over. Between storage, air systems, props, and everything else, we've exceeded a six-figure price tag over the years. Setup begins Labor Day weekend; tear down starts on Halloween night after the last guest leaves.

I often tell visitors "I would do this even if only one person came." Truth is, I would. Regardless of how bad your day, week, or life may be, the time spent at our little haunt creates a memorable experience — something families can talk about as they drive away and remember for the rest of their lives.