By Jordan Bolker
With Halloween only two weeks away, one event that should top every student’s To-Do list is attend a haunted house. Naper Settlement is hosting its annual All Hallow’s Even event Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19 from 6:30-10pm at the Naper Settlement Museum, 523 S. Webster Road.
This year nobody needs to travel all the way to Statesville Haunted Prison to pay $30 for a 15 minute walk through. All Hallow’s Eve costs only $15 and is within walking distance from campus. There will be a haunted house as well as new activities to last all night long. From zombies to vampires and insane asylums to a dead wedding, Naper Settlement’s All Hallows Eve event is sure to send a thrill to those who dare to attend.
Amanda Fehrenbacher is the Village of Fear event coordinator. Her job is to decide which actors will be placed at each scene and to make the buildings look ghoulish and terrifying.
“This is a chance for Naper Settlement to haunt the entire grounds on Halloween,” she said. “Each building [that’s part of the property] is what we call vignettes, which are small plays that are put on the Naper Settlement actors that dress up and come out to act the part.”
Fehrenbacher explained that the main idea of this event is to bring together “past, present, and future ghost stories and have them come to life to tie in with the Victorian themes” that are displayed at Naper Settlement. The ghost stories from the past date back to the early 16th or 17th century, the ghost stories from the present is the zombie apocalypse, and Fehrenbacher predicts that the future ghost stories will be “even more zombies.”
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Some of the different characters that will be displayed at All Hallow’s Eve will include some familiar faces such as Frankenstein and Dracula and other favorites like zombies, demons, ghosts, and more.
“We have 50 actors/volunteers per night at this event,” said Fehrenbacher. “There will definitely be a wide variety [of characters in the Village of Fear].” Naper Settlement hosts All Hallow’s Eve for two nights.
Fehrenbacher also mentions that there will be a couple new surprises added to excite the attendees.
“We have a [zombie]maze that’s new this year,” she said. The zombie maze contains two entrances where people race through the maze without being attacked by zombies who roam around almost every corner.
“This is where the zombies reside,” Fehrenbacher said. “There will be larger openings throughout the maze where the two entrances meet and you will see scenes of zombies ‘eating’ victims.”
The Martin Mitchell Mansion, on All Hallow’s Eve night the building will be referred to as the Mansion of Helmut von Essen, will feature a new theme. A crazed doll-maker will be hard at work, constantly creating dolls that resemble the terrifying dolls; Chucky and Chucky’s Bride.
Smaller events that will take place will be story-telling of pirate and Edgar Allen Poe stories, the Aisle of Screams dead wedding at the Century Memorial Chapel, an insane asylum, reenactments of the Salem Witch Trials, printing your own death certificate and obituary, and getting measured for your “coffin.”
The Naper Settlement All Hallow’s Eve event will be this Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19 from 6:30-10pm at the Naper Settlement Museum, 523 S. Webster Road. Tickets are $15 per person.
