When it comes to Halloween in Naperville, there is no shortage of spooky scenes and horrifying yard displays. Here are a few you might want to check out before the holiday is over.
Muirhead Cemetery — 703 Muirhead Court
When Jen Hajer moved into her home on Muirhead Court more than 20 years ago, not a single trick-or-treater showed up at her door for Halloween, she said. A neighbor told her kids don’t usually come down their cul-de-sac.
Hajer was determined to change that, and that’s how Muirhead Cemetery was born.
While Hajer’s display features everything from witches to zombies, it also sprikles her personality throughout. In one section, a cemetery features handmade tombstones with epitaphs like, “Cliff I. Pheloff; he died a broken man” and “Gluten, 1972 to 2013,” the latter a reference to the year Hajer became gluten free.
Muirhead Cemetery will be up until Nov. 1.
Nightmare in Naperville — 2612 River Woods Drive
Sue and Benjamin O’Brien created Nightmare in Naperville after moving into their home in mid-October 2016. They bought a couple of items from Home Depot with the goal of being “the spooky house on the block,” Sue said.
“I always loved Halloween as a kid,” Benjamin said, “and since we bought our house directly across the street from River Woods Elementary School … I kind of want to share the joy I had for Halloween when I was a kid with the local kids across the street.”
The O’Briens’ front yard is now a spooky walkway featuring animatronics like a ghastly woman with long black hair and a demon in a black robe that jump out as you walk by. While many decorations are bought, others — like the coffin and the moving grave at the front of the yard — were made by the couple.
The O’Briens plan to keep their display up until Nov. 2.
Skele-town — 116 Bridgewater Court
One year it was “Scary Tale Land.” Another year, “Camp Akanawanakill.” For the past two years, the house at 116 Bridgewater Court has been “Skele-town.”
Laurie Kurtz and her 16-year-old daughter Ashley have been decorating the outside of their home for Halloween with different themes since 2020. In their current iteration, a giant skeleton stands at the walkway entrance with a sign that says, “Welcome to Skele-town.”
When visitors enter, they are greeted by dolls standing around a cauldron and a fake butcher serving up flesh and bones. Some of the items are reminiscent of past themes, like the “Camp Akanawanakill” shirts that adorn the skeletons and the giant foot made as an homage to “Jack and the Beanstalk” for Scary Tale Land.
Some nights, like when the Naperville Trolley comes by, Laurie, her family and their friends don costumes to scare people.
“I’ll dress up like a clown with a mask and I’ll stand back here and pretend to be like an animatronic,” Laurie said.
Skele-town is a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Halloween fundraiser. To make a donation, visitors can scan a QR code at the front of the home or text “HALLOWEEN” to 785-833, then select the “make a general donation” option.
Decorations at 116 Bridgewater Court will stay up until Nov. 3.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
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