Final Year In NW Chicago Suburbs For Popular Halloween Drive-Thru

FOX RIVER GROVE, IL — There are monsters "stirring below the ground" at Mack Manor in Fox River Grove, signaling it is almost time for the gates to open for the popular and free Halloween drive-thru experience. And after years of serving up thrills and chills to area residents, this will be the local haunt's last year in town.

An exact opening date has not yet been set for the 2025 season for the Halloween drive-thru at 1100 Algonquin Road in Fox River Grove, Laura Mack told Patch Wednesday. Laura, along with her husband, David, and son, Jonas, are the masterminds behind Mack Manor.

"We hear the monsters stirring below ground, waiting to arise," Laura said Wednesday. The exact opening date for the display will be announced soon on the Mack Manor Facebook page.

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As part of the Halloween experience, which has been up and running in Fox River Grove since 2009, there are actors who meander the grounds, and plenty of special effects to view from your car.

This year, "the entire layout" of the display has changed.

"We are excited with the new design," Laura Mack said. But this will be the last year the Halloween display will be in town.

Mack Manor also has a Christmas drive-thru, which will be offered for its final season in 2026. Over the past 10 years — during non-COVID years — around 15,000 people visited the Halloween and Christmas displays each holiday, Mack said.

In 2020 and 2021, that number doubled. Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic draw residents to the drive-thru and other more socially distanced entertainment options over the holidays, but the Christmas lights show was also coming off its five minutes of fame in the national spotlight.

In 2018, Mack Manor was featured on ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight."

"We actually turned them down twice since they wanted us to skip Halloween one year in order to film a Christmas episode. Instead a compromise was made to tape the show one year early, after Halloween," Mack said.

During those years, wait times to roll through the holiday shows were long and the Mack family opted to open up the shows for longer hours.

"We had cars lined up for one to two hours waiting to drive thru. There was a lot of collaboration with police departments to keep some semblance of order," they said. "The patience of our neighbors was tested to the limits during that year."

• Local Holiday Display Garners National Attention

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.