Ghouls For Good: Halloween House Collects Donations For TEARS

FRANKFORT, IL — Some Halloween legends are true, and Frankfort residents can find one in their own village: the Ghouls on Glasgow home.

Legend has it that it all started with a single Michael Myers prop, but, like a Mogwai that gets wet, the Showalter’s front yard soon started popping out ever more, and ever scarier, monsters.

“I started adding and adding, and it escalated very quickly,” said Kyle Showalter, who calls Ghouls on Glasgow home, along with his wife, Katie, and their three children: Evan, 4; Maeve, 3; and Elle, 18 months.

Today the Ghouls on Glasgow features more than three dozen petrifying props, with about two dozen of those fully animatronic, Showalter said. But, visitors should be warned that not all the props are fake: The Showalters and their neighbors like to dress up and hang out among the macabre masses and surprise unsuspecting victims — er, visitors.

This is the second year that Showalter has “gone serious” with promoting the home on social media, and the first year that Showalter is using the popular attraction to help raise money for the Illinois chapter of the TEARS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance and bereavement support services for families who have had a child die, according to the organization’s website.

The organization’s mission hits close to home for the Showalter family. Katie Showalter had a brother, Kevin O’Brien, who died of sudden infant death syndrome when he was only 3 months old.

“Her family went through a terrible situation with her brother, and just the chance to alleviate the stress of another family would mean so much to us,” Kyle Showalter said.

An estimated several thousand people come to see the decorations, Showalter said. Of course, Halloween night draws the biggest crowds, some arriving by limo or even in buses, Showalter said.

“We get a lot of characters coming by,” Showalter said.

Those up for a good fright can visit Ghouls on Glasgow, located at 19821 S. Glasgow in Frankfort, from 6-10 p.m. daily through Halloween.

Those wishing to make a donation to the Illinois Chapter of the TEARS Foundation can do so while at Ghouls on Glasgow via a donation box the Showalters have set up, or visit the Ghouls on Glasgow Facebook page. Donations can also be made directly to the Illinois chapter of the TEARS Foundation on its website.

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