Patch's Best 2024 Halloween Yard Haunts: Will, Kendall, Grundy, DeKalb

WILL-KENDALL-GRUNDY-DEKALB COUNTY, IL — If you're looking for new zombie graveyards, body parts, floating ghosts and devil's playgrounds to explore for Halloween, you've come to the right place. Patch has assembled its annual scary yard tour for 2024, created by some of Chicagoland’s most imaginative and demented exterior decorators.

Given the scary yard tour’s past history of breaking the internet, we have organized the 2024 list by county. So click on the link for the list of scary yards near your house, or go crazy and visit them all.

GET ON THE LIST: We LOVE reader submissions, so we'll be updating the list every FRIDAY leading up to Halloween. So send in your pictures and tell us why your yard haunt is worth a drive-by to lorraine.swanson@patch.com. Read more about how to get on the list. If you participated in years past and didn’t get an email from us, send Patch your info.

Also, check out these lists for more scary yards throughout the Chicago area: Chicago Haunt Builders, Haunted Illinois Directory, Illinois Haunted Houses and We Love Halloween. There's free fun to be had in the days leading up to Halloween, so set your GPS for these spooky standbys and nightmarish newbies. See what other counties are doing:

• Cook County/Chicago
• DuPage/Kane Counties
• Lake/McHenry Counties

Check out these slick yard haunts in Will, Kendall, Grundy and DeKalb Counties:

Bolingbrook

309 Inner Circle Drive, Bolingbrook – The Hanck family keeps growing their display and adding more every year. They aren’t even done decorating yet.

513 Pheasant Chase Drive, Bolingbrook — There's a gorilla invasion in Bolingbrook.

Channahon

NEW! 22763 W. Jonathon Drive, Channahon – We love it when readers like Heather Vallara go a little crazy with the decorations. Heather tells us there are many houses on her block and in her neighborhood all decked out All Hallows Eve on the east side of Channahon. Stop by on your way to Hollywood Casino just up the road.

Coal City

975 E. 4th Street, Coal City – If you’re looking for something sweet to eat head over to Catherine Burson’s Halloween Haunted maze in her front yard for kids of all ages to trick or treat in, and a haunted house for all ages as well full of animatronics. Live actors on Fridays and Saturday nights. We have a less scary time with just lights on and no actors from 6-6:30 p.m. “We hand out all kinds of candy and treats. We are also the home of Sweet Treats and Tasty Eats Pop of Bakery so we have all kinds of treats for kids and adults and a variety of samples for everyone to try throughout the month. There are games in the driveway for the kids to play and it’s a great community event to enjoy by all.” Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturdays; 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Crest Hill

NEW! 1937 Cowning Lane, Crest Hill – Proud dad Bubba Hotep submitted his daughter Kayli’s yard that attracts gapers in cars or on foot to stop and take picts. The front, side yards and even the interior of the home is completely decorated.

Crete

NEW! 24759 Chestnut Lane, Crete – Check out this cool house in Crete.

Frankfort

Harvest Haunt, 7901 Harvest Drive, Frankfort – Nothing says Halloween quite like corn and animatronics. The yard is lit from dusk to 10 p.m. through Oct. 31. is a cemetery and corn field display with animatronics ( more on weekend) that will start on Oct first and run through Halloween. Starts at dusk until around 10 at night. Will be handing out standard candy on Halloween.

"Smokey Shadows,” 7427 James St., Frankfort

Haunts On Jon-Kill Lane, 20248 S Jonquil Lane, Frankfort – The McMahon family has been decorating their yard, expanding their collection each year. People are welcome to roam through their side yards. The haunt features Our family has been doing this for about seven years and the collection gets larger each year, featuring dozens of terrifying animatronics to give a jump scare, a frightening circus and creepy cemetery. “We really enjoy doing this and really hope more come out to see us.”

Scare At Joe's, 7538 W. Benton Drive, Frankfort Square – Mike and Joe Wlodarek family friendly haunt has been a fixture in Frankfort Square for 11 years. They will have a kids scavenger hunt with five other homes in the square.

Old Benton Cemetery at 7344 w Benton Dr, Frankfort – This slick yard haunt features professional special FX on the weekends, It’s stop #1 Frankfort Square Haunts Tour (13 houses within 2 miles, 9 walkable from this house). See the Frankfort Square Haunts Map Link.

GHOULS ON GLASGOW, 19821 S. GLASGOW, FRANKFORT — Kyle Showalter started with a single Michael Myers prop and his lawn o’ ghouls has escalated ever since. This yard haunt attracts thousands of people every Halloween season, who come to gaze upon the three dozen or more eye-popping props. Warning: Sometimes Showalter’s neighbors like to dress up like monsters and terrorize the looky-loos. The Showalters are accepting donations for the Illinois Chapter of the TEARS Foundation. The yard is lit daily from 6 to 10 p.m. daily. Read the story on Patch.

Homer Glen

12311 Thorn Apple Dr., Homer Glen – Come if you dare for quite the scare. Beware what may be lurking near and you might just get a treat. More put out on Halloween night. Going on now till Nov 1, Sunday through Thursday dusk till 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday dusk till 11 p.m. Come if you dare for quite the scare. Beware what may be lurking near and you might just get a treat. More put out on Halloween night.

NEW! Sinister on Sage CarnEvil, 13115 Sage Cout, Homer Glen – Erin Fiskow is at it again with a walk-thru home haunt filled with animatronics and props where the occasional actor will sometimes pop out. The yard is lit until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Joliet

NEW! Haunted Cornfield On Raynor, 258 N. Raynor Ave., Joliet – This year the Reyes family worked really hard on their display starting at the end of July. Cassandra and her fiance have repainted the props, added fur and moss, built light fixtures so that the house looks like a movie set. This year they’ll be handing out candy dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Leatherface to scare the youngsters. Stop by and take pictures. Park in the church parking lot across the street. We’re glad these two kids found each other.

616 Terry Drive, Joliet - The Walden house is unique because 95 percent of their decorations are cut out and hand painted. The display display lights up at 6:30 and shuts off at 11 p.m. "We are very proud of our work, and our neighborhood children look forward to every year. It is our eighth year and with something new added each year," Lisa Walden said.

Brink Drive Cemetery, 109 Brink Drive, Joliet – The front yard has been taken over by witches and a 12-foot-tall gravedigger to help hide the sacrificed bodies. A 9-foot-tall werewolf protects the cemetery as the 12-foot-tall reaper hovers up high, featuring lights and animatronics.

Mac’s Haunted Manor, 1619 Avalon Ave., Joliet

The Witches Garden, 513 CORNELIA ST., JOLIET — Thomas Lancaster is a self-taught local artist for more than 30 years. His mom, Georgina Hunter, an amazing artist, taught him how to make monsters as a kind. “Everything featured in my yard I have made except for the skeletons. I have a working skeleton fountain, the headless Horseman on top of a life-size horse. Neon glowing dancing skeletons. Some animatronics and a ton of lights witches, and more. I have over 30 life-size monsters in my yard. The skeletons are swinging their partners round and round a skeleton square dance. Thomas has also added a 15-foot-tall phantom. He's currently working on a pumpkin man playing a guitar. Lights go on 4 until 9 Monday through Thursday; weekends until 11 p.m.

Crabapple Hollow, 345 Crabapple Drive, Joliet – Emily and Greg Kazak have always enjoyed visiting homes on the scary yard tour with their young children. This year, Patch inspired them to try their hand at putting together a yard haunt. They started Sept. 9. Animatronics will be running nightly, weather-permitting, with fog machines and music. Having younger children, they consider their display “family-friendly” although this giant crow kind of scares us.

NEW! The Pup Parlor Bone Yard, 3650 Terrance Ferry Drive, Joliet – Christine Laage has created a yard haunt in honor of her dog grooming business. Spooky graveyard sounds and the fog machine starts at sundown every weekend. Dog skeletons are eating big skeleton bones, along with dog inspired tombstones.

NEW! Terror on Timberlake, 2703 Timberlake Drive, Joliet – Halloween is 16-year-old Justin Kenny’s passion. His mom, Shannah, tells us that her son is “Halloween 365 days a year!” Halloween decor is Justin’s most requested gift for birthdays and Christmas. He even took a part-time seasonal job at Spirit Halloween. Justin’s haunt features 30 animated props, with creepy clowns occupying one side of the yard, with a graveyard full of graveyards on the other side that will make you scream! New stuff gets added every week.

NEW! 21538 S. Nadia Drive, Joliet

NEW! May Street Manor, 1208 N. May St., Joliet – Robert and Kristi Roper, not to be confused with Stanley and Helen Roper, have filled their yard with static and animatronic props, and fog machines. The Ropers have been decorating for over 15 years, and each year it gets a little bigger. Little ones that may be afraid are welcome to visit during the day when everything is quiet. Please no touching of display items.

Lockport

16048 W Pennyroyal Lane, Lockport – This home haunt claims to have the most MASSIVE ghouls set up in the Sagebook subdivision. There’s an entirely new setup this year featuring “Trick” the pumpkin, who sings and tells jokes to kids, (weather permitting). Also, the weekend before Halloween, the haunt says it will have the biggest, baddest animatronic ghoul up and lit. Sounds of ghosts and howling wolves add to the chilling effect. Lights turn on 6:45-ish through 11 a.m.

Haunt On Willow Walk, 16560 Willow Walk Drive, Lockport – This is Jason Unterborn’s first year on the Patch tour o’ scary yards. Jason has been decorating for five years. All his stuff is up. The lights are on at dusk until about 10 p.m. The display won't be up and running if the weather is bad. On Halloween, Jason and his family like to dress up and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters and bring out other props that are usually only inside the house.

ST LUCIFER'S GARDEN OF LOST SOULS, 312 EDINBURGH DRIVE, LOCKPORT — Every Halloween season, Nancy Gonzalez’s front yard sprouts lost souls. Her fifth year on the scary yard tour, she's been turning her lawn into a cemetery, which features a walk-thru display with spooky music. There is no gore, so young children will love whistling through this graveyard enjoying the static and animatronic props. A donation box is up for the Oinking Acres Farm Rescue & Sanctuary. The yard haunt is open daily from dusk to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; and dusk to 11 p.m. Visitors are welcome day and night. Featured on WGN and Fox 32.

NEW! 16048 W Pennyroyal Lane, Lockport – The Silagyi family boasts the most MASSIVE collection of animatronic ghouls in the Sagebrook subdivision. “Trick” the pumpkin sings and tells jokes to kids (weather permitting). Voices of ghouls are set to go live the week before and/or the week of Halloween. Lights turn on at about 7:15-ish p.m off at 11-ish p.m. Check out this impressive setup.

Manhattan

The Halloween House, 24361 Shawnee Drive, Manhattan – Michael Hesser's yard haunt is a technological marvel, done entirely with computers. Michael starts programming and editing weeks in advance, using a technique called 3D mapping creating 3D projections across the front of the house. The Hessers also have a Christmas show. The audio is broadcast over FM radio, so people can watch from the safety and comfort of their car. To keep things fresh, new scenes are added throughout the month leading up to Halloween. “We have received unbelievably kind letters from families from across Illinois letting us know our house has become a family tradition,” Hesser says. “The letters are usually addressed to ‘The Halloween House’ or ‘The Christmas House’ since we do displays for both.” Michael is already at work on new Christmas scenes. He’s also been using his 3D printers around the clock to make little Jake Skellington keychains and Oogie Boogie figures to hand out to the crowds on nights he’s out there. This year the Hessers are collecting for Misophonia research.

Mokena

NEW! Skeleton Apocalypse, 19910 Mokena St., Mokena

New Lenox

“Haunted Haz Mat,” 2837 Taylor Glen, Drive New Lenox – We love this yard haunt for all of its boogery green splendor! Nick Gryga's dad, also Nick, has been decorating for over 30 years of every home they’ve lived in from California to New Lenox. “This is the first year he has gone all out with a specific theme.” Nick says his parents will be passing out all the big candy on Halloween.

The Old Hickory Haunt, 350 Old Hickory Road, New Lenox – The O’Neills are at it again with a few additions, featuring multiple animatronic creatures, 20-ft inflatables, graveyard and spiders galore. Yard will be lit up from about 5-10 p.m.

NEW! Runway to the Grave at 2205 Runway Dr, New Lenox – The Bausch family’s clever display features a haunted graveyard in a former airport. These ghosts have landed at their final destination, featuring 80-plus tombstones, three 12-foot skellis, an interactive headless horseman, projections and much more. Lit nightly until 10:30 p.m.

NEW! Haunted Manor of Evil, 2867 Ferro Drive New Lenox – Jeff Eggner’s yard haunt is sure to cause nightmares in children and adults alike. His display features a full frontal facade along with dungeons, gargoyles and unbelievable eerie backdrops you can’t find anywhere else. Wow!

Nightmare on Lenox Street, 248 Lenox St., New Lenox – This frightful and delightful yard features a potpourri of a live monster or two, skeletons, clowns, zombies and an insane asylum – now in its tenth year. Lots of lights and scary sounds. Come ready for a scare. Runs daily 6:30 to 10 p.m. through Halloween.

Muirfield Manor, 1795 Muirfield Drive, New Lenox – This haunted walk-thru and scary yard is lit and ready for visitors.

Oswego

RAVEN HILLS CEMETERY, 224 PRESIDENTIAL BLVD., OSWEGO— This awesome display is all lit up with strobe lights and features animatronics, projector special effects and fog machines. There’s a free walk-thru haunt from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Features a swamp and cemetery, as well as a traveling carnival/freak show. The Dienoffs are planning a special surprise on Halloween. “We always give out candy (of course), toy bags for kids, treats for the adults, and even treats for the dogs.”

NEW! Midnight on Manchester, 404 Manchester Drive, Oswego – Amber Stults’ Washington Irving-inspired Sleepy Hollow Cemetery-themed haunt features a headless horseman, Ichabod Crane and all their ghoulish friends. The yard is lit from 7:30 p.m. to midnight until the weekend after Halloween. A walk-thru is available on weekends and and especially on Halloween for trick-or-treaters. (Don’t know who Washington Irving or Ichabod Crane are? Look it up!)

Plainfield

“Coroner’s Corner," 25001 Armstrong Lane, Plainfield — As dusk falls, the chilling whispers of the undead beckon you into a nightmarish realm. Step into the Carnival of Clowns, where laughter turns to terror, and wander through the Spooky Skeleton Cemetery, where the restless rise from their graves. Experience the Zombie Invasion, where the living and the dead collide, and brave the haunting depths of Werewolf Way, where shadows lurk at every turn. With spine-tingling animatronics and eerie homemade props, this is not just a display—it’s a haunting experience that will linger in your nightmares. Are you ready to face your fears? Join us... if you dare.

“Nevermore,” 2107 Glenridge Ct. in Plainfield – Located in the Pheasant Ridge subdivision, Don Mackowiak has his yard decked out with animatronics, static props, fog machines on the weekends, music and flashing lights. Not too scary but scary enough. The yard is lit Monday-Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.

Pumpkin Riot, 1702 Whispering Oaks Drive, Plainfield – Brian and Kate Hunter have changed up their display to give people the greatest experience possible. New this year is “Riot Jack” the pumpkin monster. The display also features an evil pumpkin patch infested with scorched witches and giant pumpkin creatures who overlook the whole display. The Hunters will be handing out an assortment of candy and treats this Halloween.

The Carnival On Crossing, 22505 Prairie Crossing, Plainfield – People are welcome to drive by any time on non-rainy days to see Tricia and Johnnie’s greatest show on earth, featuring animatronics, carnival tent curtains, pennants/pinwheels and flashing carnival lights. For Halloween they are giving away cotton candy to go along with the circus theme. You can see videos of their decorations on YouTube and TikTok. Who’s your favorite clown?

Massacre on Meadow, 4517 Meadow Ln, Plainfield – Steve Simpson’s creative haunt has grown in size each year. We also think his HOA needs to lighten up. Candy will likely just be the normal “fun sized” Halloween candy.

NEW! 16432 Fairfield Drive, Plainfield

Shorewood

300 Greenfield Road, Shorewood – There’s a lot going in this yard including an inflatable Ursula with moving tentacles, a large feline that moves his head back and forth, a 12-foot animated reaper that talks, glows and moves his head side to side, projected floating skulls, hanging brooms and a window display with witches and a flaming cauldron and lots of lights.

Rockdale

NEW! Menacing Manor On Meadow, 926 Meadow Ave., Rockdale – Chris and Trisha Lehnert, along with their two kids live “everything Halloween.” Their display has expanded over the past 20 years. Lights are on weeknights 6 to 9 p.m., and until 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. They’re giving out full size candy bars to the trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

Sycamore

Caravia Family Light Show, 2307 Dustin Drive, Sycamore – The Caravia family’s yard haunt in DeKalb County is waterproof so they don’t shut down for rain. This Halloween-themed light show features several props and monsters all synced to music.