Patch's Best 2025 Halloween Yard Haunts: Cook County

COOK COUNTY — 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 2025, 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 2025 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.

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.

A look at what other counties are doing:

• Cook County/Chicago
• DuPage/Kane Counties
• Lake/McHenry Counties
• Will/Kendall/Grundy/DeKalb

Alsip

Skeleton Spook On 123rd Place, 4526 W. 123rd Place, Alsip – Joe and Cathy Hejmej have been decorating for over 20 years. Kids and adults start checking in September, just to make sure the Hejmejs are decorating. They try to add something new every year. Lights are on from 7 to 10 p.m. daily. An Alsip favorite, first year on the Patch scary yard tour.

Cursed Corner Cemetery 5113 W. 120th Place, Alsip – Last year, someone left a note on Robert Silva’s door telling him to send his house to Patch’s tour o’ scary yards. This year, he submitted his own yard. We’re glad he did.

12211 S. Millard Ave, Alsip – Rich loves to decorate his house for the people, which this year features an Ozzy Osbourne tribute. Lights come on daily from 3:30 to 11 p.m. He enjoys visitors.

Lockwood Cemetery, 12040 S. Lockwood Ave., Alsip – Alexandria and James Evans have created a scary boneyard in their front yard.

Arlington Heights

Haunted Evergreen Avenue, 406 S. Evergreen Ave., Arlington Heights – Lurking in a seemingly friendly neighborhood, this haunted yard display reveals its true, wicked nature every October. Brace yourself for the haunted doll, zombies, spiders, animatronics, and more! Located at the corner of Evergreen and Grove in Arlington Heights, be sure to check out Ryan George’s display.

Burbank

Trail of Terror, 8509 Newland Ave., Burbank — Brian Dowling tells us he’s added even more terror to his trail.

The Nephilim Fallen Angels, 8211 and 8215 S. Mulligan Ave. Burbank – The great Southland Nephilum is back, with live ghouls on weekends, and special live ghouls on Oct. 31. There are no live ghouls during the week (these people have jobs) but the dark realm is available for viewing. “Leave Reality behind and enter our Dark Realm at the Nephilim Haunted Yard....Many animated and live ghouls surrounding two houses for Double the Scare!!! Creatures have been summoned to join our Nephilim Fallen Angels Ghoul Crew, making our 14th year more frightful! Be prepared to be Scared!! Join us if you DARE, because the next scream you hear will be your own!!!!!” HauntedIllinois said in a review. These guys know how to scare the snot out of people.

Devil's Playgournd Home Haunt, 900 Western Ave., Flossmoor — After 15 fabulous years in Oak Lawn, this playground from hell has relocated to Flossmoor. The yard haunt includes such old favorites as the lunging Freddy Krueger and a guy getting zapped in an electric chair. Head devil Keith Janowski has been busy building even more interactive delights, including a toxic lagoon, animatronics, carnEvil scary-go-round, haunted graveyard and other digital effects. Flossmoor-area residents are in for a treat. Open for viewing Oct. 17 through Oct. 31. New this year is a fortune teller. Madame Zmaj will be reading cards on the weekends. The Devil's Playground Home Haunt supports Haunters Against Hate! Parking is available in the adjacent school parking lot. Visit them on Facebook. Scary as hell!

Hometown

Mortuary Gardens, 4568 W. 88th St. Hometown – This is Jill Hewitt and Ryan Smith’s second year of decorating in Hometown, rivaling Loretto’s Cemetery and Unforgivin. Their display features animatronics, homemade props, homemade music and plenty of fog. Hometown has some great yard haunts and is definitely worth a drive-thru.

La Grange Park

942 Forest Road, La Grange Park – The skeletons are partying in Rob Jacklin’s elaborate display.

Lemont

Tucci’s Terror, 1304 Castlewood Court, Lemont – We don’t know if this haunt was inspired by Stanley Tucci. A nice composition of skulls with glowing red eyeballs and other creatures of the dark.

Bryant Road’s Boo-Tique Cemetery, 10900 Bryant Road, Lemont – Pick yourself a couple of frocks at Bridget Ryan-Haag’s clever boo-tique.

Midlothian

Graveyard on Kilpatrick, 14441 Kilpatrick Ave., Midlothian — Instead of playing tricks, kids come from miles around just to see Judy Scott's giant front yard mausoleum. "I have been decorating my house since around 1988, and I have expanded my decorations to what they are today. It started with my love for Halloween and my son wanting to scare the children. My husband helps with the large displays that are all handmade, like the mausoleum." On Halloween night there are smoke machines, spooky music and a live actor prowling about to scare the kiddies. Lights are on from dusk to 10:30 p.m.

North Riverside

Scary Screams and Nightmare Dreams, 2524 8th Ave., North Riverside – Brian Przybylski’s display is the stuff of nightmares.

Oak Forest

The Twisted Neighbor, 5020 158th St., Oak Forest – Some of the south suburbs' sickest Halloween displays can be found in Oak Forest. The Twisted Neighbor's bone throne is also back, where people can walk up and take a photo if they want. On the weekend they will have a fog machine, and sometimes they like to scare people. We wish they were our neighbor!

Halloween Spooky Town, 14825 Landings Lane, Oak Forest – Lots of animatronics and sound effects are included in this crazy display.

Abandoned Cemetery/Pumpkin Tree/Pet Semetery, 6825 156st St., Oak Forest – Don Archer has added even more residents to his demented Semetery. The window display is themed “The Guff”, displaying multiple lost souls looking for a host. Once again, Don will be broadcasting Haunted Music on 87.9 FM for everyone's Creepy drive by pleasure!!! “We love Halloween as we are real Paranormal Investigators, we are Spectrewaves.”

The Haunted Garage, 5936 Condado Drive, Oak Forest —Oak Forest High School student David Martinez is the mastermind behind this haunted car shack, which is bigger and better than ever, with new scares. Don't let the innocent tract house fool you. The garage is a portal to hell with great special effects. David and his pals have added new tracks for 2024. Live actors will jump out at you.

5721 151 St., Oak Forest – We love Season Meyers’ skeleton peeking out from the flower bed.

Oak Lawn

Graveyard on Kolmar, 9716 S. Kolmar, Oak Lawn – This is Javier Moreno’s first time on the Patch list. His yard is full of pumpkin reapers and other scary monsters. He’s been decorating since 2021 with half of what he has now. Weekends feature live music and fog. Javier hopes to continue the tradition for years to come.

Spirits on Sproat, 9028 S. Sproat Ave, Oak Lawn — Love classic monsters from the movies, TV, literature, urban legend and pop culture? Come visit Spirits on Sproat, now in its fabulous 20th year. One of Chicagoland’s most popular Halloween season destinations, Spirits on Sproat in Oak Lawn began as a barebones outdoor exhibit with a handful of props. But over the years it continued to expand until it finally outgrew its front yard territory and enlarged to also include the back yard. What sets our free home haunt apart from others is that, from the start, it was designed to be an outdoor museum showcasing over 120 full-size figures, most of which are home-made replicas of classic horror characters—from Frankenstein and Freddy Kruger to Medusa, Norman Bates, Slenderman, Leatherface, the Headless Horseman, and Art the Clown. Fresh figures for 2024 include Dead Ned the Dullahan knight; Moe, Curly, and Larry the clown trio; Heartburn Harry; Patchy the plundering pirate; the angry apple tree from the Wizard of Oz; and several more. Spirits on Sproat—which has been featured multiple times on Svengoolie’s television program and was named a Hall of Fame Haunt by The Horror Tourers. Spirits on Sproat is not only Svengoolie’s favorite yard haunt, it’s 7-year-old Gavin DeGrechie’s favorite stop on the scary yard tour. The display will operate 7 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and on Oct. 31; 7 to 10 p.m. on Sundays and Oct. 20-23 and Oct. 27-30.

Murder on Mansfield, 9820 S. Mansfield Ave., Oak Lawn – Daniel Smith has entered Oak Lawn’s second annual Halloween Haunted House decorating contest. Daniel tells Patch that his house draws a lot of attention from looky-loos. The best part is that Daniel and his kids had lots of fun setting it up as they do every year. This year he’s added seven animatronics and a lot more creepy things going on. It's kid friendly and many parents with kids already come to visit. The Smiths’ give away all the good candy on Halloween and literally get hundreds of kids on that day.

10417 S. Kolin Ave., Oak Lawn – In honor of Luigi, Alfredo and Judy Vittiritti who I grew up with in Des Plaines, Patch is proud to include Sally Vittiritti’s on the scary yard tour. “We think it will be fun,” Sally said. We love the bubbling crude of great big blobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts.

Smith's Grove Cemetery, 8720 S. 55th Ave., Oak Lawn – This is a boneyard for the ages and has been featured on the cover of our tour o’ scary yards in past years. Timothy Smith has built a full graveyard scene with a full skeleton rock band and audience, complete with light show and music Fridays and Saturdays.

10920 S. Keeler Ave., Oak Lawn — These "authorized employees" showed up to work, so don't yell at them if service is a little dead. Like many businesses, they are short-staffed. An amazing display of handmade monsters populate this scary yard in Oak Lawn. An evolving display. Come visit in person. Love it!

Nightmare on Natoma, 9716 S. Natoma Ave., Oak Lawn — We love Lou and Melissa Rizzo’s shrieky, freaky yard. Like many yard haunts, it keeps getting bigger every year. Lou’s friends and neighbors have been telling him to get on the scary yard tour for years, and we’re glad they did. People can walk down a path and look through the windows at the decorations inside the Rizzos’ house. “We did this last year and we had a blast meeting all the people that came by. We added a few more things and changed a few also. We have a graveyard scene with many skeletons and animated props to add to the fun. It is kid friendly because that’s who we do it for — the kids.” The yard is lit from 4 to 10 p.m. weekdays, through 11 p.m. weekends.

Nightmare on Natoma Too, 9612 Natoma Ave., Oak Lawn – Since Pat Pulver’s neighbors Lou Rizzo always submits his as nightmare on Natoma, Pat’s submitting thr sequel.

5134 W 90th St., Oak Lawn

Orland Park/Orland Hills

Scary Sheri's House of Horror, 9048 Sheri Lane, Orland Park — Lambchop must be lurking somewhere in the shadows. Scary Sheri’s tenth year running, featuring a Creepy Clown Circus, Werewolves Woods, Zombie invasion gone wrong, Large graveyard and much more. Live Actors on weekends weather permitting. Open dusk to 1o p.m. Sunday through Thursday; and dusk to 11:30ish Friday and Saturday, through Halloween.

16261 92nd Ave., Orland Hills – Sabrina Kalchbrenner submits a stunning yard of ghouls and reapers.

Shurley House Of The Dead, 17404 Deer Creek Drive, Orland Park — There is lots to see in the Shurley yard haunt full of creatures, ghouls, headless brides and more. Check out the projection of the lady in the upstairs window that turns into a ghoul before your very eyes. New this year is the Inferno King’s Castle of Terror. This yard haunt has been featured on every major TV news station. Fun but not too scary. Kids will like it. Dusk to ten, maybe a little later on weekends through Halloween.

“Chills On Chestnut,” 7653 Chestnut Drive, Orland Park – Jennifer Storino is passing on her love for Halloween to her kids. They’ve gone all out with skeletons in their yard set against a haunted hotel scene set up in the garage. Jennifer confesses that they decorate the entire inside of their house, each room having a different theme: the basement is IT; the dining room features the classic movie murderers (Michael Myers’s, Jason, etc); the living room are the classics (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc) , the family room is Wizard of Oz, the bathroom is from the trick-or-treat movie, one daughter‘s room is hocus-pocus, the other is Beetlejuice. The good chocolate will be handed out on Halloween.

Evans Manor, 16260 92nd Ave., Orland Hills – The stately Evans Manor.

14517 Valleyview Drive, Orland Park

Palos Heights

12600 S. 73rd Avenue, Palos Heights — Amy Moustakas' house just glows.

Rolling Meadows

Among the Dead, 2215 Willow Lane, Rolling Meadows – Wow! We love Brooke Benesch’s display. Scary as heck.

Streamwood

Monster Squad Manor, 58 McKinley Lane, Streamwood – This delightful, family-friendly yard haunt boasts 12-foot props, static and motorized props including a giant fire-breathing dragon, predator of the night, a werewolf, spooky skeletons and much more. “On Halloween have a candy chute and of course we hand out an assortment of full size candy,” says Robin Owisiany. Stop by there and do the mash with the monster squad. Lights on every day from dusk until 10 p.m. through Oct. 31.

Tinley Park

The Psycho Path at Nightmare On Ridgefield Lane, 7435 Ridgefield Lane, Tinley Park – We love the throwback Ed Wood-style of the Lateks’ yard haunt. All the props are homemade by Keith Latek and his three sons, including a haunted trail walk-thru. The front yard is family friendly with the option of a scary trail in the side yard. The Lateks are collecting donations for Project Fire Buddies. On Oct. 18, they are hosting a fundraiser for PFB, with the Cremery truck selling scoops and hot chocolate. Undead actors will be selling Project Fire Buddies swag/ Follow on Facebook and instagram @Lights_By_The_Latek’s.

17401 71st Ave, Tinley Park – Carol Maloney loves her neighbor’s Halloween decor and submits these photos taken on her daily walk.

7414 162nd Place, Tinley Park – Scott O’Connor Jr., the Christmas light guy, is putting on a Halloween light display from 5 to 10 p.m. Tune in to 105.7 FM and watch from your car. He’s also taking donations for the Project Fire Buddies. After Halloween, he starts setting up for Christmas.

Reapers Revenge On Ridgeland, 16422 Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park – This is the Deenens' ninth year of decorating in Tinley, and four years before that in Alsip. They’ve added six new props. The biggest hit is their zombie containment machine. Push the button and hope he doesn’t escape.

Hanover Halloween, 7702 Hanover Drive, Tinley Park – This is Eric Schaaf’s debut on the scary yard tour. His haunt is open daily from 6 to 6:15 p.m. through Halloween. Eric, a college freshman, has been featured on the Patch tour o’ holiday lights. His haunt features five 12-foot-tall animatronics and much more.

Wheeling

The Creepy Costantini’s, 438 Marvin Place, Wheeling – The Costantini’s outcreeped themselves with their lit up haunt and creepy organ music. The grave digger talks. Worth a driveby if you find yourself in the northwest burbs.

Willow Springs

Killer House on Kazwell, 109 Kazwell St., Willow Springs – Wow! What a setup. Animatronics and jumping scarecrows will be out all Halloween day. Open now through Nov. 2, dusk to 11 p.m.

Worth

Nightmare on Natchez, 10900 S. Natchez Ave., Worth – This is Mike and Carrie Didier’s tenth year of scaring the hell out of Worth residents. Every year they add something new for visitors to check out. They've become a local hit on Halloween over the years. The haunt features a combination of animatronics, homemade monsters, window hologram displays that run nightly after dark, and even a guillotine that people can take their pictures in. Halloween night, actors will haunt the yard. The display should be up and running by the second week of October. The Didiers hand out a mix of chocolate, fruit flavored candy, and small prizes on Halloween night.