Svengoolie Crashes the Roe Conn Halloween Party!

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I left work early last Thursday to attend the Roe Conn Halloween show in Frankfurt, Illinois. For those unaware, Conn is a well known, Chicago-based talk-radio personality who’s hosted national shows for over two decades. Although I’ve been familiar with his voice since back in his “Roe & Gary” days, I saw him for the first time at last year’s Halloween show  which was at the same venue, CD & Me. Of course my attendance was based on the return of their special guest, Svengoolie, whom I hadn’t seen in almost a FULL week since Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street. Talk about a dry spell! If only I could figure out a way to declare all my Sven-chasing gas mileage at tax time.

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Elgin’s “Nightmare on Chicago Street” 2016!

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There was still sunlight when I arrived at the Elgin Safe Zone for their annual Nightmare on Chicago Street this past Saturday evening. This year I’d be attending alone as most of my friends were back home watching the Chicago Cubs play in a historic baseball game that would see them heading to the World Series for the first time in over seventy years. Under those circumstances, their absence was understandable…and what better reason to skip a zombie Apocalypse than for the possibility of watching Hell freeze over instead? In my world, however, the Nightmare on Chicago Street IS the World Series and there was no place I’d rather be.

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Chicago Botanic Garden’s Unforgettable “Night of 1,000 Jack-O’-Lanterns!”

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During a recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden, my friend Elizabeth and I noticed they were planning a special Halloween attraction that neither of us wanted to miss out on. Their “Night of a 1,000 Jack O’ Lanterns” promised guests a cornucopia of expertly carved pumpkins they could peruse after hours during one very special weekend. It was their first year doing something like this and Elizabeth was immediately captivated while I (having attended Roger Williams Park Zoo’s amazing Jack O’ Lantern Spectacular) remained cautiously optimistic. After all, New England’s premier Halloween event is unlike anything I’d ever seen in the Midwest (or anywhere else for that matter) before and I’d praised its grandeur on both this site as well as a 2012 issue of Scary Monsters Magazine.  Sadly, my chances of seeing it again and somewhere between slim and none. The other Terror Dave works there and as his responsibilities around that event increased, my October visits came to an end. For the last several years my admiration of JOLS has been relegated to cell phone pictures he’ll send me every once in awhile. Needless to say, the notion that Chicago was now doing something like this seemed too much to hope for.

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Great America Kicks Off Fright Fest!

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An old friend of the Terror Daves offered us a sneak peek at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. I’ve never done it before and had always wanted to see what the fuss was about it. Needless to say, I couldn’t refuse her offer.  We arrived around 6:30pm on a Thursday night and the sun was just starting to set. After ninety minutes on the road we saw the park’s familiar sky tower, clutched by King Kong.

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Svengoolie Returns to J.J. Blinkers!

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It was a beautiful sunny day this past Sunday and not unlike the last time Svengoolie visited J.J. Blinkers in Antioch, Illinois. In fact, it was just over five years ago when the national TV horror host descended upon the trick shop like an atomic rubber chicken; blasting all turnout expectations in an unforgettable visit the locals still talk about to this day. Mere minutes from the Wisconsin border, Antioch would be inundated with fans while providing them with fun embellishments such as complimentary gift bags and Svengoolie-style treats. By the time it was all over, the village wouldn’t know what hit them and Rich Koz would prove himself to be one broadcasting legend whose popularity only seemed to grow stronger with age. The question surrounding his latest appearance wasn’t if he’d bring in the crowds but how the store was prepared to handle them all?

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