The other day I promised fifty pictures sampling some of the great costumes seen at this year’s Nightmare on Chicago Street but, as a special Halloween treat I’ll be giving you closer to sixty! So grab a bowl of Trick or Treat candy and see why this is our favorite holiday!
I no sooner said goodbye to the ladies of Midnite Mausoleum before earning myself a speeding ticket trying to zoom back east for Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street. If you’ve ever attended one of these in the past than you’d understand my exuberance as well as all the hyperbole I’ve used to describe it over the years; both on this site as well as in the latest issue of Scary Monsters Magazine.
Picture several city blocks created to look like a zombie apocalypse; complete with militia roaming an undead “Safe Zone” while garnering inspiration from their own macabre Uncle Sam; national TV horror host, Svengoolie. You can’t blame me for making this my favorite stop during the Halloween season, nor for having a led foot while trying to get there.
In this regard, I’m far from alone. Now celebrating its fifth year, Nightmare on Chicago Street has fast become Chicagoland’s premiere Halloween experience with last year’s attendance reaching over 12,000 people!
While Horror Host, Svengoolie, and his predecessor may have christened Berwyn, Illinois as the epicenter of Chicago horror, that title has since been challenged by the city of Elgin. We’ve discussed their local Acme Design (who’ve carved their own Sven-legacy by creating his new coffin and MeTV set) as well as their annual Nightmare on Chicago Street . Now they can add yet another notch to their horror belt courtesy of local author & illustrator, John LaFleur and David Metzger! 8 Little Zombies is a scarier take on the classic children’s story, 8 Little Monkeys and one that us genre fans would enjoy reading to the little monster kids in our own lives (assuming you want to raise them right, of course). It’s a fun book with amazing artwork and even a forward written by the aforementioned Svengoolie himself!
As sun went down, the energy level rose and everyone knew that Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street had officially begun. One of the featured acts, “The Rocking Dead,” took to the stage as the streets were soon filled to capacity.
Hey gang, I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are looking forward to another year of horror, science fiction, super heroes, and monsters! I’m gonna kick off 2015 with a series of posts on an event that took place during the last Halloween season. Okay I know that isn’t very “New Year-ish”but I felt this story deserved to be looked at carefully and required some time that my Christmas (or Krampus had I been a local here in Elgin) season just didn’t allow. So let’s enjoy these ‘dead of winter’ days (with Dead being the operative word) and discuss an occasion that, while always amazing, is unique each year. Just curl up and forget those sub-zero temps that are plaguing a good portion of the US right now and go back to a much warmer evening WAY back in 2014.
Ah, it seems like only yesterday…
Conclusion to the 2013 Nightmare on Chicago Street…
Feeling a bit awkward, I made my way up the stage and starting snapping photos of Svengoolie addressing The Nightmare on Chicago Street crowd. I later learned there were nearly 7,000 people out there which, had I known at the time, would have me a nervous wreck! Elizabeth Haney was determined to capture a Sven’s eye view of things and the last thing I wanted to do was let her down. Seeing the immense crowd really brought home the full power Svengoolie had on my fellow fans. Sven cracked a joke about it being so cold he was glad he had his iphone because he’s “freezing his apps off” and the conest began…
Terror from Beyond the Dave 