Patch's Best 2026 Halloween Yard Haunts: Lake and McHenry Counties

LAKE-McHENRY COUNTIES, 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 2026, created by some of Chicagoland’s most imaginative and demented exterior decorators.

Given the scary yard tour’s history of breaking the internet, we have organized the 2026 list by county. So click on the link for the list of scary yards near your house and buy a few gallons of of regular unleaded. Unless noted, most yard haunts are now up and shocking their neighbors, so you’re not wasting gas at $4.65 per gallon. Support your neighbors who are blowing up their electric bills.

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 Patch 2026 Tour of Scary Yards.

See what other counties are doing:

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

LAKE COUNTY

Kitty's Bone-a-Palooza, ON THE GREEN BAY TRAIL just BEHIND 1356 St. John’s Ave., Highland Park—Dolly Parton is working 9-to-5 in Kitty Fishman's boneyard. Now double the size and in its sixth year, her over-the-top skeleton display has become a fall favorite for families, nannies with strollers, and cyclists cruising Highland Park’s Green Bay Trail (Robert McClory Path).

This isn’t your average front-yard décor. Kitty stages dozens of life-sized skeletons in hilarious, spooky—not-scary—scenarios—walking the dog, hula-hooping, skateboarding, barbecuing, crocheting, playing baseball, soccer, golfing with eyeballs, or even a contorted game of Twister. You’ll also spot a full skeleton band, swimmers splashing in an inflatable pool, and old ladies in curlers using a walker or taking out the recycling. Tots love playing with the barbecuing skeleton’s toy food.

Lake in the Hills

Massacre On McKinley, 4 McKinley St., Lake in the Hills–This ever-growing, ever-changing yard haunt is a full walk through with five scene boxes, a circus tent, cemetery, rotten pumpkin patch and an enclosed tunnel.

Bones Cove, 1048 Lake, Libertyville–Bryan Slowic has been burying bones in his yard since 2021. It’s all hand-built (except the skeletons), and has spooky music and a fog machine. They’ll be handing out traditional candy bars on Halloween.

McHENRY COUNTY

Algonquin

Dark Chapel, 1490 White Chapel Lane, Algonquin – Fans of the haunted Westbury Manor and Cemetery in Algonquin will now find mastermind Darren Rich’s yard haunt at a new location, now named Dark Chapel. He's brought all his spooky decorations and creepy animatronics along. Rich's yard haunts have been haunting Algonquin for eleven years now. It's been picked as Algonquin's spookiest house twice now. The yard haunt will remain open until 9:30 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, through Halloween.