Patch's Best 2022 Halloween Yard Haunts: DuPage And Kane Counties

DuPAGE-KANE 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 2022, 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 2022 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.

This year, your Patch editors will be selecting the best decorated yard haunt and awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to the winner.

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
• Lake/McHenry County
• Will/Kendall/Grundy County

Check out these slick yard haunts in Lake and McHenry Counties:

Aurora

Apparitions of Aurora, 301 Cane Garden Circle, Aurora – Brian Skwarek was on our list last year with a “ghostbuster” theme. This year, he’s changed it up to feature apparitions (we think we saw an apparition once during a Grateful Dead concert), including a 12-foot-tall skeleton, tombstones and so much more. There will be live actors dressed up on Halloween walking around the yard and driveway to scare the trick-or-treaters, dishing out candy to kids and adults. The adults need to have some fun too, right? Lights will be on from dusk to 10:30 p.m., later on weekends, through Nov. 5.

2102 Whitethorn Drive, Aurora

2495 Westchester Court, Aurora – The theme of this haunt is witches and skeletons. Luz also has three custom-made tombstones.

New! 1293 Yellowpine Drive, Aurora – If you're looking for something different to do this weekend, stop on over to see holiday lights come to life. The Aurora Symphony of Lights will run from 6 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. each night through Halloween. Tune your radio to 89.9 FM to hear the accompaniment to the flashing and synchronized lights.

NEW! 1838 Capri Drive, Aurora – We love the 12-foot-tall mummy and the skeletons bellying up to the bar who can’t pay their liquor tax.

NEW! 2712 Lundquist Drive, Aurora – Andy Bolbot has two window projections, several large animatronics, a bleeding coffin, black lights, and several speakers playing creepy music and sounds to prank the neighborhood kids. Yard is lit dusk to 10 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Nov. 6.

Bativia

NEW! Hocus Pocus, 636 N. Batavia Ave, Batavia – This delightful, kid-friendly haunt features animatronics and talking/singing characters. The display can only be seen by the bike path, approximately one-third of a mile south of Fabyan Bridge. It is an easy walk from either downtown Batavia or the Fabyan estate.

NEW! Braeburn Cemetery, 1360 Lundberg Ave., Batavia – Evan Paton found out about the list from his neighbor. His haunt includes scented fog and a 13-foot-tall Pumpkin King that rises up every five minutes. The yard haunt operates 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, through Halloween.

Bartlett

NEW! 242 S. Park Place Drive, Bartlett – This scary yard should be up and running. We love the monsters in the window.

Bensenville

The Haunting On Dolores Drive, 905 Dolores Drive, Bensenville – This award-winning walk-thru haunt features moving and static props, projectors and great photo ops. Lights are on from dusk to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Carpentersville

The Boo House, 3704 Pinecrest Drive, Carpentersville – Julie Roimiser’s must-see Halloween attraction offers a spooky graveyard, zombie invasion, witch’s party and a pumpkin patch. The yard is lit up from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Downers Grove

Duncan's Haunted Manor, 2308 College Road, Downers Grove – Come and see what enchants you, from ghosts and witches to pumpkins – the Duncan family has it all. Open daily from 6 to 9 p.m., weather permitting, through Halloween.

Elburn

NEW! KAMME-O-CIRCUS, 1128 LIBERTY DRIVE, ELBURN – Kamme-O-Circus is celebrating its 20th year which started in 2002 with 6 tombstones, 2 strobe lights and a fog machine. Since then, Mike and Ann Kothhe have continued to expand, and for the past 7 years has offered a full-blown haunted maze/house free of charge. Last year, the circus took third place in a contest for Illinois yard haunts. The themes change yearly but the core is/has always been around clowns and jesters. “We take the safety of those brave enough to venture into the maze seriously and as a result we are permitted by the village of Elburn, certified in crowd control, and approved by the fire marshal.” This year, the theme is a fun house. The Kothes have upped their game and added three towers for display purposes. In addition, the circus is accepting donations for Spirit Children, whose proceeds go to the Shriners. Expect strobes, lasers, fog machines, motion sensors, cameras, and a bunch of animatronics. The haunt has been known to get around 1,000 people that show up on Halloween, and Mike and Ann enjoy every minuted of it.

Elk Grove Village

Terror in the Court, 91 Shelley Court, Elk Grove Village – This spooky yard haunt includes seven animatronics, a variety of skeletons, a pet cemetery, and fog and lights to provide an eery ambiance. A walking path allows you to enter the graveyard and walk around the entire display.

Gilberts

Greenbriar Cemetery, 49 Greenbriar Drive, Gilberts – Matt Nausid’s yard haunt has everything your spooky heart desires, featuring static props, animatronics, coffins, a pirate scene with a ship and cannons, holograms, fog, thunder and lighting, music and frights around every corner. The haunt is free and donations are always welcome. Greenbriar Cemetery won Gilberts' scariest yard haunt award in 2021. During Halloween weekend, Oct. 28 through Oct. 31, there will be a full walkthrough where looky-loos can hunt down zombies and other creatures with Nerf weapons. Matt will also have a hearse and the local fire department coming out to show off the fire truck to all the guests.

Lombard

680 N. Lombard Ave, Lombard – Don’t mess with Texas in the Michals Family’s corner-lot haunt at Lombard and LeMoyne Avenues. The all homemade decor features eight different scenes and 10 characters. Highlights include Michael Myers, Alice Cooper, the entire Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 family, zombies, an electric chair, and one angry hockey goalie. Look for the most spooky Halloween decor on LeMoyne.

GRACE STREET GRAVEYARD, 629 N. GRACE ST., LOMBARD — Laura and Jason Sasinka do a family-friendly yard display with some moving parts. Dusk to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and dusk to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. This year. The Sasinkas are accepting cash donations for Almost Home Foundation. Trick-or-treaters can enjoy a variety of snack size treats including Snickers, Baby Ruth, Butterfingers, Hershey, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Kit-Kat, Skittles, Starburst and Twizzlers, all mixed together in a candy bag.

Naperville

Tumpack Halloween Haunt, 4355 Pine Lake Drive, Naperville – The Tumpack yard is full of scary surprises luring trick-or-treaters to the front door. The yard has multiple themes, so there is something for everyone. This year, the Tumpacks are one of only 300 homes in the entire country who are dedicating their yard displays to Skeletons for St. Jude. Many of the decorations are animated. All proceeds go to St. Jude’s Research Hospital for Children. The yard is live every night from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Learn more or make a donation to Tumpack Skeletons for St. Jude.

Eternal Unrest Cemetery, 1728 Paddington Ave., Naperville – Back on the tour for a second year, Kristin Rafferty and her boyfriend, Jim Groat, have gone to the extreme. This haunting spooktacular features La Haunted Pumpkin Patch, River Styx Ferry of the Dead, and an intricate graveyard, with eerie lighting and fog machines. New this year are 10 motion-activated animatronics and five 12-foot-tall monsters. “Our candy is stellar. We have a wide variety of all the popular candy brands.” Lit from 7 to 10:30 p.m. through Halloween.

Haunted Arcade, 2129 Countryside Circle, Naperville – Patrick Mueller contacted us in July about getting on the scary yard tour. His haunted arcade was a huge hit last year, featuring free arcade games, spooky retro music, and lights and fog. The free crane game in the middle dispensed candy. He’s working on some ideas to expand it.

NEW! FOG BOTTOM SWAMP, 225 RIDGEFIELD LANE, NAPERVILLE — Wanna buy some swamp land? The Prendergast Family has created a swamp house that stands 13 feet tall and 15 feet wide. A Cumulus fog machine pumps low-lying fog that hugs the ground. On a light wind day, you can traipse through the swamp. Naperville needs a swamp, especially one with a disco. The Prendergasts have added some new features this year, including singing pumpkins, a pneumatic scissor arm on a motion detector, a vortex tunnel and a few more spooky tricks. In cooperation with their fantastic neighbors, the yard haunt opens Oct. 19 from 5 to 9 p.m. every evening, weather permitting. The weekend before Halloween, the fog will be pumping all day.

NEW! 2417 Trilium Lane Naperville — Adorbs cemetery adorned with little kid-friendly inflatables. Nothing too gory. On Halloween Eve the house will be lit up with jack ‘o lanterns, a video display, sounds and fog.

NEW! Scary Tale Land, 116 Bridgewater Court, Naperville – Few people realize just how grim the Grimm Fairy Tales really were. Perched on the border of DuPage and Will Counties, the Kurtz family has nine different fairy tales represented along with other scary decor. There is a path through the front yard to the porch filled with animatronics, and setup in the dining room that is visible from the porch windows. It’s open every day and night in October. Try not to get pushed into an oven by a witch.

1563 Selby Rd, Naperville – James Herr’s neighbors have been telling him for years to get on the list. This yard haunt is bathed in blue light with creepy figures in the shadows. Yard is lit from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Stop by during the day for a look, too.

Winfield

Silverwood Screams, 0N461 Silverwood Court, Winfield – There is plenty to scream about at Kevin Bastian’s Silverwood Screams.

Woodridge

8327 Chelsea Land, Woodridge – Zombies and spiders attack this cute little house in Woodridge. Darkness brings out the spookiness.

NEW! Apparition on Adbeth, 8341 Adbeth Ave, Woodridge – Pirates and witches – oh, my. Lots going on this yard, including a cemetery, to name a few. There is a garage display as well.

Apache Cemetery, 2301 Apache Lane, Woodridge – This special, immersive yard haunt includes 40-plus Home Depot and Spirit Halloween animatronics, including strategically placed jump scares. You have to see it to experience it. Open Oct. 28, Oct. 29 and through Oct. 31 (but not Oct. 30 because the creator has to leave time for school). Member of Chicago Haunt Builders.