Perry Farm park, 459 n kennedy drive, bourbonnais, il 60914
years: 2004-2012
We are rating this haunt a 2 out of 5 as adults, because if you are an adult and go to this, the overall experience is just not that great.
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On the flip side, however, if you are bringing children this is one of the best haunts to take them to. It is extremely family friendly, and is loaded with activities including games and a kid friendly movie. The cost varies depending on what you are wanting to do. For example, around 2010 they added a hayride. We took the hayride around the park, and while it was a good length for a hayride (about 25-30 minutes) in 2010 they just rode around the Perry Farm trails. I (Paul) suggested they add haunters to the trail as there is plenty of space, and in 2011 they did just that. Now the fact that this was now a "haunted hayride" does not mean this was scary, in fact it was very kid friendly.
Along with a couple lumbering zombies, whom everyone laughed at, they even had Gullom (from Lord of the Rings) and a psychotic Mickey Mouse - both stayed in character and were hilarious. You also have the option to buy some refreshments throughout this event, including for the hayride. In the last few years, they also started offering a live play, which we have not paid the extra money to enjoy. On top of the games and face painting, they have also offered various haunted houses over the years. These were not as kid friendly as the rest of the activities.
Earlier in the decade they offered a haunted tent, which had a coffin when you entered which contained a female vampire who popped up and scared visitors, and a white-face room as well as a clown room. This was also an additional price, and was not very long, but if you were already there making a night of it - it was OK. I would rate that a 3 out of 5. In 2010 they had an outsider put up a haunted house that was in addition to the Night in Sleepy Hollow, and not part of it, but in the same location - this was a bunch of wooden posts holding up black cloth sheet to form a maze on the grass and it was $10.00, I got in line when they were running, but having watched them when they were setting up I was pretty sure what it would have looked like on the inside, without actually seeing it (most likely was just a bunch of long black corridors with a few teens here and there with just basic white make up on and jumping out and saying "raarrr" at visitors). Also, it seemed to offer very little if any props (again just from my observation of the setup) and I could see a lot of the few haunters that were there were frequently stepping outside of the maze and just talking to their friends. Thus, I decided not to pay the $10.00, I forgot the name of this haunt, but while interviewing during setup I found out they the people responsible for this haunt did have another local haunt they used to run a few years back so they should have had experience enough to do a better job - as it was this haunt made it's appearance for one year only.
They have not had any other haunted attractions since this one, other than the (now) haunted hayride and the main event! The main event is where the "A Night in Sleepy Hollow" gets it's name, you are taken on a tour through the woods by a guide and stop at various locations to be told segments of the Sleepy Hollow story, and after several of these you will finally make your way to the headless horseman -riding an actual horse. Again, this is very entertaining for children, so if you want a family friendly event, make a night of this one with the kiddos - check the website for pricing and events as they vary from year to year. If you want to try some other haunts in this area you can visit the scarier St. Pats Haunted High and travel a little further south to Gates of Delirium. Again, I totally recommend this for kids, but for adults if you want to see a headless horseman check out Forest View Farms Haunted Hayride.
Along with a couple lumbering zombies, whom everyone laughed at, they even had Gullom (from Lord of the Rings) and a psychotic Mickey Mouse - both stayed in character and were hilarious. You also have the option to buy some refreshments throughout this event, including for the hayride. In the last few years, they also started offering a live play, which we have not paid the extra money to enjoy. On top of the games and face painting, they have also offered various haunted houses over the years. These were not as kid friendly as the rest of the activities.
Earlier in the decade they offered a haunted tent, which had a coffin when you entered which contained a female vampire who popped up and scared visitors, and a white-face room as well as a clown room. This was also an additional price, and was not very long, but if you were already there making a night of it - it was OK. I would rate that a 3 out of 5. In 2010 they had an outsider put up a haunted house that was in addition to the Night in Sleepy Hollow, and not part of it, but in the same location - this was a bunch of wooden posts holding up black cloth sheet to form a maze on the grass and it was $10.00, I got in line when they were running, but having watched them when they were setting up I was pretty sure what it would have looked like on the inside, without actually seeing it (most likely was just a bunch of long black corridors with a few teens here and there with just basic white make up on and jumping out and saying "raarrr" at visitors). Also, it seemed to offer very little if any props (again just from my observation of the setup) and I could see a lot of the few haunters that were there were frequently stepping outside of the maze and just talking to their friends. Thus, I decided not to pay the $10.00, I forgot the name of this haunt, but while interviewing during setup I found out they the people responsible for this haunt did have another local haunt they used to run a few years back so they should have had experience enough to do a better job - as it was this haunt made it's appearance for one year only.
They have not had any other haunted attractions since this one, other than the (now) haunted hayride and the main event! The main event is where the "A Night in Sleepy Hollow" gets it's name, you are taken on a tour through the woods by a guide and stop at various locations to be told segments of the Sleepy Hollow story, and after several of these you will finally make your way to the headless horseman -riding an actual horse. Again, this is very entertaining for children, so if you want a family friendly event, make a night of this one with the kiddos - check the website for pricing and events as they vary from year to year. If you want to try some other haunts in this area you can visit the scarier St. Pats Haunted High and travel a little further south to Gates of Delirium. Again, I totally recommend this for kids, but for adults if you want to see a headless horseman check out Forest View Farms Haunted Hayride.