4937 W. 25th Street, Cicero, IL
Year: 2014
We will say up front that cicero's Town Hall of Horrors is a difficult haunt to get into. There are often very long lines, and you need to get there before they open to ensure you get a ticket and don't have to wait a long time in line. That being said, however, we will say it is worth the wait as the haunt is an excellent one that combines great sets, eerie lighting, smoke effects, and some crazy actors to make a very fun experience.
We first started going to the Town Hall in 2012, and we loved it, so we made a point of making sure to visit each subsequent season. We enjoyed it more each year, and 2014 was our favorite year of all (so far). The haunt changes up every year and 2014 was no exception. This year, the haunt started out immediately with a very creepy funeral scene, where visitors were forced to walk around pews and past an open coffin in order to get to the next area. This immediately set the mood and told us that this was going to be a good haunt. Following this, we were treated to a really creepy scene of a figure of a little girl eating a headless corpse that was propped up against a door. Due to the strobe lights in the area, we were unable to immediately tell if the girl was an actress or a prop. She was a prop, but the scene was done so well that it was hard to tell! Other great sets and scenery followed, including walls made out of coffins, a giant wooden bridge next to an indoor waterfall that had a large creepy figure standing alongside of it, a temple setting of some kind with hooded figures and flying animatronic demons lit by strobes, a workroom filled with various realistic body parts and a lot more. In fact, there were so many cool sets that we found ourselves looking forward (with some trepidation) to what was coming up next! In addition to the great set design, the lighting and the fog were done very well, and added to the creepiness factor as we walked through the haunt. There was just enough lighting to make it atmospheric, and just enough smoke/fog to make it seem haunting and otherworldy. If there hadn't even been any actors inside the haunt we'd have loved it anyway, as the sets were excellent just on their own. They were original and detailed, and kept you wondering what was coming around the corner. There was even an entire 3D section inside the haunt itself as an added bonus. |
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But there were also lots of actors inside the haunt, and many of them gave some excellent performances as well.
Our favorites included the crazies in the basement, who were playing patients in an abandoned psych ward. There was a big guy banging a pipe on the ground, just waiting for us to enter his domain, and there was even a guy hanging from the pipes above our heads. They played their parts well, and one of them even followed us all the way down the hallway only to whisper to us as we left, "don't come back!" It's little touches like this that really make performances stand out.
Special mention must also be given to the guy hiding behind a curtain in a bloody bathroom scene. As Cicero's Town Hall is held in an abandoned town hall building, many oft he sets are in actual rooms, including a real bathroom. The entire room was covered with blood, and while we admired how well the scene was set, a crazy looking actor came out at us from behind a curtain, acting as if he was pleased with some gruesome handiwork that he'd just done. We was quietly menacing, and his placement in the bloody bathroom was inspired.
We also loved the crazy actor who greeted us just before we entered the white maze. Long time Horror Tourer readers will note that we don't like white or dark mazes, as they often wind up being exercises in frustration, making you feel your way around just to find the exit. However, Cicero's white maze was very well done. The strobe lights were blinking just enough to make the maze seem distorted, but not enough so that you lost sight of the actual floors and walls. Thus, we were able to navigate with little trouble while still experiencing the oddness of the area. And added to that was a live actor dressed as a patient of some kind, who greeted us with a cackling laugh as we entered, then followed us through the maze, sometimes laughing and sometimes not. We felt him behind us the entire way, and he even followed us into the next area, pointing the way and laughing loudly before disappearing back to where he came from. It was an understated performance, but one that made us laugh and creeped us out at the same time.
Overall, we'd highly recommend Cicero's Town Hall of Horrors. It's one of the most enjoyable haunts we've been to, and we can see why there are long lines to get in. It's easily a 5 chainsaw haunt, and in 2013 it made it into our hall of fame. We're happy to say that it repeated that feat in 2014 as well!
NOTE: Not only does Cicero have a great haunt, they have some good wait entertainment n the form of a DJ and some great Mexican food as well. Some of this year's food was provided by Nando's - they had some great authentic Mexican items at very reasonable prices, so if you're looking for a good meal with your haunting experience, look no further!
Our favorites included the crazies in the basement, who were playing patients in an abandoned psych ward. There was a big guy banging a pipe on the ground, just waiting for us to enter his domain, and there was even a guy hanging from the pipes above our heads. They played their parts well, and one of them even followed us all the way down the hallway only to whisper to us as we left, "don't come back!" It's little touches like this that really make performances stand out.
Special mention must also be given to the guy hiding behind a curtain in a bloody bathroom scene. As Cicero's Town Hall is held in an abandoned town hall building, many oft he sets are in actual rooms, including a real bathroom. The entire room was covered with blood, and while we admired how well the scene was set, a crazy looking actor came out at us from behind a curtain, acting as if he was pleased with some gruesome handiwork that he'd just done. We was quietly menacing, and his placement in the bloody bathroom was inspired.
We also loved the crazy actor who greeted us just before we entered the white maze. Long time Horror Tourer readers will note that we don't like white or dark mazes, as they often wind up being exercises in frustration, making you feel your way around just to find the exit. However, Cicero's white maze was very well done. The strobe lights were blinking just enough to make the maze seem distorted, but not enough so that you lost sight of the actual floors and walls. Thus, we were able to navigate with little trouble while still experiencing the oddness of the area. And added to that was a live actor dressed as a patient of some kind, who greeted us with a cackling laugh as we entered, then followed us through the maze, sometimes laughing and sometimes not. We felt him behind us the entire way, and he even followed us into the next area, pointing the way and laughing loudly before disappearing back to where he came from. It was an understated performance, but one that made us laugh and creeped us out at the same time.
Overall, we'd highly recommend Cicero's Town Hall of Horrors. It's one of the most enjoyable haunts we've been to, and we can see why there are long lines to get in. It's easily a 5 chainsaw haunt, and in 2013 it made it into our hall of fame. We're happy to say that it repeated that feat in 2014 as well!
NOTE: Not only does Cicero have a great haunt, they have some good wait entertainment n the form of a DJ and some great Mexican food as well. Some of this year's food was provided by Nando's - they had some great authentic Mexican items at very reasonable prices, so if you're looking for a good meal with your haunting experience, look no further!