13155 forestview lane, crestwood, il
years: 2010-2012
Frightmare on Forestview is a fantastic yard display/home haunt. The Tourers were quite shocked when visiting in 2011 to read a sign right up front that stated after many years of operation 2011 would be it's last as hundreds of dollars worth of masks were stolen during the night from off the property after it was set up early on. When we arrived the display was somewhat dark and the home haunt was only partially completed. Despite this, there were many things to look at in the front yard, static displays of every kind - even though the masks were missing, we could what most of them were - from a beheaded Michael Myers to a beheaded Pinhead. The setup was so well done with so many things to look at that we couldn't help feeling sorry for the owner.
We saw the owner looking out of the windows as us, probably wondering if we were going to steal something off the display. After a while, though, he realized we were genuinely interested and came out to talk to us.. Paul started talking to the owner to find out more of what happened and his enthusiasm and passion for this haunt was very high, and we just felt so sorry that a one-time incident would cause him to lose his zeal for something he loved doing for so many years. He told us that he had over $700 worth of masks taken right off of his props - the thieves just took the heads right off. Thus, 2011 was going to be his last year, which was really sad to hear, as the display looked really good. The owner told us he also had his garage all set up for a walk-through but he was not going to even bother as all this happened right around the time he finished setting up. Well, after talking to us for a while, he realized how much the Horror Tourers appreciated all the time and effort that went into such a haunt, he decided to take us on a tour of the home haunt part within the garage - and once again, Paul's prodding paid off. The garage was not operated as intended, but he took us through it and told us how he planned everything out - many more things to see there, and normally this would include live actors - one of our favorite static props was a Regan (from the Exorcist) which you would only notice if you looked up as her head was turned and she peered down at you while hanging from the ceiling. All in all we were very pleased with this haunt and were even more pleased that when we returned in 2012 - even though they said it was their last year in 2011 - that they were once again open for business. Maybe our appreciation for all that went on was part of the cause of them continuing as we know we have been for some other haunts out there - but this one is definitely worth making the trip for - check them out if you are in the area - or make it a point to even if you're not! |
|