115 N. Central Street, Gilman, IL

Tweet Share on Tumblr

Gates of Delirium is a new pay haunt that first opened in 2011. Located in Gilman, IL, it is about 90 minutes from the south side of Chicago, so it might not be one everyone's list if they live in the city. However, if you are looking for some quality scares and well done scenes set in a creepy atmosphere, it is well worth a trip down, especially if you can combine the visit with some other haunts in the area, such as the Dungeon of Terror in Mazon, Abyss in Channahon, St. Pat's in Kankakee, or even the Haunted Barn in Godley.

Overall, Gates of Delirium offers several things, including one of the only haunts we know of to featuring carpeting throughout. Additionally, the haunt has a drop ceiling that allows the walls to fully enclose visitors. These two elements combine to give the feeling of actually being in a real house, particularly in the living room and dining room scenes. The carpet serves to increase the homelike feel as well as to deaden the ambient sounds, which adds to the atmosphere and allows actors to more easily sneak up on visitors.

The actors are all top notch, with great costumes and makeup, and they all seem to enjoy what they are doing. This enthusiasm pays off in creating a more realistic haunt atmosphere that left the Tourers seriously creeped out, even when nothing was happening. Again, although this haunt is a bit of a hike, it is well worth the trip as it provides significant bang for the buck, and costs about half of what similar haunts do up north.

year: 2011
tourers: bryan, Paul, laura
costs: $10
chainsaws: 5/5

2011 was the first year for Gates of Delirium so none of the Tourers knew what to expect. The haunt is located on the main drag in Gilman, which is a small town in Central Illinois. When we approached the haunt, the street was practically deserted, which added to the creepy feeling before we even entered. Upon entry, we briefly stood in a recption room like area until we were escorted in.

The first sight that greeted us was a long dark hallway. Actors popped out from hidden panels as we walked along, and one cool thing was that we could see through a "window" into the living room set, which was the next room we entered, as though we were approaching from outside - a very nice touch of realism.

The living room featured a zombie looking for food. Rather than just walk towards us, he came up to each of us and sniffed us, as if assessing our worth as a meal. This same level of actor engagement greeted us in every room, from the redneck cannibals to the crazy butcher, to the insane doctor, all of the actors we engaged and excellent in their characterizations. One particular room featured a ghoulish ringmaster putting his acts through their paces - his wolfman appeared to break through his cage and rush at us, only to be restrained by his chains.

The feel of a real house was heightened by the carpeting and the ceiling inside the haunt, which muffled sounds and made for a "cozier" atmosphere, which made the scary parts even creepier as they hit closer to home (no pun intended).

Overall, this experience was excellent and one we were glad to have had. We made a point of putting Gates of Delirium on our list for 2012 and beyond.

---

photos

---

year: 2012
tourers: bryan, paul, laura, lisa
costs: $10
chainsaws: 5/5

2012 proved to be another great year for Gates of Delirium. We were eagerly anticipating this haunt and it did not disappoint us. Although we would have been fine with the same setup as 2011, we were pleasantly surprised to find that some things had changed inside the haunt, which made it even more interesting.

For starters, the large waiting room area was gone, and in its place was a small lobby entrance. This made room for more of the actual haunt. The living room set was larger, and instead of a zombie, it contained a creepy old lady rocking a baby in a chair (which we had to look at for a while to see it was not a live actor), and a seemingly dead younger woman on a burned out couch. Again, the carpeting deadened the sound and made it look like a real living room - a nice start to the visit.

The long corridors were still present, complete with multiple pop out windows and panels, and a bathroom scene was added which contained "live" cockroaches moving on the walls, and a very stinky toilet - perhaps a little too much realism there!

The doctor with the missing eyes was still there. This was one of the good scenes from 2011, so it made a welcome return. Additionally, the cannibal redneck were present, as was the demon butcher. All of the actors were excellent as usual.

Also new this year was a creepy funeral scene. This is one where the carpet and ceiling really accentuated the creepiness factor for us. To the right was a closed coffin and at the organ sat a nun with her back to us. We suspected a pop out from the coffin, but wondered about the nun - she sat completely still until we passed, then lunged silently at us - her face was a blank doll's face and her silent movement really gave us all a good scare. This was one instance where we knew the actor was going to do something from the moment we walked in and it still got us - that's the mark of a great haunt!

The ending was also extended, with a small dark maze outside and a psychotic chainsaw-wielding clown at the end, complete with high-pitched squeaky voice. This clown remained in character even when he was walking back to the front, taking the time to scare Lisa (who remained in the car) on his way to the entrance.

Unfortunately Paul's camera dies halfway through, but at least it gives us an excuse to return in 2013! All in all, one of the top haunts of the season for the Tourers.

---

return to haunt list