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Check out these spooktacular sites

if you think you have what it takes

BY DIANE GILES
dgiles@kenoshanews.com

    October is the month to try on new personas and new faces (sometimes literally).
The popularity of the Halloween season can be seen on the expanding store displays and shelves. It’s almost impossible to walk through most stores without triggering a howl or blood-curdling scream from some motion-detecting skull and bones gizmo.
    Activities, once restricted to the week preceding Oct. 31, have spread all through the month, and if you’ve got the guts, we’ve got the list of places to visit to get your fright fill.
    Think of all the monstrous scenes from the imagination of Kenosha’s own Dr. Destruction over the last 30 years. That’s how many years it has been since his very first Haunted Bus attraction at Jerry Smith’s Pumpkin Farm, 7150 18th St. (highways L and EA).
    Our favorite ghoul is back on the bus, and is also orchestrating the Haunted Forest Maze, each $3. This year the maze features multiple themes, including a medieval castle, pirates and vintage Halloween scenes. The good ... er, evil doctor says during the day, the maze is pretty mellow, but gets creepier as the night goes on.
Visitors can also catch a showing of “Creature Feature with Dr. Destruction,” featuring really cool monster movies, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7 p.m.
    The pumpkin farm is open noon until 8 p.m. every day in October and stays open an extra hour on Friday through Sunday. General admission is free.
    You want weird? Forget “Eureka” (the Sci-Fi cable series). The greater Kenosha area has more spooktacular fun than a giant bowl of Ghost Posties.

Creepy-Crawling Kenosha

• Cut a rug at the Halloween Masquerade Swing Dance, 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St. Swing dance lesson will begin at 8 p.m. Trophies for best costumed dancer. Tickets are $7 and all proceeds will benefit the theater’s restoration project. For more information, call Ann Greco at (262) 654-3522.
  
  
• It won’t get much weirder than author Linda Godfrey’s presentation on “Weird Wisconsin” at the Kenosha County History Center, 220 51st Place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9. Go early to get a spot; seating is limited for Godfrey’s free presentation on Wisconsin legends, ghost stories, folklore and secrets of our state.
  For information, call (262) 654-5770.
  
  
• Kemper Center, 6501 Third Ave., is lovely by day, but by night it’s the perfect backdrop for a haunting. Kemper’s Halloween Haunted House will run Friday and Saturday evenings, Oct. 12 through 27, from 6 to 11 p.m. The first hour is for the kiddies, with the lights on and creatures that aren’t so scary, but the rest is truly fiendish fun. $7 per person. For information, call (262) 657-6005. www.kempercenter.com
  
  
• Billed as “a musical you can really sink your teeth into,” Lakeside Players’ spooky spoof, “Dracula, the Musical?” by Rick Abbot will run Oct. 19 through Nov. 3, with shows 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at the Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St. Tickets are $15 for adults ($14 on Sunday) and $13 for students and seniors. For information, call (262) 657-7529 or visit www.rhodeopera.com
  
  
• Senior citizens will be putting on their dancing shoes and heading to the Kenosha Senior Citizens Center, 2717 67th St., from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 for a Halloween Costume Ball. For more information, call the center at (262) 653-6260.
  
  
• If you missed last year’s fund-raiser for the Kenosha History Center, don’t make the same mistake again! Jammin’ the Loop II “The Creepy Crawl” will start at 7 p.m. on Oct 20. Ride the bus and trolley to your 10 favorite haunts, for music and fun. Included is a costume contest with a $250 prize cash and gift certificates for Best Male and Best Female costumes.
  Wristband tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the center. (262) 654-5770 or visit www.kenoshahistorycenter.org.
  
  
• The spirts say you can get lost in the demonic maze this year at Tremper High School’s Haunted House, but not forever. Terror time will be 6 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 25-27. Cost is $7 with group rates and discounts for seniors and grade school kids. Best thing about it: it’s completely handicapped accessible. 8560 26th Ave.
  
  

If you’re looking for free family-oriented activities, make plans to attend one of the four events planned in Kenosha for Oct. 27 ...

• There’s Halloween fun in store when the Dinosaur Discovery Museum, 5608 10th Ave., and the Kenosha Public Museum, 5500 First Ave., team up for BooFest, 1 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 27. Go on a scavenger haunt, make a trick or treat bag, trick or treat through the museums, create a “Day of the Dead” puppet, and more. Costumes are encouraged. Activities are appropriate for pre-schoolers and older. For information, call (262) 653-4140 or visit www.kenoshapublicmuseum.org.
  
  
• The Halloween Fest and Spooky Skate will be held at the IcePlex, 9900 Terwall Terrace, on Oct. 27 from 4 to 8 p.m. with games, pumpkin painting and a costume contest. Judging for ages 2-4 will be at 5 p.m., ages 5-7 at 5:30 p.m., and ages 8-13 at 6 p.m. Hayrides are on a first-come first-serve basis from 4 to 8 p.m. and a bonfire and scary stories are from 6 to 8 p.m. For information, call (262) 947-0437.
  
  
• Little ghouls and goblins are invited to the Jelly Belly Munchkin Masquerade, 1 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 27, at the Jelly Belly Center, 10100 Jelly Belly Lane (highways 165 and 31). There will be a decorated tour route, clowns and magic, games and prizes. (262) 947-3800.
  Round up the kids (up to age 12) and head to the Halloween Hullabaloo from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct 27 at the Kenosha YMCA Callahan Family Branch, 7101 53rd St. There will be a costume contest and parade, lunch and lots of spooktacular activities. $5 child YMCA member or $6 child non-member and $4 for adults. (262) 654-9622.
  
  
• And if you make it to the end of the month, “Dracula,” the next in a series of live radio plays performed by RG Productions, is coming to the Kemper Center Simmons Auditorium, 6501 Third Ave. at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:15 p.m.) on Oct. 31. This Halloween night event is the first-ever at Kemper. $5 and will benefit the Kemper Center. (847) 710-2027 or visit www.rgaudioproductions.com.

Western Kenosha County weirdness

• There’s fun for little and big kids at Happ’s Pumpkin Patch, on Highway C just west of Highway 83 in Trevor. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and until 11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There’s a five-acre corn maze, a haunted house, ghouls bus and hay rides. Ride a train that goes through a haunted barn. Activities are $2-$4. (262) 862-6515.
  
  
• You’ll find Salem’s Plot Haunted House right next door to Happ’s. If you can’t find something to raise your fear factor at Salem’s Plot, you must already be dead. There’s six years’ worth of construction with 20 rooms of scares.
  Open Fridays and Saturdays from 6 to 11 p.m. and Sunday 6 to 10 p.m. in October. (262) 862-6515. Cost is $8.50. www.myspace.com/salemsplothauntedhouse
  
  
• Farmer Brown’s Fright Fest on Highway 50, just west of Highway 45 in Bristol, has a 25-minute haunted hayride, campfires (coolers welcome) and for older kids, that Haunted Barn is just the thing to bring on recurring nightmares. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and again at dusk on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (800) 642-9743.
  
  
• A lot less scary and more educational is the Eco-Halloween Hike at Bong State Recreation Area on Highway 142 in Brighton, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Oct. 27. Hike by the light of jack o’lanterns to visit a cast of “Spineless Wonders.” There’s Halloween skits, crafts and games. Meet at Shelter No. 1. A vehicle park sticker is $7 for a day pass for those with Wisconsin plates, $10 for out of state plates. (262) 878-5600

Run amok in Racine

• For more kid-friendly fun, check out Apple Holler just north of the Kenosha County line on I-94. There’s hay rides, animals, corn and hay bale mazes and lots more. Open daily 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Expect crowds on the weekends. (262) 886-8500 or www.appleholler.com
  
  
• If you like those corn mazes, check out Swan’s Pumpkin Farm on Highway H in Franksville. Lots of age appropriate activities are here. Big kids can get the begeebies scared out of them in Wanda’s Spook House and get lost in the Witch Hollow Maze where goblins pop out at you from the cornstalks. For the little ones, there’s a five-acre Corn City, animals, a barrel ride and hay rides.Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. (262) 835-4885 www.thepumpkinfarm.com
  
  
• Borzynski’s Farm on Highway 20 in Racine, about a mile east of I-94, has an amazing maze. Don’t take our word for it, check the aerial map on the Web site at www.cornmaze.com. The Maize Quest theme for 2007 is deep sea adventure. Borzynski’s maze is open 4 to 7 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. But beware, maze ticket sales stop an hour before closing. If you play the game and find all the stations, it will take you take you longer than that to find your way out. Saturdays are flashlight nights. Cost is $8 for ages 12 and older; $6 for kids under 12. (262) 886-2235. www.borzynskis.com
  
  
• It may sound like a soft and cuddly place, but at night keep the little ones away from the Bear Den Zoo and Petting Farm on Highway 164 northwest of Waterford. There’s lots of cutesy fun during the weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with animals and hayrides, but at night the dreadful sounds from the Haunted Woods are enough to give you the willies.The cost is $7 for adults, $6 for children, and the hayride is $5. The Haunted Woods is open 7 to 11 p.m. and costs $12 for adults; $10 for ages 11 and under. (262) 895-6430 or www.beardenzoo.com.

Gruesome Gurnee

It’s thrills by day and chills by night at Six Flags Great America’s Halloween Fright Fest. Bring the little ones in the daytime for kid-friendly fun, ’cause when the sun goes down, they turn up the terror. Hate waiting in line? Try spinning the Wheel of Fright, where guests have the chance to win front-of-the-line access by eating gruesome treats like cockroaches, crickets, nightcrawlers, Rocky Mountain oysters and firey hot peppers. New this year is the creepy Coffin of Fear where you can lie in a coffin filled with meal worms — remain in the coffin for a minute and win a prize. Fright Fest runs weekends Oct. 6-28. $54.99 general admission, $34.99 children (under 54 inches), free for children 3 and under. Check online for great deals at www.sixflags.com. (847) 249-4636.

Ghastly Grayslake

The Legendary Dungeon of Doom Haunted House at Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, Ill., is sure to hit the top of the macabre meter, so leave the kids under 12 at home. Witness the Slaughterhouse and “Skinned Alive” (Yish!) only two of the new terrors this year. The 30-minute walk through is sure to give you a pure adrenaline rush. Cost is $14 with coupons on the Web site, www.dungeonofdoom.com. (262) 553-9003.

Nightsalking in Naperville

Pay a visit to the Village of Fear in Naperville, Ill., for a more historical themed haunting, but again, leave the kiddies at home. The Naper Settlement, a historic museum village, is putting on the howl for Halloween, transforming the 13-acre settlement into the Village of Fear from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 26 & 27. Sinister characters spring to life from the pages of 19th century gothic horror novels and from gory headlines of long-ago newspaper articles. Beware of the Headless Horseman galloping around and for Lizzie Borden, who will be on the prowl, ax in hand. Cost is $9 (630) 305-5555 or visit www.napersettlement.museum.

Milwaukee mayhem

• It’s the 13th year for one of Milwaukee’s scariest haunts, the Mars Haunted House, located near the Allen Bradley Tower on the second story of a 19th century commercial building. Not for the faint of heart. The maze, with nearly 30 rooms, is kept as dark as possible with pitch-black sections. There’s a good story line with this one. Don’t worry, the creatures will help themselves to your lost friends. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 7 to 11 p.m. and in addition on Oct. 18, 25 & 31. Special deals for myspace.com people. Free parking. Cost for adults is dults, $10; brave-hearted kids under 10 , $8. (414) 384-7491 or visit www.marshauntedhouse.com
  
  
• Wisconsin State Fair Park’s Hauntfest in West Allis is back at it again with Killy Killmore’s Fear Factory, a two-floor terror where gore and ghoul meet. Event runs Oct. 5-7, 12-14, 18-21, and 24-28. Doors open 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Friday; 6 p.m. on weekends. They open earlier for “lights on” kiddie tours ($5), but you’ll want to go visit in the dark for the full effect. Got guts? Tickets start at $15. Got bucks? Go RVIP tickets for $20. If you buy online, expect to pay a $3 handling fee, but you go to the head of a long line. Other deals on the Web site, www.interactivegames.com/hauntfestwi.
  
  
• Then there’s the Milwaukee County Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 19 & 20. Little ones will love the Halloween maze, colorful crafts and not-too-spooky movies. Return on Oct. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m., or on Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and you can joint the safari of trick-or-treating and ride the ghost train. (414) 256-5412. www.milwaukeezoo.org
  
  
• No scary tricks, just lots of treats at the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum’s annual Not-So-Scary Halloween from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 25-28. Located at 929 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee, the event has fall crafts, puppet shows, Halloween family flicks and pumpkin patch. Free with regular paid admission. There’s also the Little Monster Bash — a costume dinner party and dance for kids and adults from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 26. Tickets run between $12-$15. Reserve tickets (a must) by calling (414) 390-5437, ext. 240.

Chicago Chiller Thrillers

It’s a trip to see Chicago’s boo-tification at Daley Plaza Oct. 12-31. Chicagoween’s free haunted village and spooky storytellers are sure to send icy shivers down everyone’s spine. Plus at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 and 2 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and extra shows of 5:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, there’s performance of the high flying aerialists Midnight Circus. Check out the “Think Wicked: Do Good, Go Green” tent with environmental ideas and surprise visits from Broadway in Chicago cast members of “Wicked.” There’s also the State Street Halloween Happening Parade on Oct. 20, which kicks off at noon at State and Randolph. www.cityofchicago.org/specialevents.