Small Haunted House Offers Big Scares

From the blackened walls to the jail cell to the oversized gargoyle, the haunted house in a garage in English Meadows offers a good local scare. It opens for business starting tomorrow.

Five teenage friends have been planning and building the haunted creation since September, and have invested a total of nearly $300 in it. The creators include Matt Walker, 16, Nikki Sparks, 20, her brother David Sparks, 18, Daniel Linsenmeyer, 16 and Wiley Posner, 17.

"I like building it and and I like scaring people," said Matt Walker.

The small but scary haunted house is at the Walker's garage, 1414 Lancaster Court in English Meadows. It will be open Saturday, Oct. 29 from 7 p.m. until the crowd thins out and then again on Halloween, Monday, Oct. 31 from 4 to 8:30 p.m.

"We all love Halloween," said Nikki Sparks. "Our aunt and uncle have a Halloween convention in Chicago with actors from horror movies, like Freddie Krueger, so we've been raised with it."

The show is the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention. The kids take some of the ideas from that show and bigger haunted houses, and translate them down to a local level that still provides big scares.

"This is our biggest one and it gets bigger every year," said Daniel Linsenmeyer.

David Sparks, who plays the scary fictional character Michael Meyers from the Halloween slasher films, added, "We change things every year to keep the kids guessing."

The setup is impressive and includes many unique features.

"The kids do a great job!" said Sue Walker, Matt's mom. "It is amazing what they can do."

"Each of us gets their own room and does their own thing," said Wiley Posner.

When Matt was asked how many kids come through the haunted house each year, he said, "We only keep track of the criers. Last year, we had 21."

This year, they hope the crowd will be even bigger.

"It's Halloween," said David. "Everyone is entitled to a good scare!"