Like all of society, it seems, Halloween has grown on me.
I used to do the basic decorations — pumpkins and a scarecrow, for example — and was never into dressing up unless I could put on boots and a hat and call myself a cowboy.
My home’s unfinished lower level changed all that when I realized just how much fun it would be to turn the elongated hall and those rooms coming off of it into a haunted basement.
Which got more elaborate over the last few years as I realized the pleasure I received from scaring the holy heck out of all the grandkids.
This year, with the help of a few good men who love to use chainsaws, we’re taking this now annual event outside and turning the wooded area in the backyard into a Haunted Forest.
More work, yes. And I’m on my knees each night praying for no rain and a cloudless night that would take advantage of what meteorologists predict will be a mostly full moon.
So I really do get Carrie and Jason Lever, the Aurora couple who make my scare efforts look like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
You may remember the Levers from this summer when I wrote about how they turned their front yard into a huge waving flag for the Fourth of July.
Jason Lever loves Independence Day. But he loves this time of year even more.
When the couple met in 2011, he quickly informed Carrie that Halloween was by far his favorite holiday. Sure enough, two years later they were throwing parties in their Aurora home that featured a haunted house in the living room.
Halloween grew quickly at 2509 Biltmore Circle.
Around 2016, the annual haunt moved outdoors to claim the Lever’s entire front yard. The main event: a fully-functioning and covered haunted castle, which now includes a fierce dragon that not only moves but spits fire as it sprawls menacingly across the tower of the Medieval fortress.
Jason’s inspiration: The dragons at Universal theme parks.
“On one visit I thought, our haunted castle needs a fire-breathing dragon,” says the Fox Valley contractor who loves to combine his artistic and engineering skills. “I started experimenting and researching and found I could build one with propane, plumbing parts and components from grills and fire pits. It uses the same basic building blocks, with electronic controls that decide when the gas is released and ignited.”
The project took a lot of testing to get it right, he adds, with safety, including shutoff valves, as “part of the design from the start.”
This Halloween extravaganza — all designed and custom built, complete with computer programming for special effects — is obviously no small effort. Jason began upgrading the dragon in April, and the couple started putting the display — made mostly of plywood and foam — together the beginning of September.
Her husband has worked an estimated 200 hours on it alone, notes Carrie, who’s in charge of decorating and gathering the props for each haunted room.
There’s also plenty of help from friends and family, including the Lever’s two college-age kids, Lucas and Olivia, who have come home almost every weekend to help mom and dad get their Halloween act together.
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“Jason would love to quit his day job, get a warehouse and turn it into a haunted house,” says Carrie. “One day I’m sure he’d love for Disney to call and say, ‘come design for us.’ It would be his dream job.”
In the meantime, the couple are members of the Chicago Haunt Builders, a large and growing group of Halloween enthusiasts who create spectacular haunted house experiences at their homes, then publish a map with addresses so people can enjoy these elaborate displays.
Last weekend alone, Carrie tells me, more than 400 visitors went through Biltmore Haunts, which is open 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween. Guests, of course, have included their neighbors, which gives her a chance to “catch up” with everyone and see how all the “kids have grown” over the years.
Speaking of which: A portion of donations visitors can make go toward a mental health nonprofit, with this year’s funds benefiting the JED Foundation that focus on teen mental health.
The entire project really is a labor of love, and one that Carrie is convinced can’t get much larger. Then again, we’ve all seen how Halloween has grown way beyond pumpkins and porch lights.
“Jason joked about extending it into the backyard, but that’s not going to happen,” she tells me … then quickly adds, “Well, I don’t know. We will see.”