Because Halloween is on a Thursday, many haunted houses in the region have already closed. But that’s no reason to give up on spooky season just yet.
The Normal Theater has a range of scary flicks on tap through Halloween, starting with several chances to see Hocus Pocus, including on Halloween night. The 1993 favorite among Gen Xers immortalized Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Bette Midler as an iconic coven of witches. Arsenic and Old Lace runs Monday at 7 p.m. There’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, long debated by Halloween and Christmas movie buffs (this writer is in the Halloween camp, but why not both?!?) Then there’s the original 1994 version of The Crow, marking a breakout for Brandon Lee, the son of martial artist Bruce Lee.
Bloomington-Normal’s resident flute choir plays Halloween arrangements for their next concert, dubbed Frightfully Flutey, Wednesday evening at the Bloomington Public Library. Monster Mash and The Addams Family in four-part flute harmony? Yes, please.
For a fun, healthy Halloween twist, visit the Destihl Brewery and Beer Hall for a themed version of their regular Candlelight Yoga. Drop the kids at home with their stash and head over for spooky savasanas and chilling chaturangas. Costumes are encouraged — provided you can move in it! Bring your own mat.
For a DIY Halloween-y adventure, Facebook group Holiday Decorations in BLONO is a go-to for planning a driving tour of the area’s most over-the-top Halloween houses. Be sure to plug a stop at Rader Family Farms into the GPS. The last big day at the farm has already passed, but you can stop by throughout the week to shop — and grab a dozen or five of their famous pumpkin donuts.
If outdoor activities are more your jam, this week is peak leaf peeping season in Central Illinois. Best bets for fall foliage include Merwin Nature Preserve, Moraine View State Park and the trails near Sugar Grove Nature Center. Don’t forget to explore around town. Constitution Trail is looking gorgeous. So are both of Bloomington-Normal’s college campuses. Illinois Wesleyan University’s quad is bursting with fall color. And be sure to check out Illinois State University’s Fell Arboretum, off Main Street north of Gregory Street.
For those willing to venture off the beaten path, McLean County has two genuine ghost towns. Ten miles east of Bloomington is Bentown, home of the Twin Groves Wind Farm. Nearby is Benjaminville, a village founded by three Quaker families in the 1850s. They constructed a meeting house in 1859 and waited for the railroad to arrive. It never did. The town was abandoned and rendered a ghost town in 1870, but the meeting house and burial grounds still stand.
And just off State Road 54, near West Township is Kumler—supposedly a barren lean-to with a sign you honestly have to see to believe. That is, if you can find it.
How ever you celebrate spooky season, Happy Halloween from WGLT.
