Monday, October 31, 2011
Show off your pumpkin-carving skills by posting your photos on Patch.
If you're anything like me, Halloween is that one time of the year that you don't mind being up to your elbows in, well, goop. Have you carved or decorated your pumpkin? Whether it's happy, scary or silly, we want to see it! Do you have pictures of other Halloween decorations that you want to share? We want to see how you're celebrating the season! Log in to add your photos to this story or email them to cristel@patch.com and we'll share them with the Patch community.
When Halloween comes to an end, how do you use your pumpkins?
Many people roast pumpkin seeds, which can make a tasty and healthy snack. What else do you do with your leftover pumpkins? If you have a recipe for a pumpkin dish or a unique seed-roasting technique, or a suggestion for disposing of a pumpkin other than placing it in the trash, please share it in the comment section below.
Scenes from a resident's decorated yard.
Jeff Berman is a Buffalo Grove trustee, member of the Metra Advisory Board and, as Patch reported last year, among the village's biggest Halloween enthusiasts. Berman and his family continued their tradition this year by decking out their home for Halloween, complete with a haunted playhouse and graveyard. He shared these photos today with Buffalo Grove Patch. Do you know of another home that deserves the spotlight for its Halloween decor? Share your photos with the community by logging in and clicking the green button below.
The following recording was made by Patch as we followed a team of paranormal investigators studying the Country House restaurant in Clarendon Hills.
Patch has been working on a series about haunted venues in the Chicago area. As part of the series, I followed a paranormal investigative team that was studying the Country House Restaurant in Clarendon Hills. Team members from All City Paranormal have been sending me audio recordings that they have identified as electronic voice phenomena (EVP), after concluding that the voices on the recordings did not belong to anyone on their team. In the recording attached to this story, you can hear Jim O'Connor, co-founder of ACP saying, "Let's get this thing going." Lisa Jahnke, the other co-founder, can be heard saying, "Wanna sit, sit at the bar?" The two whispers that follow have been identified by the team as an EVP. To me, it sounds like two …
A suburban restaurant is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who died after an affair gone wrong.
The Country House in Clarendon Hills is known in the Chicago area for its burgers, but it’s also known for something else. “I took a ghost tour once, many years ago, and one of the stops was this restaurant,” said Diana LaPointe, who has been a longtime patron of the restaurant. Lynn Banks, the restaurant's manager, has worked there for 29 years. She said in that time she's frequently felt the sensation of being watched. "I've seen shadows go by, and you go look and nobody’s there besides you," said Banks. "We’ve had customers that have made comments, especially about the women’s bathroom. They’ll be in one stall then they’ll hear the other one open and close, and they’ll see a shadow or something, but nobody else is in there.” Because of …
Scary night at Indian Trails Library is all in good fun.
Some very scary characters — a couple of witches dressed in black, a (toy) sword carrying character wearing a Jason-style hockey mask and a faceless fantom clad in black from head to toe — warmed up for Halloween Friday night at Indian Trails Public Library. It was all in fun as 23 children turned out for the library’s Teen Late Night Halloween bash. And while most of the creatures appeared younger than teens and the 7 p.m. start time seemed early, not late, it didn’t appear to bother any of the kids. They all partied while painting small pumpkins, fashioning black tombstones from construction paper and munching on sugar cookies and candy corn. And they capped the evening by noisely lining up for a costume judging contest, which was won by…
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Indian Trails Public Library
355 Schoenbeck Rd, Wheeling, IL
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Patch’s Little Pumpkin Costume Challenge with Heidi Klum needs your entries now.
Which kid in America has the most creative Halloween costume in the pumpkin patch? That's what we intend to find out with your photos and the help of celebrity judge Heidi Klum, who will select the grand-prize winner. The grand prize? Patch will whisk the winner to New York or Los Angeles for a three-day, two-night trip for two that includes a meet-and-greet with Heidi, plus a donation of $1,031 to a local charity of the winner's choice. (The donation amount is based on Halloween's 10/31 date. Creative, huh?) Nine runners-up will also get a $1,031 donation from Patch to a local charity of their choice. Entering is easy. Just upload a photo of your kid, age 12 or younger, in his or her Halloween costume. Entries must be made by the parent …
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Garlic might keep a scary Halloween vampire away, but how do you escape the 24/7 news cycle?
The Patch Sunday comic.
Stale candy can make for a sour story.
Is there anything better than braving Chicago’s chilly fall weather to trick-or-treat and come home with a bucket brimming with candy? When I was a kid, I consistently lucked out with trick-or-treating. Regardless of the weather, my bucket was always filled with a good assortment that struck the right balance between good candy and trinkets. There were always a few duds, like those awful strawberry candies no one actually likes and the hard taffy that almost always pull out a tooth. But the hits were many, including handfuls of Snickers bars and bags of M&Ms that would keep us fat and happy for weeks. But the real fun was in looking for — and eventually receiving — the best treat of them all. Now, this treat would vary every year. Perhaps …
Friday, October 28, 2011
Paranormal activity has been spotted on numerous occasions along Cuba Road near White Cemetery in Barrington.
Have you ever driven down Cuba Road in Barrington and thought you saw something out of the ordinary? Even ghostlike? You aren’t alone. Dozens of people have claimed to see ghosts and other paranormal activity along Cuba Road, specifically around White Cemetery. The so-called haunted cemetery dates back to the 1800s, and its past is teeming with spooky legends. Chicagoland ghost researcher Dale Kaczmarek explains the paranormal activity associated with this spot. “There are a lot of old local legends associated with the cemetery, first of all, including one that was actually started in the 1960s by a Palatine school teacher of a hooked spirit, a man with a hook, that’s been seen out here. It’s an urban legend, it’s nothing more than an …
Cristel Mohrman
1:13 pm on Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Great decorations, Amy! Thanks for sharing these pictures! more ›