Carol Stream couple offer Halloween haunts with yard display

CAROL STREAM – There's no shortage of things that go bump in the night at 371 Canyon Trail.

The address is home to local couple Jim and Dawn Slanker, who have built a bevy of Halloween haunts in the yard of their Carol Stream house.

The display includes 30 animatronic props and 50 pumpkins. Among its highlights are a spider infestation scene with insects that drop from the trees and come out of wood crates to spit at visitors; a witch that rises into the air; and corpses crawling from their graves.

But it all started with a single ghost.

“We didn't set out to have something quite this big,” said Dawn.

The pair always had some yard décor for Halloween, but in 2006, Jim was looking online for ideas and came across a concept for a floating animatronic ghost in a crypt. The rest is history.

“Everyone loves it,” Dawn said, adding that their neighbors are supportive of the annual show. “They can't wait to see what we're going to do next.”

The setup gets bigger every year – new in 2014 are two pumpkin creatures that stand 10 and 12 feet tall, respectively, and a stone facade layered over the front of the house, complete with stained glass windows and skeletons crawling the siding.

However, Jim specified that for he and his wife, Halloween is about providing a healthy spook – not terrifying visitors with over-the-top gore.

“It's just a fun time,” he said.

All told, the display requires about 150 hours to assemble. Jim, an IT project coordinator for UPS, typically takes the last week of September off work to prepare the decorations.

He and Dawn's anniversary is Sept. 27, and they usually spend it together, getting the yard ready for Halloween. Jim handles the mechanics, while Dawn does the artistic finishes.

“It's fun to bounce ideas off each other,” she said.

The duo also get inspiration from their creepy cohorts at Chicago Haunt Builders, a local Halloween enthusiast group, of which they are both members.

Once the display is up, the props run from dusk to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and dusk to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, through Halloween night.

This year, Jim and Dawn expect 1,200 trick-or-treaters – they give out full-size candy bars – and about 3,000 visitors total on Halloween.

During past seasons, spook seekers sometimes felt compelled to compensate the couple, so they encourage anyone who would like to do so to donate nonperishable foods for the Northern Illinois Food Bank via a drop box coffin in the yard or to leave cash or checks for the Dalmatian Rescue of Illinois.

For them, Halloween is about creating an opportunity to meet the community and give local kids a little fun.

“We're adding to the memories, their fond childhood memories,” Dawn said.

---

If you go

What: Slanker family haunted yard display

Where: 371 Canyon Trail

When: Any time today (animatronics start at dusk)

Cost: Free, donations to the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the Dalmatian Rescue of Illinois are accepted