McHenry County offers up variety of Halloween experiences this weekend

In this spooky season, here are some of the standout experiences in McHenry County, beginning with performances of Halloween at the Woodstock Opera House at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and 31, starring Joe Diamond, named America’s Greatest Mind Reader.

He has crafted a unique show entwined with the Woodstock Opera House itself, and the first night’s audience will be sworn to secrecy to not spoil the mind-based “experiments” at the second performance on Halloween night, he said in an interview.

After selling out a show in late winter at the Opera House, plans for something totally different for the Halloween season began to materialize.

The first half of the evening will be mind reading with people picked at random, in which interesting things happen, the Woodstock native said.

“The second half [features] more spooky, paranormal-related stuff for Halloween,” Diamond said. “[For these,] I’ve … always incorporated the history of where I am. The Opera House is the crowning gem of all kinds of history – spooky and otherwise.”

He’ll talk a bit about Elvira, a former actress said to haunt the venue.

“I found some other history about the place that not as many people know about that kind of led into surprising areas of the second act,” Diamond said.

It’s exciting for an artist to create something that has such an ephemeral shelf life, crafted specifically for the venue, he said.

“I can’t wait for people to finally see it,” said Diamond, who developed his curiosity for everything from ghosts to crop circles thanks, in part, to a great-grandmother who taught him to read tarot cards, and a childhood fascination with mind-bending TV shows such as “The Twilight Zone.”

He did theater improv at a young age, finding it useful for his style of performance designed to make all those TV shows and books real for his audiences.

“When you actually put someone through their own ‘Twilight Zone’ experience in real life, that was very appealing to me,” Diamond said. Visit woodstockoperahouse.com.

The Nothin’ Up My Sleeve Halloween Magic Show stars multiple performers at 3 p.m. Oct. 29, preceded by magic in the lobby of the Raue Center For The Arts in Crystal Lake. “We’re thrilled to have Nothin’ Up My Sleeve return for its 18th year,” said Meredith Schaefer, Raue’s director of marketing and institutional advancement. “Their spooky Halloween magic show is a great family activity for a fun-filled weekend. Featuring Wizzo, Plaz, Chezaday and Circus Boy, [it’s] produced by [hosts] Glenn Chelius & Nino Cruz – they always put on a great family show.” Visit rauecenter.com.

Sew Hop’d Brewery throws a Costume Party with prizes from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 28 in Huntley. “Get ready to show off your creativity, scare factor or just have a blast with friends as we celebrate the Halloween season in style,” invites the brewery on its website at sewhopd.com/events.

An annual Halloween Walk embraces two communities: from 11 a.m. to noon in Cary and 1 to 2 p.m. Oct. 28 in Fox River Grove. A trick-or-treating parade by the Cary-Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and participating businesses will be led by Miss Cary-Grove. The chamber offers details and the route at carygrovechamber.com.