Chicago’s Best Halloween Pop-Ups

eATLAS has collaborated with the scariest museum in Chicago, the Medieval Torture Museum, on the free “Are You Brave Enough?” Adventure. Visit six spots in the Loop that are believed to be haunted due to the tragedies that happened there. Completing the Adventure awards you 25% off admission to the museum.

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

Chicago’s signature adult Halloween party, Jack’s Pumpkin Pop-Up, returns to Goose Island. Enjoy the city’s largest corn maze, food trucks, three bars with themed cocktails, axe-throwing, and carnival games. With plenty of colored lights, decorations and more than 10,000 pumpkins, Jack’s offers photo opportunities throughout.

Bucketlisters has taken over two bars for the season. In the first, Wrigleyville’s Stolen Saddle has been transformed into Nightmare on Clark St. A general admission ticket gives you a drink and 90 minutes at what is billed as an “over-the-top, immersive haunted house experience,” with five spooky cocktails. The VIP package adds a second drink, a Jello shot, and a souvenir cup. 

Secondly, West Loop indoor mini-golf bar Puttery has become Frankenstein’s Mad Scientist Cocktail Lab. In addition to cocktails with names like It’s Alive and Electric Jolt, the menu has taken on a macabre feel – wings tossed in a green jalapeño-lime sauce or a burger served with a ketchup-filled syringe. Go on Halloween, when you can win $100 cash in the costume contest. 

Also in West Loop, WNDR Museum, where art, science, and technology meet, has two installations. During the day, Pumpkin Lights & Playful Frights is geared towards families, toning down the scary in favor of riddle-solving to earn a treat, 150+ lit jack-o’-lanterns, and a station where kids can create tote bags with pumpkins. On weekend nights, The Masquerade Heist is built around the idea that a priceless artifact is missing and clues to its location are found within the museum’s installations and galleries.

Those pop-ups run through the Halloween weekend and beyond, but some are one-night only events. On Oct. 25^th, Chicago Loop Alliance is throwing Lurking in the Loop, a bar crawl featuring 13 establishments, including The Berghoff, Palmer House Hilton, and Emerald Loop. All have created a different spooky theme, from haunted Chicago (Hoyt’s Royal Sonesta) to the Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (Petterino’s), with drink and/or food specials. Register at Eventbrite.

That same night, I|O, the rooftop at the Godfrey in River North, takes on an Egyptian vibe. Filled with tombs and treasures, Curse of the Nile includes a cemetery-themed labyrinth, blood-red popcorn, and a charcuterie board served with a skull. 

This weekend, head up to Lincoln Park for a pair of trick-or-treating afternoons. The Spooktacular runs along Lincoln Ave., from Webster Ave. to Diversey Pkwy on Oct. 25^th. Stop inside Lincoln Common (2345 N. Lincoln Ave.) for a pet costume contest, face-painting, and caricatures. The next day, the fun shifts to Clark St. from Dickens Ave. to Diversey Pkwy. More than 90 businesses will be participating between the two days, with many offering discounts on products, services, and foods. 

On the Far North Side, American Blues Theater’s family-friendly Halloween Boo Bash on the afternoon of Oct. 26^th includes a costume contest, pumpkin-carving and painting, scary stories, and trick-or-treating. A $35 ticket to the event supports the small theater company, a 40-year-old institution with a national reputation for producing original and well-known works that explore what it means to be American. 

The Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce has two events. On the evening of Oct. 29^th, the Ravenswood Costume Crawl brings together 18 bars, shops, and restaurants on Ravenswood and Montrose Avenues for three hours of snacks, tasting pours of the breweries and distillery on Malt Row, and discounts. After, head to Demo Brewing Company for a costume contest. 

A couple of days later, on Halloween, the inaugural Montrose Monster Mash allows kids to trick-or-treat at 25 shops on Montrose, with discounts available at six (including a ghost-shaped pie at Chicago’s Pizza). 

Gold Coast sports bar Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the Chicago Bears’ lone Super Bowl triumph for Halloween with Da Coach Lookalike Contest. The person who best resembles Mike Ditka – presumably with a bushy mustache and Bears vest – will win a $500 gift card. While there, try the Devil’s Burger, made with Jake Melnick’s four-pepper XXXX hot sauce, or the Resurrection Mary wings, named after the spirit who reportedly haunts Archer Ave. 

Continue the festivities on Nov. 1 with the Halloween Bar Fest. Get one more day from your costume and visit six of Navy Pier’s bars, including Harry Caray’s Tavern and Margaritaville, for drink specials from 2-7 p.m.

Please remember to check all websites for full details regarding tickets.