It all started in 2008. What started out as a small Halloween project turned into a community driven operation that brings in all kinds of people in. In Roselle, Illinois, the Walsh family turned their front yard into a spooky graveyard of terror. Having three large weather-proof tents, large enough to fit two cars in, set in front of their home, the Walsh’s provide a free haunted attraction that is fun for the whole community. There is no admission fee and the only request when coming to visit is to bring canned food items to donate to the local Bloomingdale Food Pantry.

Opening night is usually every October 1st at 6pm and until the end of October, it is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 6-10pm. This year, the three tents have three different themes: The Walking Dead, The Exorcist, and Saw. Each tent has their own props, mannequins,  and actors to make the scary theme come to life and the setup process is not the easiest.

“It’s a lot of work,” says senior English Literature major, Brittany Walsh, “but it’s a lot of fun [too.]”

Starting September 1st, the Walsh family starts to set up the “home-haunt” and it usually takes them four weeks to fully set up everything. From the garage tents, to the props, and the electronics, there is a lot to be done and a lot of the materials used in the attraction are found in Walgreens, Spirit, and garage sales. The props and decorations used in the tents are so good that the people visiting ask to buy them. Sorry folks, but they are not for sale.

Trilogy of Terror started out as a small decoration theme around the house with pumpkin displays and due to Halloween being a favorite holiday and the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Walsh’s wanted to do something bigger. So they decided to set up a larger and more scary decorating technique and it turned out to be a huge success. After the positive response of the first-time attraction, they decided to keep going and it first turned into an every other year thing, but now it is an every Halloween tradition and the community loves it.

The neighborhood and community gets involved in the process too. They not only attend, but they also help set up and dress up and act out some of the characters in the displays.

“The community loves it. A lot of people come out,” says Brittany.

The amount of people who attend increases each year and now people from all over Illinois come to Roselle to experience the scariness for themselves. Trilogy of Terror is very scary. It is not a designated place for children to come to due to the horror content of the themes and tents.

“It’s really scary,” Brittany says about the level of terror. “There’s not not nice and cutesy things. It’s scary.”

Even if it is really scary, it brings the community together and gets everyone involved. It also bring a lot of traffic to the suburbs but it is very popular in the community and “every weekend feels like Halloween.”

Trilogy of Terror and the Walsh family have gotten a lot of recognition over the past few years. Along with being on TV shows, radio shows, and the Wall Street Journal, they have had Redbull come and hand out free cans of Redbull to every guest attending.

For more information on Trilogy of Terror, follow the Facebook page Trilogy of Terror or contact Amy Walsh at 630-347-7704.