The fog machine needs a refill. High winds damaged the killer phantom. The attack spider is glitching.

There’s always something to do when you run a popular haunted house. Or in James Schiffer’s case, a haunted front yard.

Every fall for the last 14 years, the Downers Grove resident spends roughly 250 hours assembling “Schiffer’s Halloween Insanity.”

The bloodcurdling shrieks and scenes of horror make for a can’t-miss attraction on otherwise quiet suburban Williams Street.

A demonic attack nun. A creepy antique hearse that once held a dead body. An eerie vortex tunnel with a nasty surprise.

Surprisingly, Schiffer didn’t grow up devouring Edgar Allan Poe or “Friday the 13th.”

“I’m not a big horror movie guy,” he said.

Instead, he became a convert after volunteering with the Lombard Jaycees Haunted House at age 18.

“I got addicted,” said Schiffer, whose commitment stretched to building a

spooky swamp for the Jaycees.

“It held 4,000 gallons of water. It was heated and the haunter was in it all night long and there was a bridge. It was great,” reminisced Schiffer, who owns a swimming pool business.

“Once you get involved you’re stuck for life.”

Last week, Schiffer offered a behind-the-scenes peek just before twilight. “This is the witch area, this is the cemetery, we have five different zones,” he said.

If he had to choose a favorite exhibit, it would be the 140-year-old hearse where a wooden coffin can be seen through the antique glass.

“We build some (exhibits), we buy some. Some we buy but we modify to make it work for us,” Schiffer said. “If you think it moves — it moves.”

One display features a ghastly, chain-saw wielding clown menacing a bloody butcher shop.

“The butcher shop comes and goes. One year, it’s a butcher shop. Next year, it’s an alley, or a doctor’s office,” Schiffer explained.

One of the most popular displays guaranteed to freak out anyone who’s seen “The Exorcist” is a towering nun with a ghastly visage.

“The nun was one of our first full-sized props,” Schiffer says fondly.

Supernatural powers, however, are not enough to keep the haunted house going, so Schiffer’s wife, Melanie, and kids, Robert, Clara and Elizabeth, all pitch in.

“Every night we have to set up the fog machine, repair anything that’s broken from the night before, and fix all the wind damage,” Schiffer said.

During a quick tour, the couple answered questions and assessed the haunts.

“Elizabeth, do you want to plug this in?” Schiffer asked.

“Oh, we got to fix that wing,” Melanie Schiffer remarked.

The Schiffers also have staged elaborate Christmas displays, but the Halloween vibe is special.

“We just love Halloween,” Schiffer said. “All of it. It’s upside down. It’s different.”

“There are 4-year-olds that will stand in awe, and just stare at it. They don’t know whether they’ll like it or hate it. And we have 40-year-olds that scream and run across the street and hide.”

Visiting “Insanity” is free but donations are accepted for the People’s Resource Center in Wheaton.

“We do it for the community,” Melanie Schiffer said.

Asked if he believes in ghosts, Schiffer hedges his bets. “I’ve never seen one but I’m not going to say they don’t exist.”

Does anything scare him?

“Heights bother me,” Schiffer admitted.

“Halloween Insanity” is open from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; and from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, at 4113 Williams St. For more information, visit facebook.com/schiffersHalloween.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251030/news/nightmare-on-williams-street-suburbanite-raises-goosebumps-on-his-home-turf/