# Raven's Grin Inn � Mt Carroll, IL



## dawnski

Very cool. Is there a link to the article you can post?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Thelittle "Magazine" is published by: Sauk Valley Media
3200 E. Lincolnway
Sterling, Ill.61081

There is no on-line features that I can find for this, sorry.


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## Jake

Thought this would be Emperor Palpatine...


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*It "Pays!"*

To pay attention to those coming through your Haunted House or your displayed yard.
Recently a young man returned with his new girlfriend because she had never been here before. As soon as the group got to the dark, possibly scary part of the house I was ready for him. He's a nice guy, but once he gets to this part of my house he must become somewhat .scared"?
His fright manifests itself as he becomes sort of "Rammy". Since he has been here many times, he knows where a certain hidden door is so when he pushed against it rather quickly with strength, I was leaning against it with my shoulder. If I had been mentally "Coasting" he might have slammed it open smacking me pretty hard...against some part of my body.
Later when he let out a loud scream it did scare HER! (And I think that was the point of him screaming like that), since he has been here So Many times!


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## Muffy

Gym, 

I love the stories of patrons that come through your place!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Muffy, we saw quite a mix of people here today and tonight. One small but important "Victory" tonight was when a stuck-up "Pretty " girl was exiting her boyfriend quickly whispered to me ( "I'll be back.")


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*"October" was Here Tonight!*

"October" is a tiny baby girl. Her first name is "October!" They call her "Toby".
She went through Ravens Grin tonight with her two Parents (First time visitors-all!)
Toby remained alert and awake for the entire house tour , only just once becoming slightly "scared" from an unexpected loud noise, but did not cry.
Her Parents had been headed home to Wisconsin, they were almost 100 miles South of us when the Dad realized we were (sort of) on their way home!
He saw us on-line with a 4.9 rating (of a possible 5)
As everyone was at the ticket window the couple were having trouble getting into their car until they realized it was not :Their Car!" It was my Wife's car!
When the house tour was concluded and they were walking to their car, my Wife was waiting to see their reaction to the sign she had placed on it that said:
"Correct CAR!"
(The two cars resemble one another but one is a Nissan, the other a Toyota?)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*I was buying some Lunch...*

Ready to go out the door when a young man came in, carrying his small child. He stopped talked to others and myself.
Then he said."I have been meaning to tell you this for a couple of years now. After my Dad's funeral when the family came through your house,.. at first I couldn't "get It", why we would be doing that? But when the house tour was over, and everyone was "different", happier, more relaxed, we all came together and it was a great thing! Thank you so very much!"
He was still shaking my hand. His Father was a native of this town (older than me) he had served in Vietnam, he was a very popular teacher at this school, teaching History, everybody liked him, I considered him a friend and an obvious wealth of knowledge.
His humor was laced with irony.
My Haunted House tour is a funny time for most, laughter is a common sound here.
I was fine on the drive home. At my own door it overwhelmed me, I got "Choked Up", Overwhelmed by the feelings, the feelings that "I" merely doing what I have done for so many years , that it could ever do such a service for such people, people overcome with grief, people in mourning.
This revelation just added a whole new positive feeling, to go with the other feelings of just whimsy and silliness.
Helping such as those in the saddest of possible situations as life hands us....I felt like I got some kind of a "promotion!"
This felt like the ultimate compliment! (To be always Treasured.)


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## Dinobuzz

Such a nice story! Things like what you do, is so worth while, especially when you hear what an impact your creation has had on others! WTG!!


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## scareme

That was so nice of the man to share that with you. I hear so many stories on here about people who were effected by someone's haunt, but it seems they never told the haunter. This guy was nice enough to tell you now, so you can feel proud about making others feel good. Good job Jim.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Many yrs, ago a couple of young Policemen came through my house. About a couple of months later the one was waiting at a landing strip waiting for the owner of an Ultra-lite, he wanted to fly it, maybe buy it.
Becoming impatient he flew it before the owner arrived, crashed it-Died!
His Family came out from the East Coast for his services, then all came through my house because he had really liked the house tour.
This "Village" sees a few tourists. Sometimes they are relatives of elderly people who have recently died. They would come through here , I might make a joke about a coffin, and nobody would laugh, But Nobody Told Me why they were in town! Sorry.
I have been on both sides of this, I much prefer the "Side" described in my first post, of course!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Ravens Grin, busy this weekend*

And much fun for me, Jim! We saw quite a few "First Timers" who really seemed to be very appreciating of my efforts here.
The night's last tour was heavy with our past employees coming here for sort of a "tour". there were so many non-employees there that we actually had some private time to yak.
Our employee, "Hecktor" inspired me to come up with a few new things, i had him laughing too!


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## Muffy

Gym...you are so lucky to have that halloween thrill all year long! Hope you have a really good Halloween season this year!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Tonight-Sept. 26 --16*

A young couple came here (newbies)
Not long after they entered the first room she said that I had made her cheeks hurt (from laughing)
I asked her to clarify which cheeks?
Which then made her cheeks hurt more!
(Odd how pleasure /pain are sometimes traveling companions?)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I had a call this morning, a young woman asking if we had strobe lights here?
No we don't. She is epileptic and of course can not handle strobes. She said every haunt she called uses strobes.
Gee? This must mean that I don't have a "Real" Haunt? (But when the door knob turns and no one is there, a woman screams in the next room at 2AM and no one is there, and electrical devices turn on and off by themselves, and people see a Lady in a long white dress appear and disappear and Orbs get photographed in the Wine Cellar, and a voice calls your name, all inside an 1865 Inn that has had quite a "History", well? What can you say to convince some people then?
I can talk for hours about the Haunted History of this house and none of it is "Fiction".
... but then, a great "Chunk" of this little town is also "Haunted"...........


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## annamarykahn

gym, you do tell wonderful stories & appear to be a gr8 public speaker / communicator ... i get this impression from all of your posts here & enjoy every single anecdote or visitor experience that you've graciously shared with us all! 

would luv to drop by your place some day ... but it's kind of far & out of the way 4 me :-(

amk


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Never Underestimate the power of "Stupid"!*

We had a very nice busy day and night , then two guys tore apart my bench along side of the house, the bench made of railroad tracks, heavy steel pcs.



WHY? (This post was duplicated here So Painfully S L O W ) (???)


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## Muffy

You are never gonna figure out why people do things like that. Have no respect for other peoples things...maybe they have nothing that holds some meaning of their own.

I will say I been lucky in life with things I have done for the public, I only lost a Huskavera chain saw and one wagon wheel in life. As we have discussed I'm still hauling that wagon wheel fence around with me cause I just can't seem to let go of it. Took it out of the ground 16 years ago. Since those were real wagon wheels I always felt like I should of left them in Nebraska, like they belonged to Nebraska, they are a part of Nebraska's history. BUT...when people started pulling them out of the ground stealing them that was it. I know now that I will get those wheels back to my ex husbands nephew....his farm is about 5 miles from where our cafe was and I have no idea how long those wagon wheels were in the ground there while Verna Nelson owned the place. We bought it from her.
She had quite a local reputation, when you ordered cottage cheese it always came with the pepper already on it......she was known for trying to salvage left over food from your plate when you were done.

I also just wanted to mention I saw the very same wagon wheels for $350.00 a piece at the antique flea market in St. Charles, Illinois, and everytime someone comes in my yard....Jerry had a lawn mower business and people were always coming here...everyone wanted to buy one of those wagon wheels. I'm gonna get them home safely.

In the 9 yrs. of haunting with folks coming through my house NOTHING has ever been stolen. There are so many little things but they are all in place when the evening is done.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I have a bunch of like items on display in a bedroom of my haunt and recently I was told those things are now selling for around $200 each.........


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*The Male? Or the Female?*

Which sex attends Haunts more?
Here it has always been the female. I just wonder if this holds true across the country or not?
Guys back off, say no, add some lame excuse . the females just go for it!
The personal factor with many guys I tend to think) is that "Macho"-thing might be in peril if they act scared ,especially in front of their woman!
Guys are supposed to be invulnerable to fright and unwilling to scream with terror.. right?
And then, a group of guys will sometimes pick upon each other , females don't seem to do that.?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

After my first season I was discovering that many small items were gone... then I consoled myself with this thought:"Have you ever made this much money in one month before in your entire life?"
No, I had not, and I was 39 years old, been working since I was 15.
The real butt-kick to me was those small items were all"One-Of-A-Kind" things designed and made by ME!
One was just a very special Watch that I guess no one has ever thought of making before?
(Still have not!)


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## Muffy

The safe way for me in putting things out is to make sure that none of the items are something that I could not live without. If it disappears it's ok. Most of the things I can't replace are shown in the Spell & Potion Room which I reside in all evening as the people pass through.


Of those things you make Gym....set up a small display case featuring works of art by Gym Whourlfeld. You would probably be surprised what they would buy but more so by what they would pay!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

We have six different designs of Ravens Grin Tee-shirts, also available on-line from our website and etsy.

There is the cut-away "Map" of the internals of this house."Is it"Vic" or is it "Tim"? (It's Victim!)
There is Mr. Tuxedo waiting for his load a "Whites" to dry.
Mr. Tuxedo climbing up the Pterodactyl's beak to see if birds are living within his skull? (They do!)
There is a black shirt with "Ravens Grin" in orange with a Pterodactyl skeleton
Then last but not least, the always popular Mr. Tuxedo at The BAD DREAM BED!
And we will always have our bumper stickers!
.. and then the custom image of a dog wearing a bone-paterned dress and heels, cig holder, big hat, purse--"Mutt Carol, whatta *****!"(Female dog)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*"You Never GeT A Second Chance...*

"to make a good first impression."
Is a very old saying.. but it is Very True! 
I like to ask people at our ticket window how they found out about Ravens' Grin?
...I liked her answer yesterday afternoon:"I'm here because everybody I know, can't stop talking about it!"
I realized many "Moons" ago that I would never have much money to spend on advertising, so I had better be giving it my "All" otherwise to impress the customers I had the good fortune to entertain.


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## lazyhero

Totally agree with you, it is always true and works to make a good first impression!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*That elusive "Pay-Off!"*

Not money. 
Something else,,, fame?"
No, that drys up and blows away too.
The other night at our ticket window I asked a young woman why she came here to see the house?
Her direct answer was music to my ears.
"I came here because everybody I know can't stop talking about it!"
Thank you Very Much!

.. and they all said:"It will never "work"!
Three hours from downtown Chicago, in the middle of "nowhere", hidden behind the small downtown, at the edge of a cliff, across from the City Graveyard on the next hill, in the middle of THE great big cornfield.
The first haunter to write about the house wrote something like"Mount Carroll? You can't get to there from any place!"
(Yes! Those Raccoon and Deer roadblocks can be intimidating!)
Furry creatures running out in front of you car in the dark!

There have been some people who drove several hours to get here, then sat in their car too afraid to come in!
there have been people who left notes under their car seat telling who ever might read such a note , someday, where they were and what they were doing, as they wrote the time and the date on the note.
Newer technology would see them listing this information on some website, somewhere beyond the reach of illiterate mere serial-killers such as myself.
(Check out all the like new used car parts on my secret website. 10% off if you mention this ad, Free shipping!)
(Don't miss our U.W. Organ Donor site! ) "U" "W"='s Un-Willing)
Hey! If they could put up a good fight must mean there will be lots of miles and hours left in those organs!


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## Muffy

Makes it all well worth the time and troubles! I know all about that>>>"build it and they will come!"


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Kind of "Different" last night.*

The body-count was down, but late three adults were here who would react quickly and loudly to the variously stimulating things we have here, Screaming loudly in fear, then a few seconds later the guy would say:"I love this place (He was a first-time visitor) Followed by he would like to have this house or live here.
All followed by more screams.. of course, I was laughing.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Ravens Grin Score=21.933*

As measured via a "reporter working for Haunted Illinois.com
A high number is not always a "Good thing' for some people. It compares the admission price to the time actually spent in the haunted house.
For $15.00 here they got 94 minutes in-house.
Some big city haunts got a 1.9 figure and that is how theirs are designed to operate with a higher admission and ten to 15 minutes in the house, turning over customers quickly and making the best use of expensive floor space.
My house.. is MY HOUSE, packed full of things I have built, made. I try to never "copy" others ideas.
We don't go for the over-the-top emotional scaring scare here. This house is open almost every night of the year and has been for a great many years now.
I see repeat customers, returning, bringing friends and family and new partners.
I enjoy entertaining people. I like seeing and hearing those fearful reactions, but I also love to hear them laugh.
I find it quite a compliment when they ask me to stop making them laugh. Because their face hurts! (I can be cruel that way!)
Ravens Grin was rated at being one of the ten best by Haunted Illinois,com.


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## Ghost of Spookie

Nice going! Hope you guys have a fun Halloween this year.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Thank you- People of Mount Carroll,Illinois*

I put a post on Facebook a few hours ago thanking everyone who has been generous toward me and my haunted house over these last 29 years for giving me the odd lumber pile, the old doors, the old thick plexiglass Bank clock cover, the 57 Ford door from the Ford dealer's attic,(Our ticket window) the old micro waves (always good for a few good micro-switches.), also allowing me to dumpster-dive.
The response to my Facebook "Thank you" has been very gratifying , but then, thanking those that have thought of me and my on-going 30 year project should be recognized and thanked.
There are also two men, no longer with us, who believed in my dream, and provided financial support , one so I could buy the house, the other providing some "Fix-Up" money, when I had "0" money. They believed in me and my personal work ethic when some others simply laughed in my face and said it would never work.
My Haunt would not be the same without so many people's goodwill toward me and my ideas.
My success has been always shared with the other small businesses near me. The restaurants, Bars, even the real estate sellers who have sold to those who came to see my place and bought homes and even businesses.
Everyone who comes to see my house has to drive right passed the entire little downtown here, we are located behind half of the town's store buildings.
Every time Ravens Grin has been mentioned in a newspaper or featured on a TV Show, we all here benefit with increased tourism traffic.
Ravens Grin has always been a "WIN--WIN" situation for everyone here.
I take hope in posting this that my example may inspire some here to go toward fulfilling their goals along such lines.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Trouble Last Night*

My Wife told me this morning that last night some of our employees were betting how long I would allow these two problem customers to remain on the house tour!
These two guys from a country half a world away from here were messing with some outdoor items of ours, then they began yelling at a couple of our female employees that they could see near the Break tent to "Flash" them! (Which did not happen.)
Inside the house in the first room they were saying some very inappropriate things in front of their own children!?
Then as I was walking to cross the room, the one man grabbed me by my left leg very quickly. The room was mostly dark,I had a flashlite "On", if I had not been as aware as I was , I could have fallen, with my head probably striking the edge of a piece of nearby furniture on my way down to the floor.
"You are out of here!"
He stood up laughing but did walk away in the direction I needed him to go as I told my helpers in the next room to take him outside.
Not much later his "Buddy" had chosen to go down a slide here head-first after being told to not do such a thing. He was kicked out. One of them became mad when they were told they would be getting No Refund, just as their ticket they were both wearing says.
Then , I believe it was one of their kids urinated on a slide blanket. (Were they scared? Were they just not in control of them self?
This is why we own a Washer and a Dryer. 
Meanwhile our local Policeman was outside with the one guy and told my wife that we should have never allowed them to come into the house.
(It is So Easy with their history now a known item to say such a thing. No skill required)
The one who went head-first down the slide claimed it had not been him, but the bottom of the slide is very well illuminated and we had a helper stationed right there. Then I was told one of these guys grabbed someone as they began sliding by their head and made them go down the slide head-first.
Then the man said to the Policeman:"My son is in the house, I am out here, what are you going to do about this?"
The Policeman said:"I will go into the house and bring him out here.'
Then this odd man repeated these same words, slowly, several times as I walked back into the house.
My Wife informed our Policeman that a fair amount of such trouble always arrives with this certain group, the kids are all Moto-cross riders and the track is just 1 1/2 miles away.
The Policeman wanted to "Pooh-Pooh" this statement but several of our employees added their experiences with these same groups, along with them breaking things in the house, just because they felt like it.
It strikes me as a shame that the adults often do not rein in the super-confidence generated by flying 40 feet into the air on a motorcycle with the huge reality of having to get along with the rest of society. Instead this huge ego and confidence wants to run over everyone else, just because, they think they can
No They Can't..


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## chachabella

day-um....


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## Gym Whourlfeld

When "Field of Dreams" first hit the big screens, i had heard that little saying about "building it" but then years later as I was watching it for the first time here at home, when they said that line I could not help but laugh quite a lot! 
"YES!" I know this very well!
(I sure could not have ever had a business without people driving often long distances to see my place!)
(Keep that Gasoline price as low as possible!)
but don't ruin anyone's drinking water to do it, if possible?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Then last night there were four teens at my door with one "Dad". There were two boys and two girls.
As i was looking at them through the ticket window the one boy said something that I didn't quite "catch", so I asked him to repeat it, which he did, he said:"Remember next time, Igor needs Women!"
"Where did you hear that? you have been here before, haven't you?"
Laughing now he said, "Well that's what you told us as we left here last time!" (About Igor and women)
It did work out very well! the girls were nervous and somewhat .. screamers! I just had to wait til they would quit talking to one another.
The "Dad" had been here a long time ago, i know this because he was busy pointing out a certain device here that remains totally hidden (just inches away) that saw much use in the begining years here. (It was quite "Labor-Intensive", yet everybody did fit it, mostly.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*The Weather was Great*

And we were very busy today and tonight. we went solid from 7pm to 12 midnight, just my wife and myself taking people through the house.
"A Haunted House open all year long? that will never "work"!'
Everything depends upon how you treat people and what you have to offer them.
Look at a map of Illinois, find Mount Carroll. See any large cities anywhere near there? No, you won't, but people were driving from everywhere to get to our house and much fun was had!
Friends bringing friends to experience Ravens Grin Inn. One young woman told my wife that she has been coming here for 25 years.
Some of them were calling us from our parking lot, wanting know if we could open up a little "Early" for them?
We had to tell them "Sorry" We have to eat sometime? (I think they understood?)
We opened at 2 this afternoon for a group of kids who were here to play Hyde and Shriek. At the end of it we set up a table in our first room and they ate Birthday food they brought with them, and they had some photo opps then too. They were supposed to be "Exploring" the house, but then never even found most of it (Too many secret passages, I guess?) So my Wife showed them most of the things they had missed after their time here was done.
This group was comprised of kids from just this county, which was actually kind of.. "different?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*You Know That you Scared Them when...?*

They have been here before, but still very loudly swear (Like an old "Sailor"!) in front of the rest of their own Family! (And it was the Mother of the family!)
She has been through Ravens Grin before, but you wouldn't know it from her reactions!
She e-mailed me afterwards and said she really enjoyed it when I asked her little boy, "So have you been a good girl this week?"
He had long hair, maybe 11 years old, squeaky little voice, hard for me to tell. I really thought he was a she, not that it made much if any difference, but Mom enjoyed my miscue. 
The really funny part of all of this was it seemed as if the screamer/swearing Mother did actually remember the scares but that her sense of timing was just slightly "off" so she still screamed and swore because she was actually scared because she wasn't quite ready yet.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Strangly Busy Tonight, then it came.*

A revelation, came. It happened like this:First we had 16 people in one family group. they had sent us a check two weeks ago to be here.
t
Then a second group arrived after the first group had left, another four people , then two more showed up, to be added to the second group and then see the first room last at the end of their tour.
The second group of four were from this area, one woman who was here tonight for her second show asked me:"How many tours do you do a night?"
I replied:"I do as many as it takes."
Then she said:"What if your favorite "Show" is on?"
This was when it struck me, so I blurted it out:"This is my Favorite Show!"

(It's "Live-Action")
(Some parts are spontaneously ad-libed.)
(The mere exercise of leading the tour is nice, healthy exercise, stair climbing, deep breathing, sometimes holding odd postures to hide)
(And a little running is always happening here...My Running!)
(AND! you never really "Know" what someone is going to say or do, until they do it or...........? )


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Wednesdays-no more.*

Going to be closed on Wednesdays (slowest night of the week,usually)
What's the big deal? I have been open almost every night for the last 29 years. (plus Sat. & Sun. afternoons.)
We could still possibly accommodate a "Wednesday" for someone, sometimes if they called us a few days in advance.
Last night we had one young man show up here, but he was a huge fan of all things scary and Halloween, and he could not say enough good things about this place! Then gave us a 5 out of 5 rating on Facebook.
Almost every Fall someone would discover us, have a great time here, then ask us:"Would we be open Christmas? or New Years?
"Why do you ask? will you be coming here then?"
They always said "Yes!" then never called or showed up.
Many drive several hours to get here and the winter in Northern Illinois can be very nasty sometimes. we don't go anywhere then.


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## UnOrthodOx

Good for you. You need a day off too...

Though sounds like if I wanted a special tour, Wednesday might be a good time because it would assure we had the place alone with you not busy. 

If I'm ever within 100 miles of the place you know I'm coming.


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## stick

Like above your place is on my bucket list Gym.


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## Trex

mine too stick!!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Maybe about maybe six years ago i was 5 blocks away at my Dad's old garage (my garage now) working on the roof, a car pulls up, a man is all "smiles" as he gets out and said:"Your Wife told me how to find you, I"m from the West Coast I had to be in Wisconsin to sell a major retailer our company's product product, I only have a short time before I have to fly back, could you just maybe walk me through your house? (He also added that he is on The Halloween Forum, and has read many of my posts here!)
I stopped everything, drove back to the house , gave him a quick "Look-See'.. and he seemed to be Very Happy!!
Driving just through part of Wisconsin from where he was to arrive at Mount Carroll is no quick-cruise, I was really touched by his enthusiasm for his quest to see .. my work here.
I mostly "work" for compliments and smiling, laughing faces, always have. I know many , if not all of you here are the same.
Just today I was remembering how funny it will always seem to me when a citizen of this small "Village" is half-way across this country, or even in another country, and someone says to them:"Mount Carroll! that's where that year-round Haunted house is!"
Through it all, my only regret is the busy October night when we did not get "Done" til about 5AM and I could not give a group of Russian young women a house tour, and they had to be back at O'Hara airport early that morning.
Who knows, give this Ravens Grin another 29 years, maybe it will...."Work"?
Thank you, one and all!


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## Nickthetoyguy

wth..............


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*It's Not Worth It.*

Our website says it, we say it on the answering machine and verbally on the phone.
It is Winter, this is the Midwest, please check the weather before driving here. Yes we are open almost every night, but it is not worth risking your life and car fenders to come here. Chose a better day or night when dire weather predictions are not major news items.
We are now closed every Wednesday. Please try to call ahead if you are coming, we can turn another furnace on for you (#3)


Ravens Grin-Mount Carroll, Ill,


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*He didn't See Me on TV!*

My neighbor said as he was flipping around the dial he saw a show like "Judge Judy", (but wasn't) A man was the Judge, the case was about a woman who went through a "Haunted House" where they had a "Zombie Arm sweeping across the floor, she knew it was there, she jumped over it, fell, injured her already "Bad Knee" and needed the Haunt Owner to pay $950.oo for the MD. and Hospital.
Then he said,"The Haunt Owner looked just like You, Jim,except he had long hair."
I would really like to find out who he is,,, so I can send him a sympathy card! He looks "Just Like ME!"


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## stick

Very funny on looking like you but bad for the other fellow being sued.


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## UnOrthodOx

I wanna know who 'won' the suit now.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

some posted elsewhere about such things and said the Production co. (of the show) pays the settlement.
I responded to that information :"I always assumed they paid because other wise what Defendant would ever show up for this "Kangaroo court?"
Over the last few years people taking Haunts to court have not done very well, in Florida-chased out beyond the exit by "Mr. chainsaw", in Texas same opinion from the Judge:"You went in knowing that they were trying to Scare You, they say No Running, you ran, you fell or tripped, not the Haunts fault."
My opinion differs. I REALLY want and Need to have everybody to have a Very good, fun time in my house (Good "P-R) is Extremely Valuable)
My October helpers are to Never Chase, and are to stop people from running, if they are.
My House is very well lit, I want and need people to see what they paid for.
I have made or created almost everything they will be seeing here. the few items not of my doing I give credit to those who did help me or made something they will be seeing here.
For years my neighbor across the alley was Jeremy Bohr a Professional Mask maker, almost every mask on display here, he made.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Where DO Ideas come from?*

I have had some of my best ideas arrive early in the morning as I am just beginning to wake up but not quite awake yet.
My Haunt is full of such ideas and most of my ideas are still particular to just this house as far as I know?
Haunt displays sometimes enlarge the mildly bothersome into fright-full proportions of terrible potential evil.
Did I mention I like to have fun with people's minds, even make them laugh?
A few years ago I was given two of the large old, fiberglass satellite dishes. I made a UFO "Flying saucer" and still have the second one left.
I spent some time this afternoon measuring and cutting but my second dish was still frozen down to the ground on one end.
So would anybody like to guess what it is going to be ?
Sure you would! Go for it!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

hERE'S A HINT: It will be something that is probably not seen in a Haunted House... but then almost anything can be seen in my haunt, hint, it's kind of a "Food" Item.....


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## nosefuratyou

A moon made of green cheese?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Nosefuratyou.

You have come part way and have guessed the one ingredient. It won't be real cheese, of course.
I am going to make a huge slice of PIZZA!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*How Much Fun Can One Person Have?*

Many years ago I tried having a "Haunted Bed& Breakfast" (Which will never usually work too well since of the two people spending the night, one loves the place, the other one is scared to Death! (So them both of them don't have as good of a time as they might have, assuming the non-scared one has compassion for their other half. (And the scared one is Not always the female, by any means)
A Psychiatrist and his Wife and his sister came here doe a night, and one of the women also was a psychiatrist.
After showing them the house "He" asked if I could take them up to the local graveyard on the next hill, and show them my family's very tall grave stone?
(It is the tallest marker in the entire graveyard, maybe 14 ft, high?) That stone is where my GGGreat grandfather spent all of his money!) After a very long, mostly "Up-hill" trek we finally got there, I'm standing there pointing my small flashlight up and down the marker. He asks:"So is this your Family's grave marker?"
I was tempted to say:"DUH? It's got my last name on it, I told you it was!"
But.. instead I merely said:"Yes it is... and this is the part of the show in which I sink down into the ground , and you all Chitt your pants!"
I turned my flashlight "Off" as I threw my floor length cape out, bent my knees and vanished into the dark of the night. 
He later confessed that he had come very close to messing himself !
(So.. how many degrees do you have to have to not mess yourself?)
The Psychiatrist loved telling ghost stories. He had the City, the day-year-street address, town and other details when he told his stories!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Unbelievable! (But we know why.)*

Last night, Saturday night, Feb.18th we were open as usual, and we were very busy like we have never been this time of year!
We know why. It is usually not 70 degrees in February in northern Illinois! 
We saw groups, families, fans old and new, and everyone seemed So Happy!

(How can I find and get a Voo-Doo Weather-changer? )


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## stick

This weekend was great to be out about doing things.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*A Small-Town Haunt!*

This afternoon a total of 5 people came here and went through the house.
The one young man looked "Familiar"?
He had not been through here for at least ... 15 years?
He seemed pretty familiar (But bigger, heavier?)
His math doesn't quite work, BUT he said he has been here "100's of times, he came here with his brother and Sister, and now he is 39 years old.
He said he first was here when he was just 10yrs. old. We are currently in our 30th year with Ravens Grin.
I then remembered his Brother and Sister. They all lived about 2 hours away from here, and most of them still do.

Earlier today in one of this town's antique stores, the clerk told me how when they first came to this area that their whole family went through my house and really enjoyed themselves and decided to live in this county, inspite of some terribly busi-bodied nosy people who seemed to have nothing to do except ask their family 50 questions! (WOW!)
I made mention and she agreed that such people would also be right there to help you, warn you, look out for your kid's welfare , which those same people have been and done over these last 15 years.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

.. then even with the weather being "questionable" last night more people showed up here and were they "FUN"!
We were still in the first room (Where a lot happens) when a man who had been here before asked if he could use our Rest Room?
"Do you know where it is?"
"Yes, he did."
I watched him walk through the next room, and as he was walking away I returned to the others , sat down beside his girlfriend and loudly said:"Well! Now that we got HIM out of the way!"
She let out a yell-shriek/laugh like would get you arrested in a hospital "Quiet" Zone!
Everyone laughed! and she had a few more of these still for later as we all went through The Ravens Grin Inn!
Yes I laugh a lot here, I usually can't help it either.
After being OPEN almost every night for 30 years, I still get So Much FUN out of this "business"!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*"Incidental Humor"*

One of the two couples who came through The Ravens Grin Inn last night took a nice picture of the top of The Spookmobile.
You see the steel Skeleton reaching from inside the open suitcase on the roof in the luggage rack and he's holding an old license plate in one bony hand that says Ravens G."
My Wife saw the humor in this picture right away.. in the backround, in the far corner of the City Parking lot is the small, Red, Santa House that belongs to the City... so someone may come away with the impression that this tiny 10 by 8 red structure with it's high, pointy roof is.. The Ravens Grin!
Then the mental puzzle may start for some trying to figure out how in the world could a tour of that mini-house could possibly be involving up to 90 minutes of their life?
This picture might stir up quite "The Mystery" for some!


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## tomanderson

Halloween never stops being fun. That's one of the cool things about Halloween.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*I.D.-ing Problem makers?*

Today as I was gathering up numerous pieces of bad blacktop and getting rid of them and their potential for being thrown through a window in my house or my car, I began to run a memory check concerning all of the times someone has pitched a rock at my house and thinking about their up-bringing and their Parents possible influence upon what they did. 

First Time --Someone was throwing rocks at my Haunt- The whole large Family were all just standing there as some of their children were actively throwing rocks at my house, it was daylight and we all could see one another very well. I know they considered themselves to be very religious people.
Second Time a rock was thrown at my house (Or were they throwing at ME?) Two boys,maybe 11-13 years old were on a store building roof half a block away. The rock came close to hitting me on my head!, Just missed, and broke out a large glass window out of the door!
The boy who threw the rock is the Son of a Policeman.
Third Time-- three or four drunks were throwing un-opened cans of Beer at the side of my house (As hard as they could!) Our City Police caught one, and had the identitys of the rest sweat out of him. They are all Security Guards at a Nuke Plant!? (They almost lost their jobs over this! At least one "Wife" was not happy about their night our.)
Fourth time -- we heard a crash or some commotion right outside, the four people in the house as customers went outside to also find out what had made such a sound? My Wife was starting to feel sorry for the one little, little boy who had thrown the rock, and accidentally broke out the one side window in the brand new Truck belonging to one of our patrons who had just begun the house tour.
Somebody got the boys Parents out of a local Restaurant , now with Parents, the owner of the truck , my Wife and other adults listened to the little boy tearfully offer this excuse:"I'm sorry, i was really aiming at the window in the Spooky Car but I missed and hit the truck."
Guess what "Spooky Car he was trying to clobber with the thrown rock?.. Yes, my Car! (My Wife didn't feel as generous and forgiving after that! )

So, does anyone happen to pick up on a possible "Pattern" here?
All of them , child or adult (Physically) might have all been in rebellion of a sort even as some of them wore a uniform every day and pushed law and order upon others.
Guess what that boy's Dad did for a living? He was the head administrator of a local Grade and High School!

Don't come away from reading this feeling like I think I have been "Picked-On", that is really not the case.
The percentage of those trying to destroy this place by throwing a rock at it, remains Very Low, no matter how it may be figured..but the oddity of they all being so closely connected to a job or institution that decrees how WE should all act, seems very.. Ironic!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*No "Escape" Room here.*

Just putting some on 
Notice". If you and your friends arrive here next Fall or Summer, there will be our new/old, no escape room.
Would I really mean "Escape Room?"
No, I will have a "No Escape Room" here. No one will be escaping, either.
It is really simple and EASY! Bring along your "Power Of Attorney along with any property deeds you may have.
A ton of people will be feeling very stupid, as they wither-away incarcerated

Thank You!"


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## Grrlgoyle

"Ironic"? You're very kind. I'm finding it mind-boggling. And scary. Did any of the vandals actually apologize? Or offer to help restore anything? When the little boy explained that he hit the wrong truck did anyone say he shouldn't have been trying to break that one either? Of course, it's the adults that really confuse me. No wonder bullying is such a problem for kids nowadays -- adults are bullies too. At least there were some consequences for the nuke security guards. 

I'm not just commiserating with you here (and by the way I realize you've gotten, and given a lot of enjoyment from your haunts) I'm open to hearing success stories of how to get through to people. It can happen. And we as a society kinda owe it to the kids to clue them in on how to be civil.


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## lilibat

Yes the pattern is they are all a'holes.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

As my wife and i were talking about this today, she reminded me that the school administrator never blinked or said anything during the numerous times his little boy was saying over and over, "I was trying to hit "The Spooky Car!" This made her very mad. "Nice" example for the kids for the Parents to just Dummy-up when certain words should be said and certain ideals be shown the light of day.
If I was throwing rocks at their car window, but accidentally broke out the Thermopane window for their living room, would my excuse get me off the hook, "But I was aiming for your car!"
One time this small group of young men came here and every time they would be here all these four guys could say to one another or to me was "Hey, Dude.' I believe they were partaking of the old Illinois "Ditch-Weed" ?
My helper and I called them the Hey-Dudes". At the end of one of their house tours here , the one guy slid out of the big steel skull (The exit then) ran a few steps toward my Spookmobile then jumped up on top of the hood and began dancing! Then he looks at me and says, "Hey, Dude, would it be all right if I drove your car?"
I quickly asked him in return if it would be OK if i had an intimate relationship with his Sister?" That was how I discovered that he did have a Sister! 
I had unknowingly struck a chord when i asked that, I later found out that his sister and their Parents were going -round and round with one another because she wanted to move out and move in with her boyfriend (Not me) So the "Head" Hey-Dude then told me a girl he knew (Who had never been here before) was telling her Church friends that I was a satanist and that I was conducting such rituals in the wine cellar here,when one night a "Christian" snuck in and was spying on "us"! Then a fight broke out(Him versus ME), then we both went and spent that night in jail!.
(I guess none of my loyal satanist friends are not much into fighting or breaking up a fight? since she said there were 40 to 50 of them in the Wine Cellar , a room 30 by 16 feet,not nearly enough room for our human sacrifice stuff, let alone enough space for the cameras and sound stuff. AND the technicians)
At that point in time I would open up any time someone called or drove up to the house! (Where and how could I then hide all 
of my satanist allies?
I told Mr. Hey Dude" to tell her I would be seeing her and her church in-court if she kept telling such fabrications, and when I WON and got all of the Churches $$ I would get it in cash and walk down the street passing it out to those needy people,just as her church should have been doing all along!
Many people who happen to know me better than most will tell you I do not attend "Church", but they know and believe that I live my live along with the ten commandments and sure seem to be more holy, than most that they know. I really do try to live my life effortlessly and blame free and that may only happen if you tell the truth and treat people as You like to be treated. I have yet to ever spend a night in any jail.


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## Grrlgoyle

That's a great story! Not so nice that you had to actually experience all that. But you've got the right to get the most mileage you can get out of your "war stories." The sister stuff got me laughing.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*What A night!*

We had some very remarkable audiences here last night!
They all got to meet our new puppy, she is only 10 weeks old. She is supposed to meet at least 100 people in her first Month with us for her "Socialization", she is well on her way to that!
The groups varied from a man who has been here over 100 times to an entire group of "First Timers" who have been trying to get here for many years!
The Ravens Grin "Formula" is actually pretty simple.. entertain them, make them Laugh, then give then a startle-scare and get them all laughing again!
My Wife gives me "Heck" because sometimes just the first room might take an Hour? ("Through-Put" gets sacrificed for an unforgettable experience... but they keep coming back and bringing their friends )
BUT, there is a Lot going on in that First Room!
Yes, this IS a "Different" kind of experience.(Has been since "Day-One"! )
I wake up very stiff and sore, but by the time to open again. i'm Ready to go!.. and I do believe the house-Tour activity keeps me in better shape than any keyboard EVER Could! I'm 67, gotta keep "Moving"!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

"Grrlgoye" I often say and sometimes do outrageous things to show people by bad or incorrect example. Much of my art work is also like this. I also like Irony.
Now I must leave and wash my hair. I have them all nervous since they don't know which one of them will be drowned!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Visitors from Transworld.*

My House, Ravens Grin Inn, is Not" zackly' just around the corner from St; Louis, but I was on their way "Home" to Wisconsin !
They want to have a "Haunted House" someday.They have photos of their possible house and many would be jealous if they saw it.
Maybe I or this house is scarier than I ever considered it to be? The one person ran out an Exit and was in the parking lot, which takes quite a bit of "mission" to accomplish, especially if it is your first time here!
I gather them back up and sent them through the next part.. with more scares to follow. (But everyone remained "In-House"!)
Part of the house was missed because of the premature exiting, but the missing part was just my "No Escape Room" (From which there is no escape!)
(They might not have liked that?)
Before they left I insisted that I share some very basic and important things concerning a Haunt: Keep those staggering, screaming Drunks Out, they are more trouble than it is worth babysitting them and cleaning up after them and then apologizing to others for them being in the house with the nice and good patrons.
Next: If a drunk sees two "Monsters standing beside one another , if one is small and the other Monster is "Big".. When the drunk decides to punch someone , they will always punch the smaller one of two, then apologize saying "I was drunk!"
No you weren't, you just felt a need to punch "Somebody".. but they ALWAYS punch the smaller Monster, playing the odds it will be a woman or a child who will not be punching them back! Pure , old-fashioned Chicken Feces!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*It Was a Strange Day*

A new-be and his new-be kids showed up for a first tour of my house. As soon as we began moving through the house the one boy began telling me that he didn't want me to "Jump-Scare" him. then none of them wished to proceed through a part of the house where it would just a little darker, so we Detoured around that part feeling some actual daylight in the detour process.. then later I scared the "No-Jump-Scare" Boy. He complained about this, so I took the time to point out to him that I scared him but the whole time there was a thick piece of plexiglass between us as he was fearfully reacting.
The two boys kept changing their minds about proceeding to yet another part of the house with the Father trying to get them to do what they didn't wish to do.
At the tour's conclusion as his boys were a distance from us i said to the Dad that his boys are very intelligent kids! 
His face lit up! (I meant it, his two boys were weighing all their options and possible out comes with every step they took. This made the tour more difficult for me , but , you know what? If more young people spent their time weighing the Pros and the Cons they come up against in life, the World would be a better, safer, more predictable place.)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*I Just Might Live Long Enough!*

This morning machine sounds were heard close by, upon further investigation I discovered several pieces of heavy equipment East of my house ripping up the parking lot that abuts my East property boundary. 
A few minutes later the Mayor arrived and maybe he was just out of his mind when he looked at me and said:"Next year, we re-do the West parking lot."
(The one at my front door! where most of my patrons park!)
I said, "Well, maybe I will live long enough to see that happen?"
I've owned my Haunted house 30 years and the parking lots around my house on all three sides were last replaced.. 42 years ago?
Heavy delivery truck traffic has always been common over these thin pavements. 
the rain runs from the roofs of all the stores on the North side of the next street , then runs over the parking lot all coming toward my house, then quickly turns, goes around my house, heading to the tube that then takes it down to the small river far below.
The original design had buried clay tiles carrying the roof-water underground to the edge of the cliff, which eliminated erosion of the roadway, BUT those hidden tiles have all been flattened or blocked during the last probably 70 years (or longer?)
Where all that water turns the corner missing my place is where the blacktop will never remain for long. They blame the quality of the blacktop, they do a poor job of putting it down sometimes. Potholes are common right where my customers have to walk, it should have a large concrete "apron" in that part. Maybe even an actual "Sidewalk" of concrete since many people are walking around in the alley looking at the house.
One night a few few years ago as a family was walking away after going through my house I heard a commotion, walked out to see the adults helping their elderly Mother up from the pavement, she had tripped in one of those potholes, hit her head and was abit goofy for awhile. It just so happened that this entire Family had rented a large apartment just across the alley from here. I went up and asked how she was?
I told the Mayor about this, bright and early there was new blacktop in that pot hole which was maybe 3 inches deep and 24 inches in diameter!
A former Mayor told me they could not afford to put a concrete sidewalk along my property line, even though thousands of people every year walk along there often looking at the house being distracted by what I have made here.
I even sat through a City Council meeting years ago finally seeking their permission from them, to let ME fix the potholes with Cement.
I would have squared them up, dug down 24 inches, poured it full of concrete, smoothed it off on top with a few groves in it to give it some traction . 
No, you can't do that!"
The reason they started with the East parking lot is because once a Month in the Summer they have car shows there. No "Car Show" cars ever end up down here, so it might not ever happen, no matter what anyone said this morning.
Time will "Tell"? (And I keep getting junk-mail from Blacktop Companys, because they must be assuming I own the city parking lots!? )
So "Tune-In" next year Boys and Girls and see if Jim lived long enough to enjoy some new Blacktop? (I'm already 67 yrs. old)


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## stick

You should fill the holes with concrete like you said and paint it black and they will not know any better.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

They would know when they realized I hadn't asked them for more blacktop for quite some time.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Patron Suggestions?*

I had and continue to have many ideas for things all of the time. devices, displays. funny things. I have had most of the ideas that have been used in advertising and promoting my house.. then recently a patron said something like this on Facebook:" The Ravens Grin seems much larger on the inside then it is on the outside."
I Love that! It required a lot of work and many, many hours to create this effect! Finally it was recognized!
(Insert Evil Laugh here~~ )


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*It Really Doesn't*

Take that much to make me "Happy".
Tonight as my Wife was going through the computer Spams, she asked:"Who is this?"
"Don't delete him! He was going to send me a picture of our house!"
Two days ago in the local grocery store parking lot I began kidding him asking him where he bought his new "Hearse"?
It is a Ford, Black long low, spacious resembling the Station Wagons of "old".
Then he told me that after his Dad died (a few months ago) he was looking through his Dad's "Stuff" and there was an old book with some pictures of the town in it, and one picture was a picture of My House! I have owned my house for 30 years and have only seen ONE picture of it.
That picture was taken from maybe 600 feet away while the camera was set up in the local grave Yard looking back at the entire town.
In that old picture my house is still being built, only three walls are standing, with just the starting of a roof, the South wall looks to not even be there, but then,maybe they built that wall last to give them more light to work by? 
This new picture was taken from much closer, from maybe 80 Yards away and from the East side this time. The focus of the picture was the old bridge over the 100 foot deep canyon (Talk about "SCARY!") A very thin bridge of steel cables and other things. It may have actually been a bridge just for human, non-wheeled use?
People have before told me they had pictures of my house and that they would give them to me... nope, nothing ever came of the offers.
My house, in this new picture, has a flat part in the center of the roof with a waist-high railing around the flat rectangle, almost like a cupola (I built) There are four chimneys, now just one. There are a few crude dark "Box" buildings close to the house. One was The Ice House", they sawed blocks of ice from the adjacent creek in Winter. The structure in the West side not really that close to the house probably belonged to The Mount Carroll Milling Co. and it was their tool shed at one end of the Dam.
My Great grandfather James Ely worked for the Mill co. hauling oats, corn to and from the Mill. He had also been a part-time Bartender in what is now my house, The Ravens Grin Inn, my Haunted,Haunted House for these last 30 years.
I have considered that maybe the scarcity of house pictures may have had something to do with the house being a Tavern and a "House-Of-Ill -Repute"?
Somebody did a great degree of work here back then building the wine Cellar, chiseled from solid dolomite rock. The 32 by 16 floor is one piece of that rock as are some of the walls.
Then there are those tall upstairs windows that begin about 5 inches from the floor and go up high enough to allow someone outside to see 98% of someone standing upstairs, if they were close to the window. Maybe these were "Advertising Windows" for "Window shoppers?" from down at street-level?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*April 15th-- I was "Giddy"!*

"Giddy-Up! and away I went for several hours doing the last house tour of the night!
I was adding numerous ad-libs in with the actual routine, and my tiny audience was "Lovin It!"
We were ALL Laughing for most of the time!
"He" had been here before "She" had not been here.
I was so charged-up that I felt as if it was 15 years ago! (Subtracting 15 years from my current age of 67 , makes quite a difference in many ways.)
I felt So Good, making those people laugh that hours later I was STILL running the head-tapes back again and studied their reactions Closer to maybe adjust to their expectations. Served very well, I Do Believe!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

In such situations as I described (late night, last tour, small group) I have quite an advantage to scare or entertain those people. I can take even more time and lull them, until the un foreseen Scare arrives... yes there are some old "Fans" who have come to realize this over the years and try to be here for that last "Show" of the night.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Family FUN!*

They all showed up Sunday afternoon, ten people, Mom.Dad and the rest were their kids and their kids boyfriends.
The Father and Mother first came here just a few months ago, the Father had just experienced his first season as a pro-haunt owner 2 hours away from here.
I did happen to Save" a few things during Mom and Dad's first visit here, things I didn't show them, things that helped get loud reactions from the kids!
(I do love scaring people in a sunny, bright room !)
I scared the one Daughter in such a situation and nobody else knew what had happened.. all in a very brightly lit room! (How to catch them off guard!)
When they found out that we offer Hyde& Shriek parties, most of them became even more enthused to come back again!


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## tomanderson

Doing spooky shows makes me feel GREAT. Nothing like it for a fun time.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Raven's Grin Inn • Mt Carroll, IL*

Influence Haunt Patrons?
I am probably the biggest Haunt-nut here. (Saying that with my evidence being that I have been open almost every night for approaching 30 years (plus Sunday and Saturday Afternoons )
On a more general area "The Economy" influences many people. Narrowing it down more, just the price of Gasoline can be a telling factor.
Then there will always be "The Weather"!

...but then, if all of these mentioned factors are tolerable on the positive side of measurement.. maybe the national news stories upset people.
IF you who are reading this. watch, listen to the national news most everyday... are you worried when you hear or read the events , or lack of events that are reported from Washington?
I think this is an influence on if and how money is spent.
"Sabre Rattling" replaces the "Rattling" of coins, in the average person's pocket.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Terrible Weather here today!*

Yet a total of 9 "Bodies" arrived at my Drawbridge to see the house!
First a middle-aged couple arrived, by the time we got to the second room the doorbell rang and two more adults with two kids, so their Ravens Grin experience began in the second room.
I just got everyone upstairs when the doorbell went off again (It is actually a car alarm, and it works even in the wine cellar! )
So by me excusing myself to go to the door also set up those in the second room for a fun little scare!
So them two more adults and one child was then added.
It never seemed to stop raining here all day, so at the exit ( 150 feet from where they were parked I lead them backwards through the Exit tunnel to allow a much shorter run for their cars, through the rain.
I did a different kind of a front room show for such a mixed group, demonstrating some effects with the lights "ON", and allowing the Kids, themselves to activate some items in the room.
The adults really appreciated the time I took with their children. I usually have no problem most of the entire year doing this, except after 9PM in October on the weekends.
I believe only one of the six adults had ever been here before.
It turned out to be a good day, in spite of the wet weather.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*I had so much fun tonight!*

First a couple here celebrating their 13 anniversary ("13"?) As in unlucky? they were fun as we sat here eating and watching TV , oblivious to what the clock "Said", we forgot to turn the house "On"!? they patiently waited.....
Then a group of College kids who just graduated came here from Ohio!
They were all VERY FUN! I saw something that looked like it was absolutely impossible happen tonight!
The one girl in the College group got suddenly So Scared that she went from sitting to rotating, almost laid out horizontally in the air above the chair that she had been sitting in!... "Naw! This place ain't "Scary"!
The one student was wearing a "Kentucky" jacket. I asked him if he worked for a personal lubricant company? (There were a very large couple of letters on his jacket, a big "K" and a big"Y"!? )


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## stick

Very funny there Jim.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

About ten nights ago when my wife was outside with our new puppy she heard a deep pre-growl sound from close by. Our backyard is narrow with fencing along the cliff side of the yard. Below the cliff is some flat river bank land full of junk from over 100 years ago, along with the odd twisted and half-broken trees and weeds (of course) We do not own this piece of property, basically nobody does.
Three years ago this State released 12 Cougars in Southern Illinois to see if they could cut down the Deer population. (Yes! They released Cougars, fair sized "Cats" (Not middle-aged women!) Each cougar ranges around in a very large area for their own personal hunting ground.
Somebody went on-line to say the state never did this, followed by someone else saying "Yes the State DID, and that person said they were all sworn to secrecy about this action or they would be fired for "Telling".
Many years ago I played with the idea of extending the house tour down into this sliver of nasty land . I even built stairs down to there, 45 steps!
... but not anymore! 
I spent time down there a few mornings ago chopping weeds and some rotted tree parts.
Nature does some interesting things with mere "growth". Some huge and long vines swoop from tree to tree, eventually often killing the host by just stealing their sunlight, moisture?
This all looks "Spooky" to many (and it is!) Now add a man-eating large "Cat" to this scene,but I am not going down there and neither are my patrons!
The Cougar was seen by a Farmer I know West of town. His farm has the same small river running through it as the one just over the cliff. The large "Cat" basically has a fairly private partially camouflaged Highway running the river bank for many miles in a prime hunting ground for small mammals, hopefully JUST small mammals!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I had this idea in the back of my mind, today I finally found time to make it happen. Put simply , I cut a hole in my little side shed so if I am real busy working on something and I have to stop quickly, I have all the tools in my wheelbarrow.
The hole I cut today will have a door with hinges and a lock on it when it;s complete. The stored wheel-tool-barrow will be making use of some dead space at the end of my long, thin storage room.
I will be able to go from drilling, grinding sawing to "All picked-up" Very Quickly and efficiently!
This solution does easily beat installing Tarzan jungle vines to get me to the far reaches of the over-crowded little tool room.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night was different because a young man from the other end of this USA stopped here to see Ravens Grin Inn.
He told me that he has been reading about the house for Years!
(Maybe I inspired him? He has his own "Haunted House" now.)
As I put on Facebook this morning:"I might not recognize him, if he wasn't "Smiling"!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I awoke to thunder and lightning (the real stuff!) I knew it was my birthday! Thunder-Rain, almost every May17th. I replayed my childhood parties on Facebook, then reading what I had said maybe "turned on a light" for me?
Maybe the last childhood Birthday party I ever had, just might have been because it turned into a massive "Food-Fight" inside my Parent's house?
It was an "All-Boy" party which left my Mother's new front room curtains dripping with food thrown back and forth in raucous high spirits as only that young age may foster. (As prayed for by the rest of civilization)
My odd friend "Rex" kept complaining to my Mother saying:"I don't like "Meat". to which she kept saying:"Well, then, Don't Eat it!"
Finally he opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue showing her he had a huge gob of chewed meat covering his tongue!
He needed Her to handle this problem, so she removed it ... Ehh!?"


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## stick

Happy Birthday Jim.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Stick! You found me here!? I was basically ejected from the rest of this sight and told I could only post...." here".. my "Crime?" "?" 
Someone discovered after fourteen years, that I am a "Pro" Haunt.
I sure never tried to hide that , not even once in 14 years.
From the tone of the message from the admin. I think there was something more to it.... Who knows?
Thank you for the Birthday wishes.


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## Wolfbeard

Happy belated birthday Jim!

Eric


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## stick

From the tone of the message from the admin. I think there was something more to it.... Who knows?
[/QUOTE said:


> That is just plan crazy Jim, and yes it had always been clear to me in your posts that you were a professional haunt.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Ever thought you wanted a super-realistic skeleton?
I have now been told of two times and places where actual human skeletons were either abandoned in an old building or were left there by the International Odd -Fellows club. 
The first time I was told about this, it was a tiny town in Iowa someplace that had maybe 50 skeletons in up-right coffins, left in the second floor of the old "Odd-Fellows meeting hall.
Then just the other day a young woman told me the Haunt she last worked in, in a small town downstate had two actual corpses in coffins in their little Haunt, which used to be an "Odd-Fellows" meeting hall. 
These are the bodies of the owners of that building, Husband and His Wife, just "where" they wished to be for eternity?
The Father of the girl who told me this said her Father told her to touch the face of the deceased Odd-Fellow. She touched him, she thought it was a fake body but it was not.
I did get the impression that their coffins are closed for the majority of the time whether the Haunt is open or closed, with many people walking right close by them, usually never realizing they are so close to two corpses!
Seventeen years ago a "Psychic" told me many odd, things about my house. No matter how "Odd" they were, most of them did turn out to be true.
He told me there are three "Bodies" behind the wall of the Wine Cellar!?
Then a few years later I did find a small rib cage ten feet under the ground, right next to the wine cellar's East wall. The location was very close to where an outhouse used to be all of those many years ago.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

This afternoon a couple went through Ravens Grin (people about my age!) At the exit I found out that "She" had asked "Him" to act more like a "Normal" person today.
He pointed at me and said, "Compared to this guy, my "Normal" was still pretty tame today!"
"We did have an entertaining time."
"Yes we did." She added.
He had a very nice Laugh, sort of let me know it was a genuine expression, those I do "Savor"!
I just can't get enough of THOSE in my daily/nightly Diet!


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## stick

Never heard of the Odd-Fellows Club and if they are keeping real corpses that is one way to keep your membership up I guess.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

"HAHAHAHA! I never thought of that! Might be sort of like me staying real busy if I never showed any of my patrons how to get out of my house!

I stopped to talk with a very elderly man to congratulate him on how well he had backed in to his parking space at the Grocery Store.
He quickly confessed the only way he could do this "backing" so nicely is that he had a rear-view camera installed... which brought back the memory of the time two women toured my house, had a fun time, then backing out to leave they saw what seemed to be a ghostly Skull behind them! (On-Camera!)
They showed me the film "still"and asked me If I had some how done this? "Was this a new special effect?"
There is a huge skull off to the side of how they were backing, but this image was nowhere near seeing my big, steel skull, painted a Mustard-yellow at that time.
(If only I "Could" do this for everyone leaving here with that rear-view camera "ON"!-- insert evil laugh~ HERE!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night 3 people came here , two rode the big plane from the West coast to come and see my house (And "The House On The Rock" 75 miles North of here.)
they were fun people (Most who come here are that way)
At the house tour's conclusion we were talking about how we each made our lives better or more fun.
I told them when I decided to keep out the screaming, staggering drunks, my life got better!
The blond woman said she had come to that same conclusion in her life! Then both women agreed that the most fun they ever had was the couple of years they lived in Ireland and had worked as Bartenders!? (I guess it could work like that?)
then I asked her if she had ever watched "Father Ted?"
She almost exploded with enthusiasm for that old show!
My favorite bit was when the old Priest picked up an a live puppy and wiped his own face with it!
As they were walking away the blond turned and thanked me for :"Doing what you do here."
Which was very nice to hear. I sometimes tell people at my age compliments mean more than money. (You can't really spend compliments, so you remember them much longer!)


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## stick

Jim that last statement is so very true.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Many years ago I had made a large wooden box in the wine cellar, painted it, then wrote on it:"History's Dumpster"
(What might one find if such a thing existed?)
The people in the house tour that night was a 35-40 yr, old Father with his Mother ,and his Wife and a couple of kids. As we were standing near the "Dumpster" there was a real spider resting there about 5 feet from the floor , very close to us, easy to spot because of the green color I had painted this box. 
"He" said to me:"Look, a rubber spider.'
"No, it;s "Real".
"Rubber."
"Real! Watch this!" I blew on the spider, it moves it's legs some. 
"OH MY GOD! IT'S "REAL!" Very loudly in front of his entire Family! Sounding pretty fearful! 
He finally calmed down, we made it through the rest of the short part of the tour, we were all exiting, the Father("It's REAL!") Stopped shook my hand saying how nice of a time they had all had.. as he shook my hand I felt a tightly folded piece of Cash pass from his hand to mine. As they walked, then drove away I assumed he may have tipped me a Dollar or five?... No, it was a 20 DOLLAR Tip!?
I went back down to the wine cellar and killed that spider, "This is MY SHOW, Dammit! Not yours!"


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## Gym Whourlfeld

About Spiders:I was told that we only see big spiders in the Wine Cellar only every once and awhile because they only come in here to mate, then return to the creek bank about 40 feet away down the cliff.
When the TV show "Wild Chicago" filmed here (It's on you-tube, or was? ) the cameraman saw a huge spider walking across the wine cellar ceiling. He needed me to bend down or to get on my knees , then point up at the spider to give the insect more prospective as to it's actual size.
As he filmed me and the spider I think I said:"Some people are afraid of Spiders, but they don't hurt anything.'
Then I quickly brought one hand up to the side of my neck. "It Bit me! OWWW!" than I began laughing...
Here's a method for determining if a spider is a big one: When you shine your flashlight across the floor of a room and 15 to 20 feet away, the Spider's eyes glow back at you.. that's a big SPIDER! (My Wife came up with this little "Test")


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## Gym Whourlfeld

When I posted on a Facebook site that the next BIG thing in Haunts will be"The Inescapable Room", some thought I was joking (Or am I Joe King?)
I do already have such a room in this house. Even "I", as the home owner have never been in this room because I could not get out of that room either, unless someone was there to help to make it happen. I would not be betting on that possibility!
Almost everyone sees this room during a tour of this house.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night we saw adults here from Texas, plus their local relatives plus two young Haunters that seasonally work in a very large haunt .
What a "Time" we all had!
I told the two Haunters after the house tour was completed that even though the first room had everyone roaring, that I have So Much to talk about and so many routines that I could do in that room.... that I could never do them all for any one group! (But I tried pretty hard last night to do it!)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I got somewhat "Concerned" last night about a young woman's safety and health because "I" would have been totally to blame if it had gone "Bad"!
I have been open for almost 29 years, Open almost every night for 29 years, plus most Weekend afternoons and I had never experienced this before (I guess I STILL have Not "Seen it All"?)
It was just "Him" & "Her" seated at the back of the first room. I was telling them the long, true story of the potentially fatal car wreck that I easily could have been the last life-event for me 17 years ago. There is quite a very odd and possibly a "Supernatural" bent to the events and there is not one word of "Fiction" told by me. 
I did an effect at the storie's conclusion that I have been doing for many years.. she began to really "lose-it"! She began quickening her respiration to the point of craziness! (Very quick, deep breaths) 
It took awhile to calm her down, but it sure scared me!
I have never engaged in that level of fear creation , never wanted to.
Physically or mentally scarring, damaging them emotionally, someone, should NEVER happen in a "Entertainment venue-"period".
They continued on through the entire house , laughing, having a "Fine Time".
Thankfully.


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## stick

Glad everything worked out for her in the in Jim.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

When I was trying to buy my house and seeking a financial partner I was told by three elderly men that there was a ghost of a woman in a long, white dress in the one corner of the wine/beer cellar.= number One ghost
The first week I owned the house a former tenant came here and told me about a little "Ghost" girl in the second floor apartment . He had seen her!
twelve years ago five young men saw a Ghostly woman in the one corner of the first room, they thought it looked like my Wife?
They all watched her stand there for quite awhile, then she zipped through the air very quickly, then vanished! That door she exited from
Five or six years ago during a very busy night in October, a young woman saw another young woman in the mirror upstairs. At first she thought it was a special effect?.. it wasn't.
Then 17 yrs. ago a Ghost kissed me across my forehead, three times! Nobody to be found there , at all.
Notice any "Pattern" here?---all of them happens to be girls! 
Then very recently, yet Another female ghost in a story about this house of mine!
1940? a local woman had a job, she rented just a "Room" here, she came home from work, sat on the bed.
As she sat there a female ghost walked in, sat down in the bed next to me!"
she ran, returned the by the next day, friends helped her to gather her things and efficiently move out.
The entire time she remained living in this small town she would never walk passed this house ever again and would not even look toward the house, her Niece said., which would actually be very easily accomplished since this house is sort of "Hidden" behind the downtown.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Yesterday two almost "feeble" elderly people discovered Ravens Grin. He had been hearing about it for "Years", finally someone gave them some more information, they had a great time here.
Then last night a small group discovered Ravens Grin.
The guy in the the group was very boisterous with his continuous complimenting of everything he saw here! 
His exclamations were very frequent and were to heard in almost every room and around every corner.
At my age such positive statements aimed at the things that I have been doing and creating here for over these last 30-plus years, is very gratifying.
I will always be very pleased and perpetually thankful for the golden opportunities that presented themselves to me along this journey.

I have worked at numerous "Jobs" in my life and I always was looking for the fun and memorable times to be had within those work situations.
Nothing begins to compare with what has happened here, within my own odd creation of a business.
Most realize quickly that Ravens Grin is quite "Different" from other possible venues. The house is full of my own creations (98%?) and until the Rush-Crush of October hits, the guy who made almost all of this "Stuff" and has done 98% of all the work here is also the one leading you through it.
This time of the year I do become "Carried Away" and house tours might run somewhat "long". Most people are entertained here and time slips by quicker than it may normally do.
I remember people I have known who at my age were basically "Done" (Or "Done-In?")
I credit much of my physical health to the house tours I perform, which forces my sometimes tired , old body to physically exert myself (More than most would ever even care to do?)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

This last weekend we were Very busy. A small boy (just "Talking") said my house is his favorite place! He may have started "something"? 
It seems quite a number of people that came after him basically said the same thing.
I feel very lucky, very fortunate to be alive to hear such compliments!
A short while ago a young woman was all "Wild-eyed" as she bought herself a ticket, and she remarked :"This is my favorite place!"

What have I done or what am I doing here to make people say this?
Well, number one, I keep them busy, busy before they are in the door. Just being here , "in-Person" does seem to impress people many times more than ANY photograph ever could.
I have have what looks like four 1950's Hudson "fast-Back cars wrecking into the house. I made a huge Skull that is at one corner of the house, this used to actually be the House's EXIT. ("Puked out on the Parking lot!")
The house is an 1860s Italianate with those fancy wood worked pieces ,(Brackets) all detailed in various colors of paint.
There is a huge fiberglass hand reaching out from the bushes, (Made by Marc Cline-Natural Bridge Virginia.)
Some very old License plates help hold the front door together.
Right now "In-Season" most of the house is hidden under a massive growth of grape vines.
When I bought this house 30 years ago, the vine was maybe only 10 feet long? Now it crosses the West end of the house , then turns East seeming to actually run the 125 feet of my lot! 
IT gives nice shade and Summertime cooling. Some of it's woody larger network of vine are as big around as my forearm muscle! (With some very interesting swoops and bends in it.)
This is the time of the year when some people think they are being charged too much to see a "Small" House!.
Recently in a review a woman wrote "The Ravens Grin is much bigger on the inside than the outside!" (She is a "Haunt worker" in a large Haunt near Chicago)
... then as the Fall approaches... the huge vine begins to thin-out... making seeing more of the exterior more possible... of course then the vine seems to be veins and arteries covering the entire house!
Physical and mental stimulation here makes for stimulating many people's brains' pleasure centers (Or so it sure seems ?)
I show them "Different" "Stuff", I change my tonal inflections, I use some terms not commonly found so much in-use any more. Jumping,screaming, laughing (At themselves and Others) all makes for fond memories for the majority of those coming through here.
I can provide a "Historical" routine, or a "Supernatural History' of the house and this tiny town with unexpected silliness thrown into that mix.
I know some people leave here impressed because I have surprised them , since they might not have been expecting to find so much entertainment (And Laughs") and pure mental stimulation as I have just given them?


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince

Frog and I are crossing our fingers that we'll be able to sidetrack this fall to see your fantastic sounding place. I was born and raised in Chicago grew up on the Amlings Halloween Haunted house out in Melrose Park. Went to college in Platteville but left the area almost 40 years ago when then new hubby moved us to the Seattle Area. Hoping to cross off my bucket list a visit to Salem Mass. Hate flying and love seeing the country so ROAD TRIP and your place is now on the list to make ever effort to visit. Humm a trifecta Salem, Sleepy Hallow and Mt Carroll... Sounds like a happy haunting trip to me.


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## dawnski

I too, visited the Melrose Park haunted house, Stinkerbell. That takes me back. And definitely need to get a group together to check out Raven's Grin. Hey Gym, how much is actual living space for you? Or do you use some of the "haunted" parts of your home as living space when it's not on tour? Perhaps you have a favorite chair and TV hidden among the spooky things in your home.


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince

Not to hijack the thread but... I cut my teeth on Amlings Haunted house, we have them to thank for my love for Halloween. It was family tradition to go out every year to the haunt. Maybe get to stop for a few rides at Kiddie Land and dinner at Russels BBQ or ice cream at **** Robins. Oh the memories. 

Dawnski not sure if this will take you back but to you recall Adventureland out in Addison? For a few summers in the 60's they did little skits in the train tunnel as the train passed through. The "candy cane" train had fairy tales. But we always rode the regular train that had a spooky haunted story... those red glowing eyes in the dark. What fun.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

As a child of the 1950s Scary movies, Sci-fi was everywhere! My older Cousin's stack of those old scary comics were inspiring, as was the storytelling of some movies. A Disney production about a Western Miner and mine was cheesey bit interesting with the main line being him almost singing "Clank-clank-clank, i may be Cold and Dank, but tickerty-Tee, how can I be, for there is no such thing as ME!" As a movie audience of young children just "Ate this up"!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night was SO MUCH FUN! A family , returned , and they were laughing and screaming in almost every room! They had a little boy, older girls, adults, and they had all almost been here before!
The "Man" screamed (the secret to that is to not "Let-Go" too soon, physically or mentally! )
The one teen-girl was trying to break my ear drums with her scream(but she was also Scared at the same time!
I just may be a "Laughter -Vampire", I need their happy expressions as much as I need to make those same noises myself!
I know I sure feel better the next day after such a session of physical exercise and mental stimulation!


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## dawnski

Oboy Russels and **** Robin with the square shaped ice cream. Sadly Kiddie Land is gone now (Got to go the week before it closed). I am sure I visited Adventureland but can't really remember. We visited Old Chicago in Bolingbrook more often. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_pdKGdnwxo I believe they filmed the amusement park scene in the old '70s horror flick The Fury there. If you bar hopped in Melrose Park, you're probably also lamenting the loss of the beloved Come Back Inn with the bear in front and their Kodiak burgers. Little article on what happened to Amlings Haunted House http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-wht-haunted-w-zone-14-oct16-column.html


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## Gym Whourlfeld

We were busy last night. As people filed into the "Kitchen" I looked at one man and I said,"Am I recognizing you?" 
Yes I had. He was last here maybe 20 years ago, he used to come here all the time, then the last time he was here for the first time with a "Date", and he became embarrassed and I had not seen him in all of this time.
The room was full of people, a different kind of a sort of "Tension" was in the air, I asked him if he wanted to make mention of that event so long ago or if he wanted me to tell it?
He had bent down (20 years ago) to ride my "Time-Travel " machine, just as he was about to be sent into it, someone reached over and pulled his pants down!
He vanished "Down-stream" into the darkness only to arrive in a well-lit room full of his friends with his rear naked! (There was not enough clearance or time to fix the situation, they could not be reinstated until he was in the glaring light and a room full of people were watching.
They began singing:"I see a-bad a-Moon a rising!!" (His "Moon")
All this happened on that only Date he had ever brought here.. then his Wife confessed, she was that "Date", (and also the one who had pulled his sweats down!)
Everything turned out "OK" in the END!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

We had a dozen "Bodies" arrive at our front door tonight. It was a group of little kids (Who have all been here before) A "Grandpa" and three Mothers rounded out the adult portion of their group,.. at least I thought that one woman had to be an "Adult"? She had a Daughter here in their group. I have seen this before, but Not from someone her age. This 40? Yr. old Woman could Not Stop Texting! Could not stop as her little girl was afraid and needed her attention. This woman walked around the first room seeking the best spot for her phone to work, she basically never took her eyes from the little "Buttons, no matter what ever else was happening near her or around her.
Then after I took the group out of the first room she asked my Wife for a refund, because the house was too "Hot". This was after about an hour had already gone by and I had given her Daughter a little ride on a device here, as I also did for every one of the kids in the group.
Her little Daughter was expressing all kinds of angst, fear (Of what I don't know?) And unfortunately for the girl, no matter what she said or did, none of "Her" was as important as the tiny keyboard............


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## stick

I feel sorry for the little girl that the mother could not spend an hour with her daughter. So very sad.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Yes, Stick, I agree. Too many children get too little of their Parents. When most of my kids were small I was on-call working six and a half days (or nights) a week.
It was my late Father's business, so I only got paid infrequently-When ever? Plumbing, Heating, AC. I didn't mind the work too much, but I really was discouraged by the lack of a regular pay schedule.
Out of such frustration and angst came my Haunted House. (I was already "starving", only one way to go-Up!)
What!? A "Haunted House in a tiny town miles from everything? THAT will Never "Work"!
30 years later I have impressed many people who were happy and pleased to pay me to get the tour here.
One man recently told me he thinks he has been here 200 times!? Another man told me he has been through Ravens Grin 75 times!
(It's "Working" Good Enough for ME!)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

The Ravens Grin had 6 patrons last night, then one young woman showed up here on her cross-country trek originating in New York. Someone had told her to come here.
I have never seen such an entertaining customer before! I was laughing So Much at her reactions .
(Just when you start to think that you have "Seen-It-All")
I would scare her, she would bare her teeth at me, stomp one leg out to her side, lower her er body, maybe throw one arm up into the air, slowly turn her head from side to side, then her arms might shoot straight up away from her body, turning some more growling with eyes wide!
Just when you think that is done, she spins around with arms poised,she is a thin young woman, and her body shape accentuated all of these Wacky sometimes Bird-looking moves. I never figured out her personal sense of timing as far as how long she would be doing all of these things. The length of duration did vary quite a lot.
I had to ask her if she is some kind of an actress?
She confessed to being a "Pre-School" Teacher.
I was also forced to ask her (After such a "Show") Why was she doing this, these extreme motions and odd body language moves?
She said her Dad was always scaring her and she reacted like she did because of that.
I never felt as if she was going to physically attack me or anything, maybe because I was consumed by my old, steady "Friend" " Uncontrollable Laughter"?
I think sometimes her "Performance" lasted a few minutes.
The entire experience was pleasantly "Burned into my Brain!" WOW! This was the "Show" she gave me in almost every room of this house.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I was told yesterday about a woman who came into town looking for "Ghosts"! She stopped at the local Bowling Alley (Where ghosts usually don't go (Too noisy all those wooden "Pins" crashing)
She asked if someone might accompany her to the basement and show her around?
A man went there with her, she asked about things down there, he told her how for years there had once been a small office room built in one corner and a roll-top desk had just sat there for many years until someone basically destroyed it just to see if something of value might have been inside of it.
Then she was told about a "Carriage House" that used to be behind the building.
The next day she returned saying that when she came into town, that she was seeing "Ghosts on every street corner."
She returned to the Bowling Alley and then began reciting everything that she had been told the day before as if these were her personal "Psychic Revelations!"
The roll-top desk, the Carriage house, but she didn't even realize.. that she was recanting this to the same guy that had told her these things the day before!?


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## Gym Whourlfeld

what's "New?"
Nothing much, a large tree fell on my house during the storm.I kind of "Knew" it was probably going to fall. It seemed to be sort of leaning...I had called a local tree trimmer,he looked at it said he would be cutting it for me, that was several months ago.
So being "Pro-active" I placed some old tires on the almost flat standing seam sheet metal roof along with a 10 ft. long piece of 60 yr. old welded, triangular radio tower spanning the space between two of the tires (Double-stacked)
The tree didn't hit any of my constructions. It landed on the last two feet of roof.
I also spent some time cutting and welding some steel bars, then drilling them.these went inside of the building to make the 2 by 6inch ceiling beams stronger.
I was as ready as I could be.
This was my second day of sawing on the tree. Maybe tomorrow I will use a chainsaw because the trunk is too thick for my small "Bow" Saw?
The Bow Saw, along with an adjustable trimmer got almost all of it done.(And the "Bow" does not wake up my Wife!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

People driving across the USA have been stopping at Ravens Grin, taking the tour of the house! People from New York, Kansas,Texas. There are a few websites specializing in showing "Oddities" .....and Here they come!
We had another busy weekend even though there was a Car Show in town with the streets near here closed to park the Car Show cars on.
(Almost nobody from these car shows ever comes to see Ravens Grin. Most of them never get more than 20 feet from their car. I don't blame them. If I owned such a restored, expensive car I would be the same way.. which is another reason to not own one. One less thing to concern myself with, one less worry.
A local collector displayed a "body" of one of three Pontiac "El Caminos" ever manufactured. It was lashed to a trailer. He also has one of 7? Pontiac Convertibles ever made in 1957 that has a fuel-injected engine (all restored $$$)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I have so much work to do here, yet a rotten tree decided it was time to fall (Still needs to be totally cut up and taken away.)
Still trying to finish a roof too.
Then there are those more creative, artistic ideas concerning things I would like to build before it's October!
I even mowed some grass today with my mower that has broken it's "Self-propelled" feature (Grunt! Swear, grunt!" Grr!)
The funny (odd) thing is, the More physical work I do, the better I feel the next day!? (It has not always been like that)
I have never smoked, drank or been more than maybe 10 pounds over-weight,and I'm 68 yrs. old. Living behind a Tavern for 30 years, I have seen quite a few people 50 to 60 yrs. old "Check Out" prematurely...smoking, drinking....


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Did it rain here last night? IT COULD NOT STOP RAINING! A family group of 9 people had just entered the house when it went a bit.. crazy!
Much rain and high winds were all around us.
At the conclusion of their house tour I offered them the opportunity to walk backwards through the house which would leave them only a few feet from their cars.
It was still raining fairly hard. The one Father said they would all just "Run for it!"
140 feet later.. they were back to their cars and Very Soaked, but then , it wasn't "MY CALL" was it? No, it was not.
My real "Pay" was when half-way through the house I overheard one young girl say:"This is the Best Haunted House I have ever seen!"


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## Gym Whourlfeld

This morning I was recorded talking about "Haunting" here at Ravens Grin Inn. The 56 minute interview will be on-line Monday?
(I am holding a hostage of theirs here. The carrying bag for their new tripod, so I will be heard!)
"He" and "She" took the house tour last night. Afterwards I visited my neighbor Tavern to get a Pepsi for my Wife (I had a "Gut" feeling that she was worth more than that, but "Oh-Well?")
As I walked in "He" & "She" were now there, the Bartender said:"We were all just talking about you!"
"He" asked, "I want to know where you get all of your energy to do everything that you do here?"
"He eats our "A-1 Hamburgers!" The Bartender chimed in. (True!)
During the interview today "She" said her father works in a "Prison". I said, "Well, he Tells you that, but he never comes Home!"
They did ask me a lot of questions. I gave truthful answers, which might be found interesting by a few of you here.


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## stick

I look forward to seeing the interview.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night a young woman and two children arrived at our door for a tour of Ravens Grin. She had been here once before, the children had not.
(There is a lot of "Stuff" here to see, a lot of items I can use to entertain people with)
She was brought here by some others who did not go through the house, they drove away, looking for something else to do.
Nobody else came here, my audience of "Three" seemed to be having a good and fun time .
At the tour's conclusion she thanked me for the experience and remarked how the other time she was here she was in a group of about 15 people and it wasn't as much "Fun". (Maybe it was the end of October?)
I told her how I would rather do tours like theirs was, slow-paced.
I walked back through the house feeling very good about what she had said.
I get back inside where my Wife is and she proceeded to tell me how the doorbell rang, she went to the ticket window to find an angry person there complaining about how they had dropped them off here and how They had been waiting in the parking lot for them to finish the tour, AND that my Wife should go get them all "Right Now" and " Drag them out of the house no matter what or where they were in the house! "
My Wife could tell from the sounds of the tour that were were already very near the Exit and she informed this angry person of this, to which they merely replied their original pointless demands!
My Wife told them where the exit was and suggested they drive there to get them, which they did.
Yes, it turned out to be a two hour tour. Nobody told me that anyone was waiting for them. When we were in the Cupola I always look from those windows to see it more people were there, and there were only our own two cars to be "seen" (They did not sit there for 2 hours, if they sat there at all?)
The adult woman who went through the house is probably 35 years old, those were Her kids, as an adult going through my house after paying to do so, why would we even consider "Yanking" them out of the house, the exact phrase the nasty. "Waiting" Woman, or Man used.
Some "Communication" would have been good. Communication -all around......(Early" communication )


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Yesterday was such a busy day that it even carried over into the night! A group of "Bikers" showed up here at 2 in the afternoon (when we open on Sat. & Sunday)
A few of them had been here before, but most had not. They were very patient as they waited their turn as there were too many "Bodies" to all come in at the same time.
Then late last night three more people arrived which my wife and I spent a lot of time simply socializing with before the tour, and these three had really fun senses of humor among the three.
The bikers were a bit older than maybe the normal such groups might be, but my efforts were not lost on them by any means, most hurled lavish compliments my way at the house tour's conclusion. They mostly could not believe that merely one person (me) could have accomplished so much here. I told them I have had some help over these last 30 years, I also told them I know who did what here and how long they worked here for me... but then this helper/group is not really very large at all.
To me at my age, compliments are worth more than money. you spent money so quickly you forget it, a true , sincere compliment can't "Spend". you can take it with you every where, any where that you may go, enjoying it as you treasure such a given, positive remark forever.
There was one man who seemed to not really be enjoying himself here, then as soon as he stepped out of the exit, he turned around, shook my hand , smiling and began saying how impressed he had just been!
We then spoke for quite awhile!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

We had an exceptionally busy afternoon and night yesterday. It was quite a "work Load",with only really one "Snag".
A man from half-way around the world came here and wanted to get a tour of this house but he seemed to not want to actually buy their tickets like everyone else?
My Wife had to deal with him and his demands, she plainly explained how our simple system works.
"Buy your tickets right now and you will be going in with the next group."
Then he would walk away, disappear only to return as the now filled group was going into the house. If he would have bought those tickets he and "his" would have been entering the house.
Then later he returned yet another time and demanded that they be just their own "Group' (Three total, counting himself.)
Maybe he believes that he is sort of.. "special?" "Privileged" Person?
Then he gave us a one-star rating and fabricated some things that were not said by my Wife.(I know this because I know her very well, she never loses her pleasant demeanor with even the most difficult people.)
A Tour requires 60 to 90 minutes. we were supposed to lose money by catering to his demands? I don't think so.
When he posted his negative review he said:"Maybe we will return sometime to again feed their mosquitoes?"
I liked that.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

We recently had a visitor from a large Haunt (135 employees)
I listened to him talk describing the physical parts of the seemingly large undertaking. Then he began telling me some of the "Horror Stories" from this large Haunt!
He spoke long and in detail concerning the problems of "People" in the Haunt.
When he got done.. I was exhausted just listening to all of those incidents of physical aggression , angst and confrontations.
It was sort of like watching a very physical contact professional sporting event and you just wonder if anyone will survive it healthy?
Not something that I would ever want to have, no matter if 50,000 people did come to it.
I thank him for reinforcing my love for what I have here, in my house, my business.
Things got So Much Better and simpler when we began not allowing the screaming, staggering Drunks in our door. They cost you good customers and can also cost you a lot of money as they deface, steal, destroy anything that they decided that they could get away with.(As played out by the drunken mind.)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*Some Very Interesting...."People"*

Have paid us a visit lately. How "interesting?"
How about a man who worked on the set of "Indiana Jones" and built some of the cave and skeletons?
He also worked on "Battle Ship", and actual (heavy steel) parts were taken from a real battleship to build with, all on a huge "Gimble"to make it move as a ship on the ocean moves. (That Gimble had to carry 50 tons!)


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last night as I entered the local grocery store there was a group of young women standing just inside the exit in conversation. One of them was wearing a Haunt shirt with a large design on it from a new Haunt.
On my way out of the store she was still standing there so I asked her how she like the new haunt on her shirt?
First she said she really liked it. then she told me how stupidly the haunt actors were "Hidden" that she guessed where they all were hiding before she even got all the way in the front door!?
Next she told me how she loves to scare the haunt actors as they are trying to do their assigned jobs. (I bet they just can't wait for her to come back again!)
She sees 30 haunts every October ($$$!?) And many places ask her to work for them. (Maybe not?)
Then she said:"If you see people exiting a Haunt, and everybody is laughing, then something is wrong with that Haunt!"
This woman has been through my Haunt a few times (She said) and she just condemned my place with her last narrow-minded comment.
Late this afternoon a couple came here for the first time , they laughed So Much that it was incredible! (Which means I was also laughing with them! )
I scare here with very stupid, silly, common items (mostly) After the screams, they realize this and most will them.. laugh,I have forever promised people there will be no bloody, gory displays here (Unless my head explodes talking to women as I described at the beginning of this post?)
I don't "Do" movie monsters here, I have some masks sitting on shelves, but they are really not a part of my "Show".
I feel confident that people who I "Scare" will not have any problems with those scares afterwards, mostly because they were laughing right afterwards
, and often are still laughing as the next scare might be happening!
It's entertainment without the phobias or bad dreams later. Many people give my "Show" glowing reviews.. because they all had a really good time here!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

I had quite a dream recently.
I was dreaming that it was doing too much raining. The Creek down over the cliff right behind our house was filling. The water level got to the top edge of the bank only 25 feet from our house! (I was getting very worried about this, but then I wondered:"If the water is this high here, much of the rest of Illinois must just about be under water!"
Then the pressure of all that water in the creek made something give-way in the creek's bottom!?
The water began swirling very fast as tons of creek water went down in the swirl never to be seen again! (This made me "Happy!" )
Then I went outside for a look at he water level.. there in this new "lower" creek-bed was the massive wall of an ancient roman coliseum! It had marvelous carvings on it's walls!)
Then I saw a large round piece of stone which had a Roman's face carved into it!
I went from Scared and sad, to ecstatic as I was guessing that a great number of people would be coming here to see this find! 
Life is.. Good!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

*It began last night!*

We were very busy here (And we had no "hired Help" yet!)
I do believe that running this place keeps me healthy. I'm running from the Cupola to the wine cellar below the basement and it was basically "Non-Stop all afternoon until late last night.
Last week my new neighbor helped me put a new tarp over the crashed UFO that is on top of the cupola.
I never knew that pink tarps existed,but I really like it. At night it just seems to "Glow".
Over the last 29 years many more Females have came through the house than Males, maybe the Pink tarp is for them?
The Male has a distinct disadvantage because when a girl screams, she's just "A Girl'. When a guy screams.. he's a "Girl"!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

When I opened this Haunted House of the first few people that I had one man was a Doctor. He seemed very un-impressed with my place, until all these people began showing up here from the town he lived in (35 miles away) 
Because of him and his enthusiasm for my house, I saw enough first time new patrons to have a good "Start" and keep on building my reputation.
Today a young couple discovered my house. as we talked he told me he is a Mortician (45 miles away)
My first, best patrons were Doctors,Dentists,Morticians,Nurses... maybe it's a common morbid sense of humor?
The new Mortician's Wife was a Nurse in an Emergency room... kind of "Fits", doesn't it?


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince

We were the couple tonight from Seattle who came out tonight on our way home from a road trip to Salem Mass and Sleepy Hollow NY. Wish we had a better chance to chat but the rain and my bad knee was working against that. Thanks so much for the tour of your fantastic home, all the "stories" and special thanks for allowing me to take the easy way with the bad knee.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Last Sunday afternoon and Night saw me running the while house by myself. My Wife was sick and our normal help all had previous plans (or something?) 
Guess what? I had So Much FUN!
To give a complete tour of my house takes quite a lot of plain, old "Time". Thankfully not everyone came here at the same time.
The physical demands are long and varied, covering close to a half of a mile of foot-travel.
This has never been a place where people can just wander or explore.
Now, Wednesday, I may have paid the "Price". I have a cold, plugged facial "plumbing", and more' thick-headed" than usual ..........


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## Gym Whourlfeld

This October as a woman was still waiting outside to begin her tour here, she told us how she had recently paid $300 for Haunt tickets, this included "Speed Passes", then they stood in-line for 3 Hours!
Then some "Gang-Bangers" began hassling them for their tickets or place in line! (No "Security?")
Her Son got so upset he left, went back home... they finally got in.. ten minutes later they were done!?
How many people would ever go back to this again?


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## stick

I am one that would never go back or pay $300 for tickets Jim.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Many who come to enjoy my Haunt would never spend $300 either, or wait in line for three hours.
As a Haunt owner, i know how things can sometimes go, as "Beyond one's control, no-show-no-call employees top that short list.
Then there is the Weather! Then the price of a Gal. of gas, sporting evens like the World Series...
A Tour here might take a long time, once inside the house. I have So Many routines and devices and stories concerning this house.
I do try to get an accurate "Read" on whether or not to keep keeping -on, which can result in a long show here, a performance that is peculiar to myself and this house (That most talk about for Years. It is what keeps this house in their minds and keeps some people talking (favorably) about the time they spent here .
Free Advertising!
Even one customer who thought my house and show was not what he wanted complimented my creativity and energy he saw and heard while here.
If you can't impress them one way or another, you just lost a portion of why we entertain others the way we do.


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## Gym Whourlfeld

Today on the local Facebook site for this tiny town, someone wanted to know where all of the former residents now lived looking for the person who moved the farthest away.
I posted there :"I live right here in Mount Carroll, but I live inside of The Ravens Grin Inn, so I am farthest "Away"! (In non-physical ways.)
This last Summer I had So Many people arrive here as their sought after destination from sometimes very far away!
New York City, Minneapolis, Washington State, New Orleans....and every so often some local person will suggest that I should go-traveling?
I have no desire to leave here, and besides that, people come Here from all over.
There have been visitors here from almost any country one may name!


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## Gym Whourlfeld

November 14th-"What season is it? It's the "Season" when other Haunted Houses bring (or Send?) their employees to see The Ravens Grin Inn!
Thank you-We appreciate it!


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## pumpkinpatchbook

I am so ashamed to say that I live in Illinois, just a little over 2 hours away from Ravens Grin, and I still have not visited. I am making it a goal to go there before the end of the year!!!!!!!!


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