Raven's Grin Inn, Illinois, United States

5JeffWagg 5:00 PM Sep 6, 2016

One man's art becomes your delightfright.
It's an interesting old house, built on a cliff. And you know something is odd when no one answers the door immediately. And from there, it's a whirlwind of "true" ghost stories, thrill rides, spooks and some downright strange things. This is at its heart, an art museum, though it won't feel like one. I promise that though you may not understand everything that's going on, or get all the jokes, you will be surprised and at times, astonished.

5JJKFETP 5:00 PM Oct 18, 2019

Unique! Try to arrive at opening or else about 90 minutes later
I am not aware of any site that is anything like Raven's Grin Inn. As some reviews and websites mention, it is more fun house than haunted house, so I advise people looking to be scared to look elsewhere or else tone down their expectations of being frightened. I arrived a few minutes before 7 PM on a Thursday, and I got in on the first tour of the evening with a family just in front of me and a couple that came a few minutes later. A party of three agreed to link up with us after we'd already gone through the long-ish intro in the first room. A few minutes before 9, our tour was over. Therefore, unless you want to wait a fairly long time, I suggest you show up by opening time or else plan on knocking on the window about 90 minutes after opening to indicate your interest, as you likely would get in on the second tour of the evening. As for the experience: there's lots to see, read, digest, and listen to. The owner must expend a lot of energy each day, because he talks and acts a lot. The house is creatively repurposed into a strange mix of bends, slides, doors, and so on. There is lots of personal and local history included, but over time I would say Jim shares more jokes and anecdotes than long-form stories; those are saved for the beginning. Even if a lot of the humor doesn't appeal to you, I think you could be impressed by a man's labor of love and source of fun, so it's not likely to be a waste of your time. Sidebar: the little downtown has some stunning buildings, hills, and charm, so you can use the site as an excuse to get to know Mount Carroll if you don't already know it. Bonus? Savanna, IL is on the Mississippi River about a 15-minute drive away.