Things to Do in DeKalb

Evil Intentions Haunted House evokes the details of its site’s checkered past to conjure the stuff of nightmares. The area the haunted house now occupies has been plagued with creepy occurrences for more than a century. Since the 1890s the expanse has been used as the premises of a coffin company, a stomping ground for escapees from a nearby mental institution, and a gathering place for the occult’s summer softball league.

Starting in 2005, the Evil Intentions Haunted House team slowly transformed this troubled spot into a haunted house that comes alive with shrieks once night falls. Visitors can leave their cars in the free parking lot and gather in the indoor waiting area before exploring more than 20,000 square feet of tortuous halls filled with dark decor and costumed frights. Demonic clowns, faceless butchers, and cleaver-wielding lunatics creep around corners and leap out of hidden alcoves, scaring both passing patrons and the actual ghosts who occupy the building.

Established in 1968, Midway Village Museum embodies a sprawling, 137-acre time capsule. Within the museum’s 27 fully functioning, Victorian buildings, exhibits tell the story of Rockford since its incorporation in the early 19th century. Throughout the years, the town has made history as the progenitor of the sock monkey, the launching point for aviator Bert Hassell, and home of the Rockford Peaches—an all-female baseball team fictionalized in the film A League of Their Own, though the real squad neither played in the 1943 championship nor battled a CGI dragon. Other attractions amid the barns, blacksmiths, and general stores include a dollhouse museum and a meticulous archive of Rockford’s long, proud history in the furniture industry.

The T-6 Texan isn't like most of the airplanes you see on the runway. For starters, it only has two seats. Then there’s the US Military aircraft crest stamped on the side of its mustard-yellow frame—a reminder of the warplane's years of service, from the 1930s to the '50s, when it carried three 30-caliber machine guns and a 400-pound bomb-load. A 1944 T-6 Texan is part of the fleet of fliers at Gauntlet Warbirds, a flight-instruction center that specializes in warplanes and aerobatic aircraft.

Chief pilot Greg Morris has been flying for more than 15 years and teaching for 10. He has a degree in aerospace engineering from USC and was awarded Master CFI-Aerobatic by the National Association of Flight Instructors. He continues to teach the T-6 to aspiring Air Force test pilots and flight-test engineers at test-pilot school as part of the Qualitative Evaulation program. Morris and his team of seasoned instructors copilot joyrides and offer training programs for mastering each aircraft in their fleet, which, in addition to the aforementioned T-6 Texan, includes the 1942 Boeing N2S Stearman, the L-39 Eastern block military jet, as well as aerobatic stunt planes such as the Yak-52, Extra 300L, Bellanca Decathlon, and Super Decathlon, all of which credit their thrill-seeking ways to strict upbringings.

Voracious engines devour yards of pavement as stock cars and custom racers whip around Sycamore Speedway's track at top speed, relying on their tires’ tread to keep them glued to the ground. Occasionally, the rubber grip gives way and spectacular smashups ensue, a much-sought-after sight during a Friday night Demolition Derby. The track welcomes souped-up models from any year between 1965 and 2012 to compete in its Super Late Model category, during which a huge variety of chassis and a marching band equipped with jetpacks perform a breakneck parade around the track. As racers test the mettle of their adrenal glands, spectators kick back in ample stand space to enjoy hot dogs, sodas, and other refreshments that can be purchased onsite.

In 1987, Louise Beem and Dorothy Carpenter were early-childhood-education specialists. Based on their combined experience—gained from teaching preschool, founding the College of DuPage's early-childhood-education program, and being grandmothers—the two friends felt that traditional methods of teaching youngsters were less than optimal at the time. Their brainchild, the DuPage Children's Museum, began that same year. The pair designed the museum's colorful exhibits to incorporate interactive and open-ended elements, which they believed more closely matched the way kids learn and naturally process information, a discovery they say has now been corroborated by findings in neuroscience research.

In that vein, the three-story museum engages young neurons with interactive art, math, and science-themed attractions. Giving little hands the chance to explore, the AWESome Electricity exhibit bridges the gap between the electric-powered gadgets and lights families use every day to where all that nonbreakfast-based energy comes from. Kids learn how electricity gets from one place to another and what its basic units are while at play in the museum's signature hands-on spaces. Elsewhere, the Young Explorers exhibit is designed for children aged 2 and under, who develop math skills by learning concepts such as sorting and patterning and express their creativity by experimenting with color and light.

On tours from Haunted Hometowns, each traveler clutches an EMF meter, nervously waiting for a flash that detects electromagnetic fields, thus signaling the presence of paranormal activity. Meanwhile, a seasoned storyteller imparts gripping tales of murder, local legends, and ghostly encounters. Based on the books of ghost historian and storyteller Diane Ladley, Haunted Hometowns tours build on her four decades of research, as well as her intimate knowledge of the area and its rumored spectral inhabitants. Guides encourage participants to tote along their cameras so that they’re prepared to preserve the spooky sights along the way and catch photo-bombing ghosts in the act.