On a dark and dreary night, you aimlessly wander down Sheridan Road. In the distance you can make out an imposing mansion cloaked in mist and fog. You make your way closer and closer until you stand at the door. Chills run down your spine as the great door slowly opens with a hollow creak. You turn to run, but you suddenly remember why you came. You’re here for the tour.
This is the Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood St. It is the site of Haunted History, a Halloween event in Evanston running through Nov. 1 that is geared specifically for adults.
Blending history and the supernatural, Haunted History features magician and Halloween historian David Parr, who guides small groups on interactive tours of the house. He discusses topics from fortune-telling to witchhunting and mixes in magic tricks throughout.
“It’s not about rubber masks and chainsaws,” Parr said. “When people get spooked these days, they are usually shocked for a moment — then it’s over. We wanted to create a subtle, more lasting effect, something that will hopefully last longer than the duration of the tour.”
The tour begins in the foyer of the house where Parr discusses and demonstrates fortunetelling in 19th century America.
Parr then leads the group to the kitchen and offers ways to interrogate a suspected witch, turning to an unsuspecting audience member and asking, “Have you ever placed a curse on a neighbor’s butter churn?”
Although humor dominates the early parts of the tour, the general mood darkens with every room visited, culminating in Parr’s attempt to communicate with the spirit world.
Using an old wooden box and a pencil, he constructs a “spiritual telegraph” and repeatedly calls out to the spirits to answer him. The audience remains in hushed silence as distant knocks are heard from deep within the box. He holds up three fingers and challenges the spirits to guess how many fingers he is holding up. The audience gasps at the result.
Parr stresses the importance of the historic atmosphere provided by the Dawes House, which has been restored to how it was when Charles Dawes, vice president to Calvin Coolidge, lived there in the 1920s. It houses the Evanston Historical Society, which runs daily tours through the building.
“At the (Dawes House), you can create a certain sense of tension and expectation,” Parr said. “This type of location resounds best with people. It feels as if something could happen in the the shadows at any moment.”
Mundelein, Ill., resident Mike Flynn agreed, saying that although the magic was interesting, the house itself made the tour enjoyable.
“The house is fantastic,” Flynn said. “The whole ambiance of the house makes everything so much better. We’ll have to do the daytime tour of the house to see if there are any dead men in the basement.”
Tours run daily through Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., with an additional 10 p.m. tour Oct. 31. Tickets are $20. Call 847-475-3410 for reservations.
