If you're looking to do something for Halloween, there are plenty of options in Chicago, including two museums that offer rather different experiences.
If you are intrigued by horror and not afraid to learn about gory details, chances are you might want to visit the Medieval Torture Museum, which opened last winter at 177 N. State St. Most of the exhibitions are extremely graphic, and everything is interactive, Paula Malone, museum director explained. "So you can lift and drop the blade of guillotine like the torturer, or you can get into the stock like the person being tortured," she said.
If you visit during Halloween weekend, you’ll see people waking around in witches' costumes. "They are wandering around the museum," Malone said. "They don’t jump out, it’s not a jump scare. Same as the museum, it is interactive but no jump scares." At the Museum of Illusions, which opened last November, there’s absolutely nothing scary or haunted - just dozens of exhibits designed to tease your senses and trick your brain.
"Halloween and optical illusions go very well together, so of course it’s our favorite holiday, and we went all out with the decor," said Stacy Stec, marketing manager at Museum of Illusions Chicago, 25 E. Washington St.
There are also plenty of mind bending illusions to experience, like a giant 3D painting that doesn't look 3D until you see it up close. "I’ve actually seen people run into this before because their eyes haven’t adjusted yet," explained Malone. The Museum of Illusions offers trick-or-treating for children this weekend and an afterhours adult Halloween party on Thursday.