Laura Lodewyck, NBC5 Street Team

Until now, I never fully appreciated the sheer volume of Halloween-oriented activities in Chicago, not to mention the insane range of options available. How do you decide how to celebrate? I guess it depends on your definition of Halloween fun.

First, there’s the inevitable contradiction of Halloween for children. Halloween is arguably a holiday for the kiddies — but only the dressing up and eating candy part, not the walking undead, blood-splattered, chainsaw-massacre, evil-clown part. So the compromise is events like the “scare free” Ghostly Gardens at Navy Fear, or bat origami at Creatures of the Night at Garfield Conservatory. And there’s always Chicagoween.

Then, you've got the Halloween-is-an-excuse-to-do-that-strange-thing-you've-always-wanted-to-do crowd. If you're one of them, I suggest the Thrill the World - Chicago event, which is being held with the intent of breaking the world record of people dancing the Thriller dance simultaneously. Or, you can live your dream of finally owning a giant mammoth costume, which will be available this Saturday at Goodman Theatre’s costume shop sale. There’s also good old-fashioned vandalism, which I of course don't condone; but you have to admit that things like gnome-theft always seem to happen around this time of year.

Of course, classic Halloween means terrifying yourself so completely that you have to sleep with a nightlight until Christmas. A lot of the huge haunted houses are a bit outside of the city itself, but in Chicago there’s the Haunted Sanitarium by the lake (which used to be a real sanitarium, by the way) and St. Pascal’s Haunted House (which cautions, “NO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 7!”, so you know it’s um…scary). If you do want to drive a bit to get your scare on, I suggest the Haunted Raven’s Grin Inn in Mount Carrol — partially because this Halloween they are holding a real “Ghost Seekers Night” for serious ghost hunters, but mostly because their web site features a giant cat peering over the roof of the house for no apparent reason.

And I have to mention the tours, because the city of Chicago itself is reportedly incredibly haunted. There’s the Chicago Hauntings Tours, which takes you to the highlights of “one of the most haunted cities in the world”; Weird Chicago Tours, featuring the most unusual haunted places; and Haunted Chicagoland Tours, bringing you the “most haunted locations from the comfort and safety of a luxury motor coach!”. Even the lake can be haunted, according to Seadog Cruises and Chicago Kayak Tours, which both offer haunted events in honor of Halloween.

I know I've missed even more Halloween events, so e-mail me at NudeHippo@nbc5.com and let me know what you suggest. And don't forget to watch some of the fun locations and events that NUDE HIPPO has covered at NBC5.com/nudehippo