Raven's Grin Inn

Recently rated among the most haunted places in America by Thrillist, this 140-year-old home was purchased by Jim Warfield in 1988 and transformed into a maze of spooky art, prop gags, and a three-story slide into a haunted wine cellar. Warfield claims the ghosts scared his first wife so badly that she left him.

Raven's Grin Inn at 411 North Carroll Street in Mount Carroll is a sprawling five-story Victorian building that Jim Warfield purchased for $3,000 in the 1980s and transformed into a full-time, year-round haunted attraction and funhouse. Built in 1870, the house has served as a brothel, schoolhouse, apartment complex, Oldsmobile dealership, and speakeasy during Prohibition, but operated as an inn and tavern for over 50 years.

Warfield dreamed of building a haunted attraction open every day—perhaps even a haunted bed and breakfast. He worked tirelessly to realize this vision, often facing criticism from townspeople. But the day Raven's Grin opened, it was already a success. In Warfield's own words, "The village idiot became the town hero."

Warfield saved the house from demolition and filled it with his eclectic art projects, rigging the entire structure as an elaborate funhouse. He serves not only as designer and decorator but as the main star, performing vaudeville-style routines relying on wit and wisdom nearly every night of the year. Tour participants follow Jim through secret passages, outside to a haunted sculpture garden, back through labyrinths and dioramas, up stairs, down slides, and into an ancient wine cellar that once served as a speakeasy bar.

Beyond the manufactured scares, Raven's Grin appears to have genuine ghosts. People claim to see a lady in white roaming the wine cellar and escaping into the ceiling—not an effect of Warfield's creation. Strange noises and sensations permeate the house, and Warfield himself once saw a pair of jeans walk into the living room unaccompanied by a body. His first wife left him because of the house—specifically, the ghosts who pulled her hair whenever she went into the wine cellar.

Recently, Warfield shared his Alzheimer's diagnosis, affecting nearly four decades' worth of customers and friends. Tours continue by appointment, now customized by Jim and his wife Jessica to the interests and comfort levels of guests.