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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Chicago. Written by Monica Eng, Justin Kaufmann and Carrie Shepherd.

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Halloween on a Saturday (and the day before we set the clocks back)?! Expect some sleepy people at work on Monday. 

State of play: Here are our picks for this Halloweekend.

Two-panel image: left shows a corgi in a green costume on a leash looking up at a person in blue overalls near a "No smoking / No fumar" sign; right shows a small dog in a white coat inside a taped cardboard "Bark to the Future" prop.

A Luigi corgi and Doc from "Bark to the Future" at last year's Streeterville Dog Halloween Party. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios

🪦 Although readers voted it out in the first round of our spooky places tournament, an evening stroll through Rosehill Cemetery gives me goosebumps. But this walk is more for nature lovers than scare seekers. | Free | 5800 N. Ravenswood | Thursday, 5pm

✨ For its first Halloween, The Hand & The Eye magic mansion takes visitors back to the Gilded Age and the grandeur of the World's Fair. Bring out your ballgown! Perhaps the spirit of Houdini, who died 100 years ago on Saturday, will appear. | $325 | Saturday, 7pm

🐶 The only thing cuter than little kids in costumes? Dogs in costumes! Dog parents do not mess around in the costume contest at the Annual Streeterville Dog Halloween Party. I love it, even if Zuzu has never won. | Free | MCA | Saturday, 9-11am

🎉 I missed Arts in the Dark last weekend, but there's another chance to catch a costume parade, DJs, treats and more at the Upside Down Halloween Parade. | Free | Russell Drive in Washington Park | Saturday, noon-2pm

💀 LondonHouse Chicago has one of THE best views of the city. To view the city on Halloween night from those heights will be such a treat. Nightmare on Wacker Drive: Día de los Muertos offers a true grown-up Halloween party with dancing and a midnight costume contest. | $150 | 85 E. Wacker Drive | Saturday, 9pm-1am

Person in dramatic makeup with blue eyeshadow and red lips, wearing a red heart-shaped headdress topped by a gold crown, white frilly collar and dark velvet costume; night street scene.

People in costumes attend the Halloween parade on Halsted Street in 2017.  Photo: Bilgin Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

🎃 The 30th annual Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade is by far the best in the city. The queer community doesn't mess around! It takes over Northalsted with live entertainment, amazing costumes and a contest featuring $4,000 in cash prizes. This parade should be on your Chicago bucket list. | Free | Halsted between Aldine and Addison | Saturday, 7pm 

🎬 This is Halloween blasphemy, I know, but I only recently watched "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" all the way through for the first time. Now I need to see it with an audience. The cult classic takes over the Chicago Theatre with a 4K restoration, live shadow cast, audience participation and a costume contest. | $84 | Saturday, 7:30pm 

🎸 I'm a sucker for Halloween shows where bands transform into other bands for a night. Chicago punk rockers Sincere Engineer are morphing into The Hives at Cobra Lounge, joined by Won't Stay Dead as Alkaline Trio. These shows are always fun. | $30 | Saturday, 7pm

🪩 Recess drew huge crowds when it transformed into a World Cup bar this summer, so my guess is its "Death by Disco" Halloween party will be packed, too. The two-night bash features more than 20 DJs, live performers, a silent disco, an adult ball pit and, of course, costumes. | $79+ | Friday and Saturday, 8pm

💀 Pilsen's Día de los Muertos Window Walk features storefront displays created by local businesses and student artists along 18th Street. Visitors can vote for their favorites. But don't miss the unbelievable display one block south on 19th Street between Throop and Loomis. | Free | Through Nov. 2 

🥔 I, frankly, just wanna sit in front of that Highland Park house where the guy hands out potatoes (baked or raw, I do not know) for Halloween, but I'm afraid I'd look creepy. 

🎥 Manual Cinema brings its blend of shadow puppetry, movie techniques, sound effects and live music to this spectacle, blending the Frankenstein story with author Mary Shelley's biography. | $55-$95 | Studebaker Theater | Saturday-Sunday, various times 

👯 You can help fund Chicago's "Fame"-style Academy for the Arts high school while having a ball dressed as your favorite deceased celebrity this Halloween at the "Dead Famous" party. | $200 | The Alston | Saturday, 8pm

💃 As someone spookily great at dancing, I'm torn between two parties at Metro. Saturday's Nocturna: All Hallow's Eve Ball features a costume contest, GlitterGuts live photo booth and DJ Scary Lady Sarah. Hallo-Queen on Sunday offers multiple DJs and installations by Boxboy Rich, hosted by Lucy Stoole. | $25-$37 | Metro | Saturday, 10pm and Sunday, 9pm

📚I don't love scary movies, but I really dig Chicago broadcaster and author Nick Digilio, who is launching his "40 Years, 40 Horror Films" and signing books just in time for Halloween. | Free | Kaiser Tiger | Friday, 6-8pm 

Nightmare on Wacker Drive: Día de los Muertos

out potatoes (baked or raw, I do not know)

Chicago Halloween weekend: 15 events not to miss

Our picks for this Halloweekend include a cemetery stroll and an adult ball pit.

Illustration of a calendar in the shape of a ghost

Halloween on a Saturday (and the day before we set the clocks back)?! Expect some sleepy people at work on Monday. State of play: Here are our picks for this Halloweekend.

Things to Do

Food and Drink

Holidays

Neighborhoods

Even if they're not officially haunted, Chicago has some spooky spots that give us goosebumps.

The big picture: From cavernous, dark hallways in historic hotels to empty malls, this week's Axios Chicago tournament is on a mission to crown the spookiest place in Chicagoland.

Methodology: We're not looking for haunted histories. We're judging the creepy vibes of buildings, streets and even entire neighborhoods. We included suburban spots, too.

With only 16 slots, plenty of scary contenders were omitted. 

The contenders: Our Sweet 16 includes Lower Wacker Drive, the Drake Hotel, the Pedway, the old Cook County Hospital and even Northbrook Court Mall. Have you been in there lately? Definitely spooky.

Cast your vote: Polls close at 4pm on Thursday. 

Vote for Chicago's spookiest places in our Halloween bracket

We start with 16 scary spots around town, but we'll end up with the readers favorite.

Collage of urban architecture: fortress-like stone building, night-lit riverfront with stairs, red Congress Hotel sign, interior mall space, The Drake neon sign, and ornate historic façades.

Various spooky spots in Chicago. Photos: Getty Images/Axios 

Even if they&#x27;re not officially haunted, Chicago has some spooky spots that give us goosebumps.The big picture: From cavernous, dark hallways in historic hotels to empty malls, this week&#x27;s Axios Chicago tournament is on a mission to crown the spookiest place in Chicagoland.

Culture

History

A new "arts destination" will open in North Lawndale next summer, and we got a sneak peek.

The big picture: Plans for West Edge Arts at 3216 W. Ogden Ave. include a cafe, classrooms and a performance stage, all surrounded by a mural park. It's free for visitors.

What they said: "We want this to be a destination where a family can spend the afternoon exploring art, where a young person can discover a new creative passion, where an emerging artist can develop their skills," West Edge Arts executive director Chelsea Dawkins said Tuesday.

Six people at a construction site, wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests, posing and smiling for the camera. A colorful patterned column and scaffolding stand behind them.

Janice Bond from Chicago Public Art Group, artist Dorian Sylvain, and artists Trinity Treadwell, Elizabeth Antwi, Kahari Black and Carina Vargas-Nunez. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios

Zoom in: One of the most defining features of West Edge Arts will be the 30 murals surrounding the center. One has already been installed.

Chicago muralist Dorian Sylvain's "Bring It With You" wraps a 50-foot-high pillar in colorful imagery inspired by arts-and-crafts traditions of various cultures.

"My design is grounded in the question of what makes a place home?" Sylvain explained.

"What do we bring with us when we leave our place of origin and we come to a new place? What do we bring that helps us to create a new space, a new home, but one that is still grounded in memory, grounded in tradition, grounded in aesthetic?"

State of play: West Edge Arts operates as a nonprofit with funding for the center from individual donors and the Vivo Foundation.

What's next: The arts center is expected to open next summer.

West Edge Arts opening in Chicago's North Lawndale next summer

The free West Edge Arts center will feature a cafe, performance stage and 30 murals when it opens.

Modern cafe with curved glass walls, outdoor seating of yellow chairs, people sitting and walking in a shaded courtyard; lush trees and a pink wall in the background.

Rendering of West Edge Arts. Photo: Courtesy of Wheeler Kearns Architects


A new &quot;arts destination&quot; will open in North Lawndale next summer, and we got a sneak peek.The big picture: Plans for West Edge Arts at 3216 W. Ogden Ave. include a cafe, classrooms and a performance stage, all surrounded by a mural park. It&#x27;s free for visitors.

A new monument in the Illinois Medical District honors essential workers, first responders and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why it matters: Located in the center of the IMD on Chicago's Near West Side, the memorial anchors a public park that invites health care workers, patients and community members to rest and reflect.

What they're saying: "Today, we stand witness to the only monument in the world that honors frontline and essential workers, remembers those whom we lost to COVID-19, and celebrates our resilience in the face of adversity," Illinois Medical District Commission CEO and executive director Allyson Hansen said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Zoom in: The sculpture by Casey Schachner transforms the coronavirus into a dandelion puff, changing the symbol of illness into hope and rebirth. The "spikes" on the virus feature LED lights that illuminate the memorial.

Five concrete benches, accentuated by steel globes, surround the sculpture.

State of play: The monument anchors a park bounded by Damen Avenue, Polk Street and Ogden Avenue, that will include green space, a fitness track, a healing garden and a play area.

Each area of the park provides a space for social, mental and physical health.

Geometric sculpture made of gray perforated metal cubes with purple rings sits on a gravel site; workers in hard hats stand nearby as trees and city buildings loom in the background.

A playground at the new park in the Illinois Medical District. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios

What they said: "As a former healthcare worker myself, I know the weight that our medical community carried during those hard times," said state Sen. Lakesia Collins, whose 5th District includes the district.

"This statue stands as a beacon, lighting up this park, honoring those we lost, and reminding generations to come of the courage, the resilience, and the profound love that our healthcare heroes demonstrated when we needed them the most."

By the numbers: The monument and park cost $4.95 million, with more than $4 million of that from the state. 

The district employs more than 30,000 health care workers, educators, researchers, and facility staff, and more than 90,000 people pass through the district daily, Collins added.

What's next: The COVID-19 memorial is now open, and the park is slated to be finished this fall, an Illinois Medical District Commission spokesperson told Axios.

New COVID-19 memorial unveiled in Illinois Medical District

The $4.95 million monument and park project offers a place to remember lives lost and honor workers.

Polished metal poles with round, dandelion-like toppers rise from a circular granite memorial etched with text; a crowd of people in formal attire gathers while an American flag waves near buildings.

The new COVID-19 memorial by artist Casey Schachner, located in the Illinois Medical District. Photo: Carrie Sepherd/Axios

A new monument in the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Illinois Medical District" data-vars-click-url="https://imdchicago.org/" data-vars-content-id="b46e4039-5eba-48b9-b241-38055f49bc6b" data-vars-headline="New COVID-19 memorial unveiled in Illinois Medical District" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://imdchicago.org/" target="_blank">Illinois Medical District</a> honors essential workers, first responders and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Why it matters: Located in the center of the IMD on Chicago&#x27;s Near West Side, the memorial anchors a public park that invites health care workers, patients and community members to rest and reflect.

Health

Warning: This story includes reporting on sexual assault and rape.

Students at Cornell, the University of Chicago and other colleges are planning protests on Sunday to demand more accountability from university administrators on campus sexual violence.

Why it matters: One in eight college students experiences sexual violence during college, according to RAINN. The recent high-profile "Cornell 7" case has incited students to demand stronger policies to protect them.

Driving the news: Colleges across the country plan to join a Take Back the Night virtual rally at 7pm CT on Sunday before marching across campuses.

State of play: Take Back the Night organizers and participants have outlined five specific demands for university officials:

Evidence-based prevention education for every student 

Trauma-informed investigations and independent oversight

24-hour emergency response and protection for those seeking help

Monthly public reporting and transparency on campus sexual violence

Modernization of outdated sexual assault laws

Flashback: Since the 1970s, protesters have rallied to "take back" or "reclaim" the night to take a stand against sexual, domestic and gendered violence.

In 2001, Katie Koestner formed Take Back the Night Foundation. Koestner appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1991, sharing her story of date rape as a college student in Virginia.

Catch up quick: Last month, a former Cornell student filed a lawsuit against Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity and others for the role she says all defendants played in a gang rape she reported at the fraternity house.

Cornell's Board of Trustees has hired former DOJ official Sally Yates to investigate the "Cornell 7" case, and a special prosecutor has taken over the criminal investigation.

Zoom in: Students at UChicago have demonstrated on campus over the last week, chanting "We are Jane Doe," a reference to the woman who filed the lawsuit.

Context: Two women made allegations of sexual assault at fraternities near UChicago in October. Neither is a student at the university, according to a university spokesperson.

Chicago police have not made any arrests, and investigations continue, CPD tells Axios. 

Go deeper: RAINN has a list of resources for survivors, including the 24/7 toll-free number for support, how to report assault and where to seek medical care.

National

Students Take Back the Night in the wake of "Cornell 7" 

Students are calling for stronger protections, independent oversight and more campus transparency.

Young woman sits cross-legged by a window with a laptop. Left protest sign reads Boys Will Be Boys, crossed out, with HELD ACCOUNTABLE in pink; right sign says STOP PROTECTING RAPISTS.

A Cornell University student during a campus wide sit-in on Oct. 7. Photo: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images

Warning: This story includes reporting on sexual assault and rape.Students at <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Cornell" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/29/cornell-scandal-student-newspaper-daily-sun" data-vars-content-id="c17221ff-0bc8-4d28-b9eb-479cc815b9bb" data-vars-headline="Students Take Back the Night in the wake of &quot;Cornell 7&quot; " data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/29/cornell-scandal-student-newspaper-daily-sun" target="_self">Cornell</a>, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="University of Chicago" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/10/19/uchicago-aepi-fraternity-house-sexual-assault-police-investigation" data-vars-content-id="c17221ff-0bc8-4d28-b9eb-479cc815b9bb" data-vars-headline="Students Take Back the Night in the wake of &quot;Cornell 7&quot; " data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2026/10/19/uchicago-aepi-fraternity-house-sexual-assault-police-investigation" target="_self">University of Chicago</a> and other colleges are planning protests on Sunday to demand more accountability from university administrators on campus sexual violence.Why it matters: One in eight college students experiences sexual violence during college, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="RAINN" data-vars-click-url="https://rainn.org/" data-vars-content-id="c17221ff-0bc8-4d28-b9eb-479cc815b9bb" data-vars-headline="Students Take Back the Night in the wake of &quot;Cornell 7&quot; " data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://rainn.org/" target="_blank">RAINN</a>. The recent high-profile &quot;Cornell 7&quot; case has incited students to demand stronger policies to protect them.

Carrie Shepherd

Featured stories

Students Take Back the Night in the wake of "Cornell 7"

Chicago Halloween weekend: 15 events not to miss

Vote for Chicago's spookiest places in our Halloween bracket

West Edge Arts opening in Chicago's North Lawndale next summer

New COVID-19 memorial unveiled in Illinois Medical District