I Made a Trip to Ravens Grin and Learned so Much

I took a road trip today that I haven't taken in over 20 years.

Raven's Grin Inn in Mt. Carroll, IL is a very unique place, run by a very unique individual.

Jim Warfield is the owner, tour giver and the guy that lives in Raven's Grin Inn. Jim in an incredibly talented artist that has an undying passion to make you feel uncomfortable.

Raven's Grin Inn is not your "typical" haunted house, it's not your typical anything. The stories of things that just can't be explained, give you goose bumps.

This is no "blood and guts" Hollywood type haunted house what so ever. Once you drive down the brick paved streets of Mt. Carroll and arrive at Raven's Grin Inn you instantly know this is not Freddy or Jason, or any sort of place where clowns hide out. This is a place where if you are not mentally strong, you may not make it through.

I had a great conversation with the Jim about Raven's Grin Inn, here is what I learned:

How did your interest in haunted houses start?

I had a haunted house in my parents basement, a lot like Timothy McVeigh did.

How do you come up with all of the ideas inside the house?

I've always had high hopes for it, because I do this for a living. I put a lot of time and a lot of effort into it. All of the idea's are original, one time I did copy an idea from a movie, Young Frankenstein where the guy has his head stuck through a hole in the wall. I tore it out because I didn't want it to be another person's ideas.

What kind of reactions do you get from people that tour the house?

People go around and rate haunted houses, low scare high scare. Well I was rated low scare, which is just perfect because the people I really want to scare are those that own other haunted houses.

Has the Mt. Carroll community always been accepting of your year round haunted house, ever any protests or problems?

Not to my face so much, there was a man for some reason hated me. He wrote a letter to the paper one time and tried to insult me I guess, so I wrote a letter to the paper and buried a bunch of insults in there for him. A reporter from The Chicago Tribune came here and I sent him up to the video store, I made a video of me reading his letter and my letter.

Have you had guests that visit Ravens Grin that become so scared that you had to escort them out of the house?

I've had guests get scared to death when they walk right in the front door, that's it they're done. I had a young girl walk in and say right away, sir, sir, I have to leave NOW. On the very next tour a man about 35 years old, dressed in a suit comes in the front door and says sir, sir, I have to leave NOW...like a replay, it's very strange.

Have you ever personally felt something in the house that you can't explain?

I was sitting in the house all by myself, all alone, all locked up.. I felt a kiss on my forehead, and then a second time, and then a third time....yeah. That was the first night my ex-wife was gone from the house but she never kissed my forehead in the seven years she was here. So it wasn't like there was something going on in my head.

Trust me, a trip to Ravens Grin Inn is worth it. There is no way you have experienced anything like it. For all the details you need click Ravens Grin No reservations are needed, you can set up a game of "hide and seek" and if you pee your pants a little, consider it a win.

Thank you for your time today Jim, you and your home are one of a kind.