Looking for a good fright this Halloween? Some Oak Lawners are turning their yards into cemeteries, torture chambers and monster balls all for the benefit of scaring the snot out of their neighbors and strangers. Patch contributor Erik Martin, who has covered every inch of his own lawn with classic movie monsters, is previewing the best of these local ghoulish yards. We'll run one of Erik's reviews each day up until Halloween.

Nightmare Village, 9700 block of South McVicker, Oak Lawn. Open Oct. 29-30 from 7-10:30 p.m.

Here's a favorite local home haunt that creatively changes its name, theme, props and scenes each year. Operating for the past six years, this display functions as a "backyard haunted house" where you are led on a personal tour through different scare stations by a demented host (played with mad aplomb by homeowner Donna Myer).

Visitors are escorted from one well-choreographed and specially lit vignette to another, including a disturbing refrigerator-and-dinner-table skit featuring grisly human remains as the main course; an organoleptic demonstration by a deranged doctor; an effectively creepy shadow theater depiction (silhouettes behind a lighted sheet) of a drill-happy dentist; a shambling denizen of the undead offering worm hors d'ouevres; a woman buried alive in a coffin; a cadaver caught in a giant-sized spider web; and a young boy swinging crazily from a tree limb, tightly noosed round the neck.

Along the walk, spot-on sound effects like a crying baby, torture instruments of death, and moaning monsters leave a lasting impression. Watch out for power tool-wielding weirdos who suddenly emerge from the shadows and a hairy creature who looks like a nightmare version of the Sasquatch from the hilarious Jack Links TV commercials.

Nightmare Village is actually a display featuring the combined talents of the Myer family (including Donna's three sons) and their next-door-neighbors, as well as relatives and friends who donate their time and resources. Up to 300 Halloween lovers visit the haunt on a busy night.

Donna credits the inspiration for each year's scenes and props to the macabre imagination of her twin sons Nicholas and Andrew, along with co-conspirator Nick (her neighbor's son). While major elements of the display, including Donna's tour guide monologue, are carefully scripted and practiced, she's quick to point out that the actors are free to improvise and scare spontaneously.

"People are surprised when they come here because it is interactive — it's not static," says Donna, who noted that last year's theme, "Twelve Classics to Die For," paid homage to classic horror movie characters and scenes. "We have a lot of people who return every year. The junior high school kids are the best, they come through and act as if they're so tough, but then they come out screaming."

Nick, Andrew and Nicholas say they're constantly thinking up ideas for the next year's haunt, although they won't start designing/constructing their vignettes until two months prior to opening.

Donna said the prop that proves to be the most challenging is the "break-away noose" that functions as a swinging harness but which creates the illusion that a boy is actually swinging by his neck from a tree.

"I'm glad we get all the kids together to do this," said Donna, who added that up to 14 volunteers staff the display. "They really get excited about it — it keeps them busy."