Haunted Halloween Ball Chicago

Terrible rules for a costume party. No refunds, either. I've been going to this event for years, and I've never had a problem till this year . After I got scanned, they denied me entry because of some rule about costumes, which are detachable. News flash, all costumes are detachable. They security guards wanted to play God with the door just because they were given the powers to not allow you in. Very unprofessional by the entire staff and by customer service. I had friends join me in this party for years, and now, I will let them all know not to waste their money to not be let in. Ridiculous costume rules. It's a halloween party, give us a break or don't promote and lie and take our money!!!

Note 2024 Halloweenball at the Congress hotel. I had a challenge when trying to purchase early bird tickets as well as payment button was not active, maybe system clitch. I reached out to the support team contact info and my concerns were addressed with informatiin, suppprt and "Making it Right" concept. I am very pleased and I decided to change and update this review and rating. Thank you to the mgt and staff. Google Review Poster JF

So much fun. Good music. Drinks were pricey and you had to buy drink tickets though. The hotel offered discounted rooms so it was great to not have to drive or find a ride afterwards. Definitely going again next year.

Awesome Event, I went in 2016 and it had the widest variety of costumes Ive seen my entire life! The music was on point, and the vibes were positive! Great Event, 10/10 would recommend for anyone looking to make Halloween 2017 plans!

Spend Halloween last year with Surreal and we had a great time! Brian is professional and always checking up making sure we have what we need. Great communication and easy planning. The best way to do Halloween by far. Highly recommend.

What a great party ! Me and my girls had so much fun, great vibe, amazing music ! One of the best nights !

2018 Halloween Ball @ Congress The GOOD: 1) the costumes - a lot of people actually get decked out here!!! Not your standard costume in a bag. 2) the ambiance of the actual hotel ballroom. The ceiling of one of the rooms is more like an opera house. Truly beautiful. 3) it was busy, but not OVERLY crowded for the amount of space. 4) coat check was simple (to check IN)...make sure you have it out before the mass exodus b/c otherwise you'll be waiting in another LOOOONG line. ($3) 5) can use credit cards for drink tickets. The BAD: 1) there is no event photographer or photography "booth" that you would get at most events like this. (or at least I didn't see one) With so many people in such amazing costumes this really should be happening!!! 2) "costume contest" - I'm not sure when/if they was actually did this as promised. We were inside from about 11:30pm - 2:30am and I didn't see or hear it. Like I said...lot of great costumes so I was asked by several strangers if they'd missed it. The REALLY BAD: 1) line, Lines, LINES!!! We arrived around 10:30pm--got our FIRST drink around midnight. (whaaaaa...?!?) ID Check Line - First we waited to have our IDs checked in a line outside the party and about the length of a football field. Waited 45-55 minutes. It seemed like even the "VIPs" who'd paid $600-750 for a table waited in the same line, but I cannot be sure as we hadn't paid the premium. Drink TICKET Line - THEN once we finally had our wristbands, we had to jump in a line for drink tickets. Waited about 20-ish minutes. Bar Line - THEN once we had our wristbands AND this events "drink currency" we finally got in line for drinks. Waited about another 20-ish minutes. 2) DRINK TICKETS - I understand that they want to centralize all of the cash transactions to stay on top of it and keep the bartenders "honest", but this is RIDICULOUS!!! Pretty sure another intended benefit to the event HOSTS is that many people will not actually spend all of their tickets and you cannot return them. They'll have made more money on unused drinks. So...you're forced to either over buy tickets OR keep getting back in line for more. ADDITIONALLY, you have to know what you want to drink when you buy the tickets, because they sell different tickets for different types of drinks and then you're locked in! 1) beer/wine tickets for $10/each, 2) liquor tickets for $12/each, and 3) red bull and some other non-alcoholic tickets. Overall we had a good time, but will not consider going back.

Costume parties are always fun, but this one is extra special. Always a great atmosphere and good people...and the costumes are really amazing. I love the ones with lots of cleavage the best, plenty to be found here!