Creepiest Ghost Stories From Chicago
Chicago is a city with its own fair share of tragedy and pain. Natural disasters, horrible accidents, and bloody mass slayings are deeply ingrained in the city's culture and past, creating a series of terrifying urban legends and ghost stories. The ghost stories about Chicago are some of the creepiest in the United States, but they also highlight just how much the city has been through since it was formed. Below, you'll find a list of some of the most haunted places in Chicago and a few Chicago ghosts you never want to run into.
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The Italian Bride
Photo: geralt / Pixabay / Public DomainAlthough Mt. Carmel cemetery is home to Al Capone and other notorious gangsters, the interment ground is more well-known for another famous resident : the mysterious Italian Bride.
Her real name was Julia Buccola-Petta and she perished during childbirth at a very young age in 1921. After she was interred in the cemetery, her mother started getting really strange dreams where Julia would say she was still alive and needed help. After six years of these dreams, her mother finally had the body exhumed. When the casket was opened, everyone was shocked to find that Julia's body had not decayed one bit since she was put to rest. No explanation has ever been given. With those mysterious circumstances, it's not surprising that many have reported seeing a ghostly woman in white haunting Julia's grave.
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Flight 191
One of the worst airline disasters in American history happened in Chicago in 1979, when Flight 191 dropped from the sky shortly after taking off from O'Hare International. It took the lives of everyone on board, all 271 passengers and crew. After a lengthy investigation, the incident was chalked up to a number of factors, including a stress crack in a flange that held the engine pylon. The entire community was changed forever after that fateful day.
It wasn't long before reports of ghostly activity surrounding the impact site started to emerge. People started to claim seeing odd, bobbing white lights, but no source was ever found. The creepiest stories came from a small mobile home park adjacent to the site, where for months after the incident, residents kept reporting frantic knocking at their doors, but no one was ever there. To this day, there are still frequent reports of weird knockings, strange sounds, and a few spirits roaming about the area.
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Resurrection Mary
Resurrection Mary is one of Chicago's most famous ghost stories. It involves a young woman who wanders the streets around Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, scaring unsuspecting good Samaritans who stop to help her get home.
One popular legend about how she came to be states that she was a young woman in the early 1930s who really loved to dance. She liked to go out to dance halls and have a good time. One night, she was hit by a passing car on her way home. She was then laid to rest at the cemetery in her favorite dancing clothes.
Now, her spirit roams the place around the cemetery and even the dance halls. Mary still likes to go to dance halls, and after she finds a boy to dance with for the night, she asks him for a ride home. She tells her date that she lives on the cemetery grounds because her father is the caretaker - then when they arrive at the cemetery, she disappears right in front of her his eyes.
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The Haunted Water Tower
The Great Fire of 1871 still stands as one of the worst events to ever happen to Chicago. It took the lives of 300 people and over 100,000 lost their homes. One thing that miraculously stayed standing amongst the destruction was the water tower, mostly thanks to the work of one brave worker.
The man stayed behind as the fire raced toward the tower, manning the pumps instead of fleeing. Just before the fire consumed him, he took his life to avoid being burned alive. Now, his ghost haunts the very water tower he tried to protect. Tourists and locals report seeing a shadowy figure of a dangling man from the tower's upstairs windows.
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The Eastland Disaster
Photo: Chicago Daily News photographer / Wikimedia Commons / Public DomainThe capsizing of the Eastland steamer in Chicago is one of the worst boating disasters of all time. As the gigantic ship made its way toward Michigan City, a horrible event caused the ship to tip over. Out of the estimated 2,500 people who were on board, the casualty tally reached nearly 850. The mystery of why exactly the boat tipped over was never solved. But the story was far from over .
The armory building where most of the departed were taken during the disaster eventually was taken over by Oprah Winfrey and her studio. A lot of the crew who worked on the show claimed that the ghosts of the passengers often haunted the building. They heard strange noises, like children's laughter and the clinking of phantom glasses, and even saw apparitions, the most popular being one they dubbed the Gray Lady . Even the site of the actual disaster is supposedly haunted, with reports of people passing by the spot hearing the bloodcurdling screams of the doomed passengers.
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The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Photo: JamesDeMers / Pixabay / CC0 1.0America is built on bloody fights and skirmishes, and the Fort Dearborn Massacre still stands as one of the bloodiest. As a result of the War of 1812, tensions between settlers and Native Americans were running hot. Fort Dearborn was a stronghold, but its commander, Captain Nathan Heald, was advised to evacuate and leave everything to the Native Americans. Heald didn't react in time, and soon the whole fort was surrounded by Potawatomi Indians. After tense negotiations and broken promises by each side, a bloody fight took place, taking the lives of more than 50 people.
With that much carnage, it's no wonder that ghostly tales started to emerge. Soon, it was said that the site of the fort itself was haunted, but reports calmed down once the fort was torn down and the city of Chicago was built over it. Then in the early 1980s, construction was done in the area and human remains were found and were dated back to the event. Weeks later, people began to see semi-transparent figures in pioneer clothing and military uniforms. Most of them were reported to look very frightened or were screaming in silence.
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The Grimes Sisters
Photo: user uploaded imageThe mysterious disappearance of sisters Patricia and Barbara Grimes in 1956 shook Chicago to its core. The massive manhunt to find these girls took some wild turns , but tragically ended with their cadavers being found in the woods. The search to find out who slew them took a massive toll on the public and the police, and their cases still remain unsolved. Even though police supposedly questioned thousands of people over the course of the investigation, they never could find the evidence that they needed.
Sadly, the girls' cadavers were dumped at the edge of a ravine just a few feet from the shoulder of the road. Near the spot where they were found, a small house was nestled among the trees. The family who lived there mysteriously abandoned the house not long after, and eventually, vandals burned the house down. Some believe the family left the house because it was haunted by the ghosts of the Grimes sisters, and the many reports of strange happenings that trickle in from people who explore the area around the house seem to confirm that theory.
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The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Anybody who has taken a history class has at least heard of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre . It was a bloody onslaught that both wiped out any opposition to Al Capone's empire and was also the start of his downfall, as it convinced the public that Capone needed to be stopped. Seven people lost their lives in a vicious execution on Clark Street and their spirits supposedly still haunt the spot to this very day.
People claim to hear screams and machine-gun fire as they pass the site of the mass slaying, and can't help feeling immense fear when they are in the area. It also affects pets, who bark or whine when they walk by the place.
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The Sausage Vat Murder
Photo: zephylwer0 / Pixabay / CC0 1.0In the 1870s, a successful German meat packer named Adolph Luetgert moved to Chicago to open up his own sausage-making factory, which was a huge hit and he became very rich. He married Louisa Bicknese, but their marriage was constantly plagued by arguments and fights. One day, Louisa just disappeared, and after a lengthy investigation, police put together that Luetgert had slain Bicknese and hid her body by boiling her in acid and burning her remains. They checked the boiler in the factory and found human remains along with two of Louisa's rings. Luetgert went to jail, but apparently his wife's spirit wasn't happy just seeing him locked away.
Soon after he was imprisoned, Luetgert started to claim his wife was haunting him and he was driven insane. He passed in 1900, still proclaiming that he was innocent of the deed. It also wasn't long before reports started to come in of people seeing her ghost at her old house and at the sausage factory. Nowadays, her house and the factory have been torn down, so apparently, the only time to see her is on the anniversary of her demise in May
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Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
Photo: Cobra97 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0One of the most haunted cemeteries in Chicago, Bachelor's Grove Cemetery has had more than 100 documented reports of paranormal activity. No one new has been interred there for years, but it's still one of the most well-known haunted areas in the Windy City.
There's not a definite answer to what caused the hauntings in the first place, but most people believe one of two things: either a bunch of teenagers in the '60s arrived and trashed the entire cemetery, which awoke the spirits from their peaceful slumber; or reports regarding the remains of chickens and other small animals found around that area point to more occult activities.
Now, people who visit the area usually report phantom cars that seem to appear and disappear at random, or claim to see the apparition of a farmer wandering around - a farmer who perished back in the 1870s,when he got tangled in his horse's reins and dragged into a small pond.
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The Irish Castle
In 1886, Robert Givens built a mighty castle in Chicago resembling the ancient estates of his home country, Ireland. Over the years, it was owned by a variety of different groups, but now is operated by the Beverly Unitarian Church. The ghost that haunts the grounds is said to be that of a young girl, left over from the time when the castle was a boarding school.
The girl reportedly perished in the early 1930s after being stricken with influenza. One of the first encounters with her spirit happened in the 1960s, when a custodian saw the girl, talked with her, but then was shocked to discover she completely disappeared. There are still reports of her spirit wandering around, along with odd flickering lights and inexplicable sounds.
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Robinson Woods
Alexander Robinson was an influential early leader of Chicago. His mother was an Ottawa Indian and his dad was a Scottish trader. His diverse background made him well-respected among the Native Americans and the early settlers, and he worked hard to bridge the gap between the two groups, while also trying to turn Chicago from a small colony into a bigger city.
When he passed, his remaining family members took up his land out in the woods around Lawrence Avenue and were known to have wild parties and a slightly hedonistic lifestyle. Major suspicion was cast over the place after the disrobed cadavers of three people were found bound in a ditch near their land, but their cases would remain unsolved for years.
There's a large stone that acts as a monument to the Robinson family and all that they accomplished, but reports seem to think that their spirits aren't resting peacefully. Strange events like spirits who look like Native Americans and scary tribal drum noises are often reported near the interment site.
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The Devil Baby Of Hull House
Photo: amyelizabethquinn / Pixabay / CC0 1.0The Hull House in Chicago started with such good intentions. It was to be a beacon of hope, a community house with the goal of educating and helping newly arrived European immigrants back in the late 1800s. But its legacy would soon be overshadowed by something far more sinister, as it was believed that the Hull House was harboring the Devil Baby.
The legend goes that a baby was born to a devout Catholic and her supremely atheist husband. It was said to have pointed ears, horns, and a tail. Unable to do anything about it, the couple was forced to lock the baby up in the attic at the Hull House. The story quickly spread and soon the Hull House was turning away crowds of people who knocked on the door looking to catch a glimpse of the Devil Baby. Although the legend isn't as strongly believed today, it's still widely believed that there was a deformed child being held in the attic of the house, and sometimes at night, you can see a deformed face looking out the attic window.
