Listen above, at archive.org or check out the podcast on iTunes! In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chicago papers published a number of articles about how many ghost stories there were on Sheridan Road. One of them came up just a bit in my HH Holmes research – the legend of a…
Tag: forgotten ghosts
Podcast: The Bloody Handprint of West Randolph
(new podcast! Click above, or see archive.org or iTunes In 1888, a book of anecdotes about early Chicago retold a heck of a ghost story: one night on West Randolph, a woman heard ghostly footsteps up and down the stairs, then saw a disembodied hand shoving her apartment door shut. She ran away, then came back…
The Ghostly Nun Who Turned to Stone
Some days you win, some days you lose, and some days you follow a story about the Couch Tomb and up with a story about nuns who turned to stone, then allegedly came back from the dead to express anti-semitism. That’s life in Mysterious Chicago. An image of Mother Galway found in Holy Family Parish:…
The Haunted Coffin Handle of Graceland Cemetery
In 1907, the Trib asked for readers to send in accounts of paranormal experiences. One anonymous guy sent in a second-hand story of an man in the Austin neighborhood, a “stalwart Norseman” who had experienced something that had “transformed a skeptic into an ardent believer in the occult.” The “norseman” was a widower with four children….
The Headless Ghost of Winnetka
I normally don’t get into stories from the suburbs around here, but you’ll have to excuse me – I’m a SUCKER for headless ghosts. Over on another blog I’ve reviewed several variations of Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Sheridan Road used to be known as a real hotspot for ghosts – occasionally local papers would run…
Forgotten Chicago Hauntings – The Icebox Ghost
In September, 1902, the Ward family had what must have been one tense family reunion at Mrs. Ward’s house on Polk St near Halsted. Two months before, her son, Thomas, had threatened to kill her and even fired a gun at her, hitting her in the arm. At the reunion, he was up to his…
Forgotten Chicago Hauntings #1
From time to time, newspapers have been publishing accounts of local haunted houses for well over a century. Many of the best Chicago ghost stories relate to buildings that are now lost and gone forever – for instance, the Robey Tavern on Robey (which is now Damen) and Washington was said to be haunted by…