The 11 Most Haunted Places Near Chicago

Are you a thrill-seeker looking for a day of spooky adventures and haunted places near Chicago? The Windy City has no shortage of haunted locations that will have you feeling like you’re part of a Stephen King novel.

Get ready to spike your heart rate with these adrenaline-pumpkin haunts you can experience all year long!

The Alley of Death

1,700 people joyfully filled the newly constructed Iroquois Theater in the latter part of December 1903. The majority of attendees were children and their mothers. Mr. Bluebeard, a quirky lyrical comedy, was the midday performance.

Little did anyone know, the majority of the audience would die before intermission. A stage light caught fire during the middle of the performance, and even though the stage staff tried to put out the fire, it moved quickly across the theater.

There was chaos in the throng. People, bewildered by the lack of escape signs and besieged by locked doors, were running out of the theater via the fire escape. People began to leap into the alleyway from above in hopes of making it out of the fire.

A number of individuals lost their lives in the fall, yet several managed to escape when the bodies of those who had fallen earlier cushioned their fall. The Chicago Tribune named it the “Alley of the Death and Mutilation” due to the horrific fatalities and piles of bodies.

Holy Name Cathedral

The cathedral was left with damage from bullets that were said to have supernatural properties after the 1926 strike that killed Al Capone’s opponent Hymie Weiss outside Holy Name Cathedral.

It is said that no matter how many times the bullet holes were patched, they’d mysteriously reappear. The founder of the well-known ghost tour company Chicago Hauntings, parapsychologist Ursula Bielski, has documented a great deal of the area’s haunted past.

However, she admits that she was dubious regarding the site’s supernatural connections until a couple of years ago. What changed her mind? A tour guest took pictures of unexplained light spheres encompassing the main structure.

Site of the Valentine’s Day Massacre

Who would think that an old garage would be the site of one of the most haunted places near Chicago? One of the most notorious locations in Chicago’s past is the scene of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

However, there are currently no tangible artifacts or remnants of the fabled slaughter in the Chicago area where it took place. In a Lincoln Park area garage early on February 14, 1929, seven men were shot and killed by four unidentified attackers, two of whom were disguised as Chicago police officers.

This crime rocked the country and had a lasting impact on the political process and law enforcement at both the state and federal levels. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is officially classified as an unsolved case.

Nobody has confessed, and the Chicago police were incapable of identifying the culprits. Many believe it to be the notorious Al Capone behind this horrible act. For some reason, dogs will start barking erratically around the site.

The Red Lion Pub

If you want to go ghost hunting and have a pint all in one place, look no further than the Red Lion Pub. Many people firmly believe that multiple ghosts haunt the Red Lion. A youthful woman’s spirit has been identified as one of the spirits that haunt the pub.

Workers will be able to tell when her energy is around because of the sudden appearance of an overwhelming lavender aroma. The staff has also reported seeing a ghostly customer who looks to be a man dressed in cowboy boots.

Additionally, the cowboy has been seen strolling beside the front bar. Employees at Red Lion have also reported seeing two men: one with blonde hair and the other donning a black cowboy hat.

There are also rumors of a small female ghost who haunts the Red Lion Pub from both staff and customers. Could she be looking for something or someone? It is stated that the Lavender woman is an annoying ghost.

She is frequently observed in the women’s restroom and on the second floor. It is common to hear her wailing and screaming in the restroom, and she always locks the door to prevent you from entering.

The screaming will abruptly stop, and as one can guess, the bathroom will be unoccupied.

Chicago Water Tower

There is a dark past to this city landmark. Situated on The Magnificent Mile, the Gothic Revival-styled Historic Water Tower was built with a massive water pump meant to extract water from nearby Lake Michigan.

Though it was among few structures to escape the catastrophic Great Chicago Fire of 1871, this famous limestone building wasn’t without sorrow. According to history, one courageous employee stayed around to diligently operate the pumps while the flames burned.

He fled to the upper levels of the tower and hanged himself as the flames grew increasingly closer. There have been several reports claiming that the top-level windows of the water tower have a shadowy figure that lingers.

Congress Plaza Hotel

Are you looking for haunted places near Chicago where you can spend the night with ghouls and ghosts? You may even see the ghost of Al Capone! Employees of the 122-year-old hotel have claimed to have seen the ghost of the legendary Scarface wander the corridors.

With over 850 rooms to choose from, any one of them could be crawling with ghosts. Since Al Capone established his headquarters there and is most often seen in the vicinity of his former apartment on the eighth story, the Congress Plaza Hotel has been named the most haunted location in Illinois!

There are friendly ghosts here as well! The adorable Peg Leg Johnny is yet another beloved phantom. Although not much is understood about this cheeky spirit, lore claims that the uncontrollably erratic apparition has a tendency to switch on and off gadgets in rooms and typically causes a ruckus for visitors.

If you’re looking for a real fright, bring your E.M.F detectors and ghost-hunting gear to room 441! This is the most haunted room in the hotel. Here you can expect a female ghost to wake you up by literally kicking you!

Eastland River Disaster

On July 25, 1915, the S.S. Eastland steamship capsized, locking 2,572 people within, resulting in one of Chicago’s worst catastrophes. Following the Titanic disaster, concerns about passenger ship shortages of lifeboats led to the passage of a new law requiring ships such as the S.S. Eastland to have an adequate number of lifesaving boats.

Regrettably, the Eastland’s existing top-heavy vessel rolled over in the Chicago River near Clark and LaSalle Streets as a result of the installation of all these lifeboats. Several of the crew members and tourists were confined in different ways or were smashed under heavy furnishings.

The bodies that had been retrieved were kept in various Chicago companies that served as temporary morgues. A number of these locations have reported claims of ghost sightings and guests are believed to feel generally uneasy when they visit.

Graceland Cemetery

A number of Chicago’s most illustrious citizens are laid to rest in Graceland Cemetery, which was constructed in 1860. The graveyard is among the most haunted places near Chicago, but it’s not because of a famous individual. It’s actually a six-year-old child named Inez Clarke.

When Inez was having fun outside in 1880 it started to rain. Just moments later, the young girl was hit by lightning. There is a stone statue of Inez at Graceland Cemetery that has a protective glass box enclosing it.

Staff and tourists at the cemetery have noticed that the monument completely vanishes on rainy days. Once the storm passes, Inez Clarke’s statue goes back into its glass case. Many speculate that she disappears to play in the pouring rain once more.

Jane Addams Hull House

Another one of the most haunted places near Chicago is right off Interstate 90. Jane Addams managed the renowned Hull House, a communal home on Chicago’s west side, to help just-arriving immigrants. In actuality, Addams was the one who initially mentioned the ghostly aspects of the house when she said she heard footsteps in her bedroom.

Legend has it, that these footsteps belong to a woman who died in the same room before Jane lived there. The story of the “Devil Baby,” however, is the most well-known local superstition associated with Hull House.

According to the fable, a devoted Catholic woman who was about to become a mother put a portrait of the Virgin Mary in the house. Seems normal, right? Her angry husband tore down the painting while yelling, “I’d rather have the devil in this house.”

Months later, the infant was abruptly abandoned at Hull House after being born having horns, hooves, and scales on his skin. Reportedly, Addams attempted to baptize the child but was unsuccessful; as a result, he was confined to the attic until his demise.

All visitors to Hull House are enthralled by this folktale, despite the fact that it is purely fictional. There are a ton of reasons for stopping by this gorgeous, cost-free museum!

The Murder Castle

If you’re reading a post about haunted places near Chicago, you likely know who H.H. Holmes is. Over his lifetime, Holmes was a businessman and had a hobby of altering his house in Chicago.

Inside there were trap doors, torture chambers, gas chambers, and other awful places. 1938 saw the demolition of the Englewood torture castle owned by infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes.

He took advantage of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and committed crimes against countless women. Now, the site is simply a parking lot. A post office that might be partially built on top of the castle is located next door.

The post office has seen its fair share of freight. They have experienced numerous poltergeist phenomena in the basement, including moving objects, furniture that has been discovered piled on top of one another, and female voices that chant and converse.

Of course, the lower level of the building was where Holmes would mutilate and dismember bodies. No wonder the post office employees experience ghostly hauntings.

Camp Douglas

Camp Douglas was first used as a training facility for recently enlisted Chicago residents in 1861. Soon thereafter, in 1862, it was converted into a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate soldiers.

Originally designed to house 4,000 inmates, the Camp was overflowing with over 12,000 people. The living conditions were appalling and the sanitary conditions were shocking as there were no drains.

Countless people perished from illnesses like smallpox and malaria. After being interred in the municipal cemetery, the bodies were relocated to create Lincoln Park. Even though Oak Woods Cemetery is their last resting place, a lot of spirits still roam the Camp Douglas site, often posing as enigmatic men dressed in period attire who frequently take a visitor by the hand or arm.