CHI-TOWN SPOOKS
WORMWOOD FILES: Chi-Town Spooks
Investigations by Dr. Abner Mality
Wormwood Laboratories is located not very far away from the teeming metropolis of Chicago, Illinois. The Good Doctor has had many occasions to visit the Windy City and I can tell you this...it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to die there. Because chances are that death would not be the end. Chicago is a city practically bursting at the seams with restless spirits, supernatural manifestations and all manner of things that go bump in the night. In the edition of the Wormwood Files, we'll take a look at just a few of the ghosts who make sure a spectral breeze blows through the Windy City.
Like any city with a lengthy history and millions of inhabitants, Chicago has seen a lot of tragedy and violence over the years. In fact, more than most cities of comparable size. Where there is violent and tragic death, spooks run wild, to quote the title of an old Bela Lugosi film. So there's a veritable smorg-ghouls-board of hauntings related to Chicago's tumultuous past.
Gangsters are a big part of Chicago history and lore.Just mention the ctiy's name and the first thing people often think of are fedora-wearing, cigar-chomping tough guys of a bygone age, eager to let loose a barrage of hot lead from Tommy guns. For a number of years in the 1920's, organized crime had the city in a tight-fisted grip. A series of bloody gang wars ended when Al Capone, aka Scarface, finally consolidated control of Chicago's feuding crime families.
Capone's most notorious gang war strike came on February 14, 1929...a day usually devoted to sweethearts exchanging pleasantries as opposed to gruesome mass murder. At the SMC garage at 2122 N. Clark Street, a gathering of criminals under the command of mob boss Bugs Moran was brutally slaughtered by four unknown men, two of whom were dressed as police. Moran himself had missed being murdered by his rival Capone only by minutes. Of the nine men who were lined up in the garage by the bogus policemen, none survived for long. Moran's gang was shot to pieces by hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Frankie Gusenberg, a gunsel for Bugs, lived long enough to tell the police "Nobody shot me. I ain't no copper!"
Bugs was horrified by the slaughter, which would be known forever after as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. "Only Capone kills like that!" he told police. He was never again a force in the underworld. No one was arrested for the crime, but everybody knew who was responsible.
Such an outpouring of bloody death would naturally lead to the presence of ghosts. And indeed, the location at 2122 N. Clark Street has been the site of numerous eerie events. The building itself was torn down around 1968, but that has not stopped passerby from hearing phantom gunshots or sometimes the screams of dying men. Dogs will often refuse to walk in the area and many people have reported "cold spots" on the site, which is now the front lawn of a nursing home.
Perhaps the most bizarre story connected with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre concerns the cursed bricks from the old SMC garage that were sold as souvenirs by entrepreneur George Patey. Patey wanted to make some money after the garage was finally torn down so he sold a sizable number of bricks from the original structure as morbid keepsakes. Almost everyone who purchased a brick was struck by immediate misfortune, such as death in the family or financial ruin. This extended to Patey himself...his plans for that space fell through and he was financially broken by the venture.
Another underworld giant who haunts Chicago is the legendary John Dillinger, the Depression era bank robber whose exploits and eventual fate have fascinated the public for decades. Dillinger had spent years evading the F.B.I. as "Public Enemy No. 1" and his continuing success at eluding capture was a source of humiliation for J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the Bureau.
In the summer of 1934, Dillinger was in Chicago to have plastic surgery done in a further attempt to avoid the authorities. The master criminal's operation was successful, but the F.B.I. had been tipped off by parties unknown that he was in town. On the evening of July 22nd, Dillinger decided to attend a showing of "Manhattan Melodrama" at the Biograph Theater on North Lincoln Avenue. Soon, a contingent of "G-Men" led by the tenacious Melvin Purvis surrounded the theater. At last, they had their prey cornered. After Dillinger left the theater, he was tailed and trapped in a small alley by his pursuers. He reached for a gun, but was struck down in a hail of bullets.
To this day, there is some doubt about the identity of the man shot down in that alley. There are those who feel that that man was not John Dillinger. Hoover and Purvis were frantic to put an end to Dillinger's humiliating reign of freedom...it would not be beyond the conniving Hoover to possibly arrange a false death.
At any rate, the Biograph Theater still stands today and is a popular spot for tourists investigating Chicago's history of crime. Instead of shunning the Theater's violent past, the owners embrace it and have turned fascination with Dillinger to profit. And it may be that John Dillinger has never left Lincoln Avenue. Many people have claimed to have seen a misty figure staggering down the narrow alley way, only to vanish into thin air. People using the alley to cut across to Halsted Street often report that the alley is many degrees colder than the surrounding streets, even in the heat of summer. And once again, man's best friend seems to be quite agitated in the vicinity of Dillinger's demise.
It's not only the murder of gangsters that triggers hauntings in Chicago. The city has been the site of many natural disasters over the years. Curiously, there are virtually no ghost stories associated with the Windy City's most notorious disaster, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Perhaps the fact that the obliteration of buildings and neighborhoods was so utterly complete has something to do with this anomaly. Nevertheless, there are other Chicago tragedies that have spawn ghostly activity.
Mostly forgotten outside of Chicago today, the disasterous sinking ot the steamship Eastland in 1915 was a horrendous nightmare by any standard. On July 24 of that year, over 800 passengers of the Eastland drowned when the overloaded ship capsized before even leaving the docks. It was theorized that the Eastland's lack of ballast combined with a sudden shift in the huge crowd of people aboard the vessel triggered the disaster. For hours, divers brought body after body out of the Chicago River, including many small children. 22 entire families perished in the Eastland disaster. Many of those who recovered the bodies were traumatized for life by the horror.
The Eastland sank between the Clark Street and Lasalle Street bridges. These are well travelled thoroughfares even today. The spirits of the Eastland's victim have not rested easily . For years, cries and screams of anguish could be heard emanating from the dark waters of the river where the ship sank. Nearby buildings have also reported eerie occurences. No less a personage than talk show dowager Oprah Winfrey has attested to the spookiness of the Eastland tragedy. Her Harpo Studios is located where a temporary morgue for the Eastland's victims was established. Slamming doors, odd noises, cold spots and other mysterious occurences plague the Studios. Unfortunately, the spirits cannot drive Oprah from the airwaves and back to the obscurity she deserves. Even the dead cannot overcome the Domestic Diva's overwhelming power.
![]() Almost as incomprehensible a tragedy was the fire that ravaged the Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School on
December 1, 1958. That blaze claimed the lives of 92 children and three of the nuns who looked over them. The old school was poorly prepared for a fire, with no fire alarms, sprinklers and few exits. The cries of outrage that met revelations of the school's poor safety arrangements resulted in wholesale installation of fire alarms and sprinklers in schools throughout the nation.
A new Our Lady of the Angels was built on the site of the old structure. But while the physical remnant of the previous building is gone, the psychic residue remained for many years. The smell of smoke lingered, even though no fire could be found. Cries and screams could occasionally be heard in the new school. Many youngsters seemed particularly susceptible to seeing and experiencing ghostly manifestations related to their unlucky predecessors.
Hauntings were not necessarily confined to the school itself. The families of victims were often visited by supernatural phenomena. The mother of one dead boy collapsed from grief on her couch at home. When she awoke, her son was holding her hand and consoling her. Several mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers had visions of their deceased relatives appear to tell them that they had gone to a better place.
With so many ghosts haunting Chicagoland, the question invevitably arises: what is the most haunted spot in the city? You might guess that it would be a cemetery and you would be right. However, it's not one of the sprawling, massive boneyards that dot the city, even though many of them, such as Rosehill or Mount Carmel, have plenty of spooks. No, the most haunted spot in Chicago...and possibly one of the most haunted places in the world...is a tiny one-acre graveyard stuck far off the beaten path called Bachelors Grove Cemetery. Located in an isolated section of the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve, this little slice of purgatory boasts an unbelievable amount of weird happenings. So much so that Bachelors Grove hardly seems to be a part of our waking world.
The cemetery was founded in the 1820's and for years, was considered a peaceful, serene resting place for the departed. But by the 1960's, it was increasingly isolated and abandoned and was often the site for wild parties, vandalism and possible satanic rituals. The chaos at the graveyard was so great that many bodies were moved to other cemeteries to avoid being desecrated.
Many strange lights are seen in and around the tiny cemetery. A flashing blue light, similar to a police car's light, was spotted many times flitting noiselessly amongst the tombstones. The movements of the blue orb were so abrupt and precise that no machine made by human hands could have been responsible for it. The blue orb has been seen by several people at once and is probably the most widely noted of all the Bachelors Grove phenomenon.
Another peculiarity about the graveyard is that virtually any photograph taken there will reveal some sort of odd light or misty mass when it is developed. These images were unseen by the naked eye at the time the pictures were taken but only revealed themselves in photoraphs after being developed. Such pictures often show some sort of ectoplasmic mist swirling around the tombstones. Some photos appear to show actual faces on the tombstones themselves.
More than lights and mist are seen in Bachelors Grove. The place is haunted by a wide variety of more substantial phantoms. A ghostly figure dressed in a long buttoned up coat has been seen flying along the paths near the cemetery. Others see the ghosts of an old farmer and his horse. The story goes that the farmer and his horse were both killed in the late 1800's when the horse bolted unexpectedly and fell into a nearby pond, killing both itself and its master. Then there is the female spirit called "The Madonna of Bachelors Grove"...a sorrowful female specter that walks amongst the tombstones cradling the form of her dead child.
For such a small area, Bachelors Grove boasts an unbelievable amount of ghosts, including hooded monk-like figures reminiscent of spirits seen in old England. But without doubt, the most unusual apparition is not of a human being, but an actual house. The term "haunted house" takes on new meaning here, as it refers not to a house with ghosts in it, but a house that seems to actually be a ghost itself.
Over the years, a mysterious Victorian house with a swing on its front porch has been spotted next to the cemetery. But no such house exists nor has it ever existed. It looks solid and substantial as a real house. But no people are ever seen moving around near it. If a person sees the house and approaches it, he finds himself getting no closer...the house seems to keep the same distance from him. If the same person returns later to find the house again, it has vanished without a trace.
This "phantom house" phenomena is quite rare but not unknown in haunting circles. What is peculiar in this case is that there is no real house from the past that can be linked with the image. The Bachelors Grove house has been seen many times over the decades...those who see it always describe or even draw the exact same kind of house.
What could have happened in this tiny plot of land, scarcely larger than an acre, to cause this amazing amount of ghostly activity? Theories range from speculation that it was built on top of an old Indian burial ground to folklore and tall tales running wild for so long that they have become embedded in the mind of everybody who sees something at Bachelors Grove. Some also think that the spot is built on top of an intersection of "ley lines"...mystical lines of force that circle the world.
Bachelors Grove may be able to boast that it is the most haunted spot in Chicago, but visitors to the city can find many, many places that have felt the cold hand of the supernatural. If you visit the Red Lion Pub, you may get more than a hearty meal of fish and chips...you may see somebody who suddenly vanishes or perhaps a stein of beer floating across the room. The Red Lion has the reputation as the most haunted restaurant in Chicago. The city boasts many churches that are a bit closer to the afterlife than they would like, as well, including the Holy Family Church on Roosevelt Road.
Even such a tireless ghost hunter as Dr. Abner Mality would be daunted by the task of listing all of Chicago's specters. We have listed just a few to give you a taste of the stories that can be found in the Windy City. So the next time you head to Chi-town, look carefully at the people walking up and down the street to see if their feet are touching the ground...
This is Dr. Abner Mality, turning out the lights.
https://sites.google.com/a/wormwoodchronicles.com/wormwood-chronicles/wormwood-files/chi-town-spooks
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