Last night, Apryl and I went on the Weird Chicago Tour. The tour had been a gift from Apryl from this past Christmas, but we had waited for the right time of the season. Despite nearly missing the bus, and then mysteriously not being on the list of passengers (thank goodness I printed out our receipt), the tour was a ghoulishly good time. Ken Berg, our tour guide, is a psychic detective and ghost investigator that has appeared on numerous programs on the SciFi Channel, TLC, and the Discovery Channel. On top of being very knowledgeable, he was a gracious and funny host that kept everyone relaxed. Here are a few highlights from the evening:
This alley has been given the moniker “Death Alley” after an incident at the Iroquois Theatre where a fire claimed the lives of over 600 people, many of them children. Along with the deaths inside the theatre, many of causalities occurred after folks stepped out to the the fire escape only to discover that the escape had not yet been installed. In the alley, there were hundreds of bodies piled on one another, a cushion that saved some who were merely jumping to their death instead of being burned alive. Wikipedia claims that the incident was the “worst single-building fire in U.S. history with the most fatalities”. To put the death toll in perspective, the Iroquois Theatre tragedy claimed nearly three times more deaths than the Great Chicago Fire. So it makes sense that there is a lot of ghost activity in the area. One of the ghost is a small boy who likes to get the attention of women pedestrians as they pass the entrance of the alley. It is said that he will tug at a woman’s coat or attempt to hold their hand as they are walking by. Creepy.
Even more sinister is that Death Alley is also the location where the notorious clown, serial killer John Wayne Gacy picked up over 20 young men that he would later kill and bury under his house. Beyond creepy.
Next on the tour was another piece of historical tragedy, the Eastland Disaster. Despite being tied to the dock, the SS Eastland was overcrowded and top heavy, resulting in the boat taking in water and eventually sinking into the Chicago River, killing over 800 people. Many of the ghost stories surrounding the disaster occur not on the spot of the incident but where the bodies where stored afterwards. One of the places happens to be where Harpo Studios now rest. Apparently, Oprah did a show on the many ghostly occurrences at the studios. To this date, I haven’t witnessed anything out of the ordinary but surely you will be the first to know.
Another big stop on the tour was at the Congress Hotel, where according to our guide over 20 ghosts make appearances. One of the spookiest places of the hotel is the Florentine Ballroom where people report loud, unexplained banging noises inside and on top of the ceiling. The security guard who let us in shared some of his own personal stories, all the while staying very close to exit doors. He said he liked to lock up the ballroom around 5 o’clock instead of waiting later in the evening. One of these loud noises was captured on video. Below, the beautiful yet spooky ballroom:
The tour continued with a short drive by of the site of the St. Valentines Massacre. This was a bit disappointing since the spot is spooky only in the sense that it’s now just another condo in Lincoln Park. Still, it was cool to finally know where the famous shootout occurred. Oddly, it’s located very close to the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co where we took Apryl’s sisters for pizza pot pies and tasty Mediterranean bread. Our guide debunked claims from the restaurant that their building was used as a lookout post.
Another alley we toured was where John Dillinger was apparently shot down and killed by FBI agents. I say “apparently” because as our guide pointed out, there were many inaccurate features (eye color, scars, etc.) found on the dead body and those known of John Dillinger. Some even believe that Dillinger retired from robbing banks and became a pig farmer. Perhaps the upcoming film about Dillinger starring Johnny Depp will address such issues.
Strangely, our tour ended in our own neighborhood. The first stop was down a nearly forgotten street called Seely where a house with an outside light blinks on and off. Our guide said that it always reacts that way when the tour comes by but that acts normal otherwise. I will certainly be testing this theory. The “ghost” light below:
Next up, a tribute to the Virgin Mary under an underpass of the Kennedy Expressway. According to our guide, a woman spotted a salt stain on the side of the concrete wall that looked very similar to the Virgin Mary. She contacted her priest and before you knew it, there were thousands of folks praying before the “miracle”. Check out this online story from a few years back.
Apryl and I have driven by this many times but never knew what it was. I had always assumed it was a sight of where a biker must have been hit by a car. Never did I imagine that it was to many, a scared ground. Unfortunately, the original apparition has been graffitied and painted over but that hasn’t stopped the tribute to continue with lighted candles and prayers written along the concrete wall. Our guide showed us pictures of the original sighting, which were far more convincing. Below, the tribute as it looks today:
Our evening ended at the Liar’s Club. At one point the club was one of the first lesbian bars in the city of Chicago. During that incarnation, the owners who were a straight couple were having marital problems. One night, the wife took matters in her own hands, and bludgeoned her husband to death with an ax. According to our guide, there had also been three other recent murders at the building, two of which occurred nearly in the same spot as the first one. A spot that is now occupied by two pinball machines. The most recent strange activity was a few weeks ago when apparently Kiefer Sutherland got drunk inside the bar and began dancing in the street outside the club. Mildly spooky.
While the rest of the folks on the tour got back on the bus, we said our goodbyes and walked back to our apartment. I have never been on a ghost tour, and while it wasn’t terrifyingly scary, it was a lot of fun. I kept thinking that my dad would have gotten a big kick out of it. For the most part, the ghost tour is only as good as it’s guide, and Ken Berg was certainly one of the best. Great time!
