Chicago has a reputation for great hot dogs, delicious deep-dish pizza, cold weather, and two excellent baseball teams. What many people don’t realize is that Chicago also has a plethora of haunted houses.
It is a city with no shortage of haunts, from old hotels to abandoned houses. If you’re moving to or visiting the Chicago area and want to visit some of the city’s creepiest attractions or real haunted houses, check out the list below.
Jane Addams’ Hull House
The Hull House was originally started by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 to take in European immigrants who had just moved to Chicago. Even then, it had a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in Chicago.
The house was built by a real estate tycoon, Charles J. Hull, in 1856. In 1860, Hull’s wife died in the home, and many believed that her spirit continued to haunt the site for years after. Hull’s wife is not the only spirit said to haunt the house; many people died there while it was a settlement house.
Addams and other inhabitants reported regularly seeing a woman in white in one of the front bedrooms. Today, while Hull House is officially a museum to honor Jane Addams, it is also one of the most popular stops on ghost tours of the city.
Congress Plaza Hotel
The Congress Plaza Hotel is one of downtown Chicago’s nicest accommodations. However, it’s also one of the city’s most notorious haunted locations. There are many legends of murdered and deceased guests who supposedly frequent the hotel; one is Al Capone.
The hotel also has some ghost stories and ghosts all its own, including resident ghost Peg Leg Johnny, who was a homeless man killed there, and a lone man who only wanders the eighth floor. A guest room on the 12th floor was permanently closed because of scary things that happened inside.
Drake Hotel
Speaking of haunted hotels, a list of the most haunted places in Chicago wouldn’t be complete without mentioning another famous Chicago hotel–the Drake. The Drake was built in 1920 and is often considered one of the city’s grandest hotels.
It has one particularly famous ghost–the Woman in Red, haunting the hotel’s 10th floor. Apparently, a woman caught her husband cheating on her after a New Year’s Party at the hotel in 1920 and committed suicide. Now, she inhabits a floor of the hotel, and numerous guests report spotting her regularly. The Drake’s ghost story is one of the most famous in Chicago, and it’s one of the can’t-miss spots if you want to see the city’s real hauntings.
2122 North Clark Street
2122 North Clark Street is one of the most haunted addresses in Chicago, and with its history, it’s no surprise. It is the location of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, one of the bloodiest mob murders in the history of Chicago. During the 1929 massacre, Al Capone’s men killed eight members of the North Side Gang as a power move to control organized crime in the city.
Today, the spot is one of the most haunted in town. Visitors report regularly hearing phantom gunshots and seeing the murder victims wander Clark Street.
Have you experienced any spooky haunts in Chicago? Let us know about them! Comment below on the post or tweet them to us.