Chicago Hauntings 2024: More tales of ghosts and the paranormal

CHICAGO (CBS) — During spooky season every year since 2021, CBS Chicago has been exploring tales of ghosts, hauntings and the paranormal around Chicago, with a dose of Chicago history along with it. 
Watch all our “Chicago Hauntings” tales below, including four new ones for 2024. Tony Szabelski of Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours is our host unless otherwise specified.
2024:
1) Chicago Hooters: Hooters has occupied the building at 660 N. Wells St. in River North since 1993. But legend has it that in the late 19th century, the site was a stop for grave robbers, or resurrectionists, who dug up corpses from local cemeteries and had them sent to out-of-state medical colleges. Some say ghosts associated with this gruesome past haunt the building standing today.
2) Lyric Opera House: Samuel Insull, who had Chicago’s Civic Opera House built in 1929, ran a multibillion-dollar utility empire out of Chicago until he lost it all during the Great Depression. Some say Insull’s spirit haunts the opera house to this day.
3) Tao Chicago/Old Chicago Historical Society: The massive granite building at 632 N. Dearborn St. was built for the Chicago Historical Society before that venerable museum moved to Lincoln Park. Over the past 40 years, the building has housed a succession of nightclubs—Limelight, Excalibur, Castle, and now Tao Chicago. Reports of ghosts and strange occurrences in the building have been many over the years, and many believe the ghosts may be victims of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871—and Chicago’s first murder victim in the earliest days of the city when the first Fort Dearborn was around.
4) Resurrection Mary: As far back as the 1930s, people have reported seeing a mysterious woman in a white dress asking for a ride along Archer Road in the southwest suburbs. One man said he even met and danced with the mysterious young woman at a local ballroom. But upon reaching Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, the woman exits the car—or maybe doesn’t even exit the car—and vanishes without a trace. This ghost, Resurrection Mary, is Chicago’s most famous.
2023:
1) Camp Douglas Site: The total number of estimated Confederate prisoner deaths at Camp Douglas during the Civil War ranges from 4,243 to 7,000, and conditions there were infamous for being filthy and deplorable. Paranormal activity and apparitions have been reported at its former site, where the Lake Meadows community is now located.
2) Lakefront Totem Pole: Since 1929, a totem pole has stood sentry along the lakefront on the east side of DuSable Lake Shore Drive at Addison Street – though it has not been the same one all along. While it has fallen out of favor as a stop on ghost tours, there are still some reports of hauntings. We also explore the history and cultural significance of the totem poles that have stood at the site.
2022:
1) Luetgert Sausage Factory: Adolph Luetgert was convicted of murdering his wife and dissolving her body in a vat full of chemicals in his factory on Diversey Parkway. And there were accounts going back to the turn of the last century that after that gruesome crime – and after Luetgert had been sentenced to prison and also died – an apparition haunted the old factory. Author Robert Loerzel explores the story.
2) Drake Hotel: The Drake has stood regally at the northernmost point on the Magnificent Mile for more than a century as an icon of luxury and high society. It is also known for ghosts.
3) John Hancock Center: Chicago ghost experts believe the John Hancock Center is Chicago’s most haunted skyscraper. Could it have something to do with a “curse” from an eccentric and dangerous mariner dating back more than a century now?
4) Holy Name Cathedral: A 1926 gangland murder right outside Holy Name nearly a century ago left the cornerstone damaged by gunfire – and also purportedly has ghosts still hanging around to this day.
2021:
1) The Eastland Disaster: On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland was parked along the Chicago River when it capsized. Ever since, people have reported hearing and seeing apparitions near the site of the disaster, and at the makeshift morgue that later became Harpo Studios.
2) The Liar’s Club: The famous bar at 1665 W. Fullerton Ave. has been in business since 1995. You may have seen a band there, or maybe you’ve just come to have a beer and admire the KISS figurines and fez-hat lamps, among other eclectic décor items. But the building that houses the Liar’s Club has seen some gore that isn’t about camp and frivolity too, and some have reported seeing ghosts.
3) The Couch Tomb: At the south end of Lincoln Park near the Chicago History Museum, you may have noticed a mausoleum with the name “Couch” carved at the top. What do we really know about it?
4) Hull House: Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded the Hull House in 1889 as Chicago’s first settlement House. A haunted bedroom, a portal in the courtyard, and a devil baby are among the legends that have surrounded it.
5) Suicide Bridge: Starting just before the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the city had a lot of structures built in anticipation of the arrival of the fair. One was a soaring bridge in Lincoln Park that became known as the “Suicide Bridge,” and near the site of which there have been some spooky sightings.
6) St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: Do only fuzzy romantic feelings come to mind when you think of Valentine’s Day? How about if we call it St. Valentine’s Day? This is the story of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre at a Lincoln Park garage, and some stories of the paranormal in its wake.
7) L&L Tavern: The L&L Tavern at Clark and Belmont is not necessarily known as a haunted location, but it has been voted “the Creepiest Bar in the USA.” There are some specific reasons why, involving two heinous serial killers.
8) H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle: The Englewood branch Post Office now stands at the site where serial killer H.H. Holmes’ murder castle became known as a house of gore and horror. This is the story of the Murder Castle, and some reports of the paranormal in the basement of the Post Office.
9) Old Cook County Jail: Long before a firehouse stood at Illinois and Dearborn streets, the first Cook County Jail occupied the site. Many sinister men were executed by hanging there, and there are many stories of sightings of ghosts.
10) Iroquois Theater Fire: On Dec. 30, 1903, 602 people died when the Iroquois Theater downtown erupted in flames. It remains the deadliest single building fire in U.S. history, and there are reports of apparitions at the site to this day.
11) Congress Hotel: The Congress Hotel – officially called the Congress Plaza Hotel & Convention Center – is a striking sight along the Michigan Avenue streetwall downtown. But inside, it is reportedly haunted by all kinds of ghosts – some of people who suffered gruesome deaths, and maybe even one of a past president.