Local Haunts: 5 Haunted Illinois Spots You Can Visit

ILLINOIS —It's that time of year again — time for hayrack rides, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and, of course, haunted houses. With Halloween just around the corner, there are plenty of local haunts to be had in Illinois. In fact, Chicagoland and the rest of Illinois are home to some of the most notorious sites for hauntings in the state.

Here are five places to stop if you're looking for a Halloween haunting in Illinois, courtesy of the Illinois Office of Tourism.

Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago: Lions and tigers and ghosts — oh my! Did you know that the zoo and surrounding area once served as the city's cemetery? From 1843 to 1859, the area was home to the Chicago City Cemetery. A decade ago, Northwestern University lecturer Pamela Bannos, puzzled after finding a cemetery tomb in the park, began digging — no pun intended — for information. What did she learn? That more than 35,000 people were once buried there, and as many as 12,000 bodies remained — sparking rumors of hauntings.

The Drake Hotel, Chicago: While the Congress Hotel is known as one of the most haunted hotels in America, the Drake is allegedly haunted by the “Woman in Red” who fell to her death from the hotel roof on New Year’s Eve shortly after it opened in 1920. Guests of the hotel have reported seeing her apparition wandering the Gold Coast Room, the Palm Court and the tenth floor ever since. The hotel is also a "poltergeist magnet," according to Chicago magazine, and is rumored to be the site of hauntings by the "Woman in Black" (we're sensing a theme here), tied to one of Chicago's most bizarre unsolved mysteries after a wealthy guest was shot to death in 1944 when a stranger stepped out of that bathroom in her room and began firing. The grieving parents of Leopold and Loeb's victim, Bobby Franks, both died at the Drake, as well.

Old Joliet Prison, Joliet: The fictional home of Jake and Elwood Blues also housed notorious killers like John Wayne Gacy, who spent time there before being sent to Stateville, mass murderer Richard Speck and infamous "crime of the century" murderers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. The prison closed in 2002, but "with numerous executions having taken place at the prison, rumor has it that many of the inmates may be serving time as ghosts," according to the Illinois Office of Tourism. After some restoration, the prison on Collins Street opened for tours a couple years back.

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McPike Mansion, Alton: Located in "America's Most Haunted Small Town," the mansion attracts thousands of visitors and paranormal investigators each year. "Some claim the haunts date back to the property before the mansion was even built, with Native American ghosts and a residue from a possible Underground Railroad stop," according to the office of tourism. "Other mysterious stories include servants of the building, a cook in the kitchen and a strange death of a woman in the bathtub."

DeSoto House Hotel, Galena: Another haunted hotel, this one boasted famous guests including Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and William Jennings Bryan. Today, guests of the hotel can enjoy the lavish Victorian-style rooms while enjoying stories of the spirits who seemingly never checked out.

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Dying for more Halloween fun in Illinois? Check out 2017's Local Haunts: 5 Haunted Spots In Illinois. Plus:

Illinois' Best Haunted Place To Visit

Originally published in 2018