Chicago has a torrid and brutal history, almost as if the second city was trying to be as big and nasty as the Big Apple. Each of our carefully chosen stories will paint a picture of the history of Chicago through its fascinating hauntings. We work hard to ensure our stories spring directly from the history books.
This gives even the die-hard skeptics among our tour-goers a vivid portrait of life throughout the different ages of Chicago’s brutal past, even if don’t have the imagination to believe the ghost stories our guides relate.
Hear all about the prohibition era pub the John Barleycorn, our captivating guides will bring the past to life as they describe entering the boarded-up pub via the Chinese Laundry next door. Hear about the ghosts that still haunt the building and the moonlighting cop who ran the pub for those prohibition years!
Chicago has no shortage of ghost stories, and Lincoln Park is the perfect cross-section of mobsters, corruption, madness, and plain old human suffering. We did come across some great ghost stories from other areas of Chicago and indeed Illinois. We wanted to make the biggest walking tour in history, but instead, we added some of these stories to our Chicago Ghost Stories blog instead. We hope you enjoy them.
Below are just a few of the 8 or 12 locations we will visit on your tour. Just to give you a hint of the true, and terrifying tales we will be telling on Windy City Ghosts walking tour of Chicago.
One of the most haunted bars in all of Illinois, The Tonic Room was once the meeting place for an Egyptian-themed cult. And the marks of the occult live are still in the bar’s basement!
The Red Lion Pub is home to some of the most diverse spirits (no pun intended) of Chicago’s haunted locations. From the cowboy who haunts the basement to the tidy ghost who traps people in the ladies’ restroom to the malicious former owner who still makes his presence known, you don’t want to miss the spooky history of this famed Chicago nightspot.
Take a look at the former movie house where the FBI gunned down the notorious bank robber, John Dillinger. Then step into the alley where Dillinger died, and feel a shiver pass up your spine as you wait for a glimpse of Dillinger’s ghost—or the elusive Lady in Red who witnessed the killing.
