Haunted Places in Essex, Illinois



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    City Tavern

    Kankakee, Illinois

    17.1 miles from Essex, IL

    Employees and diners at this popular restaurant and bar have reportedly encountered a male spirit. Known as 'David', patrons have had their hair pulled and have been pushed around by unseen hands. (Submitted by Callum Swift)


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    Majestic Theater

    Kankakee, Illinois

    17.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Dating back to 1912, the historic theater achieved notoriety when the 'Marx Brothers' performed a vaudeville act there in 1916. However, the theatre is also renowned for its ghostly inhabitants, including a ghostly child and Julia Remmington, a former owner. (Submitted by Callum Swift)


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    Aux Sable Cemetery

    Morris, Illinois

    19 miles from Essex, IL

    Aux Sable Cemetery is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a mischievous young girl who has been known to play pranks, such as lowering electrical car windows when the key is not even in the ignition. The site is also said to be a portal from a ghostly ...


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    Manteno State Hospital

    Manteno, Illinois

    20.1 miles from Essex, IL

    The 1930s Manteno State Hospital suffered a typhoid fever epidemic in 1939, and more than 50 patients and staff members died. The hospital eventually was renamed the Manteno Mental Health Center; it ceased operations in 1985 and the complex became business rentals, a bank, part of the Illinois Diversatech Campus ...


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    Patrick Haley Mansion

    Joliet, Illinois

    24.3 miles from Essex, IL

    Egyptologist and architect Frank Shaver Allen built this mansion that's been popular with ghost hunters since the '70s. Among the spirits believed to be active here are the architect himself as well as a little boy, an older woman who died on the premises, and a nanny. Perhaps adding to ...


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    206 N. Broadway

    Joliet, Illinois

    24.7 miles from Essex, IL

    Built in 1882, the Victorian house at 206 N. Broadway St. was originally a private residence, but was a school and a boardinghouse for women until the 1970s when it again became a private home. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a 19-year-old who was shot ...


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    Rialto Square Theatre

    Joliet, Illinois

    24.7 miles from Essex, IL

    The Rialto Square Theatre was built as a movie palace and vaudeville venue in 1926. Today, it is said to be haunted by a woman believed to be a former actress. Employees, construction workers and visitors have seen the female form floating throughout the theater. There are also a male ...


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    Moon Point Cemetery - Moon Creek Cemetery

    Streator, Illinois

    34.7 miles from Essex, IL

    Moon Point Cemetery, aka Moon's Point Cemetery or Moon Creek Cemetery, is older than the Civil War and legendary with those who like to tell ghost stories. It was thought to have begun as a family cemetery for early settlers Jacob Moon and his family. The cemetery's most-talked-about ghost is ...


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    Roff House - The Watseka Wonder

    Watseka, Illinois

    36.1 miles from Essex, IL

    The Roff House was one of the two houses in which the Watseka Wonder took place. The Watseka Wonder was a spiritual possession said to have happened in the late 19th century to an epileptic girl named Lurancy Vennum, who was 14 at the time. One of the spirits who ...


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    Vennum House - The Watseka Wonder

    Watseka, Illinois

    36.9 miles from Essex, IL

    The Vennum House was the home of Lurancy Vennum, a teenaged epilectic girl who was said to have been possessed in the incident known as the Watseka Wonder. The story of the late-19th-century possession was related in the 2009 film "The Possessed." The house may be open for ghost tours ...


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  • Haunted Aurora
    Diane A. Ladley
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    Camp Falcon

    Essex, Illinois

    37.4 miles from Essex, IL

    Location is on 143rd street, (Midlothian Turnpike) about about a 1 mile west of Oak Park. Just a mere road across the street from Tinley Creek Woods about half a mile into the woods. It is unknown when the camp grounds were abandoned or why but location has been ...


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    Ax-Man's House - Ax-Man's Bridge

    Crete, Illinois

    37.8 miles from Essex, IL

    Legends told by locals say that in the 1970s, a man killed his wife, kids, and two policeman with an ax before hanging their bodies from meat hooks in his shed. When the police found out, he ran from them. The police gave pursuit and shot him in the woods ...


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    Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

    Midlothian, Illinois

    38 miles from Essex, IL

    Beginning in the 1970s, visitors here have seen orbs, apparitions, phantom vehicles, and even a floating, shrinking, and vanishing phantom farmhouse. A mysterious black dog and figures in monks' robes also have been seen. Investigations by ghost researchers have turned up ghostly images and electronic voice phenomena.


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    Lake Prairie Cemetery

    Lowell, Indiana

    38 miles from Essex, IL

    Apparitions of deceased townspeople, ghostly mists, and orbs all have been reported at this cemetery, especially in the southern half, which is the oldest.


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    Midlothian Turnpike

    Midlothian, Illinois

    38.3 miles from Essex, IL

    Drivers on the turnpike have reported phantom cars and trucks that appear suddenly, causing the drivers to swerve. Phantom gang activity also has been seen, involving car chases full of gangsters shooting at each other with tommy guns. Some drivers have collided with the ghostly vehicles, even hearing shattered glass ...


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    St. James Cemetery - Monks Castle

    Lemont, Illinois

    38.3 miles from Essex, IL

    Ghosts here include several robed monks who patrol the grounds, chanting in Latin, and a phantom horse and carriage presumed to date back to 1897. A wildly dancing woman in white has also been seen.


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    Mount Olivet Cemetery

    Aurora, Illinois

    39.4 miles from Essex, IL

    This cemetery dates back to the 1850s, and has a very specific type of haunting. It is said on numerous Internet sites that spectral ghosts wearing 1950s attire are seen throughout the cemetery, only to disappear on second glance.


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    Old Rush Copley Memorial

    Aurora, Illinois

    40 miles from Essex, IL

    The Old Rush Copley Hospital was build in 1888 and shutdown in 1996. Paranormal researchers and people that have broken in this hospital have heard footsteps,unexplained voices and even apparitions. In one encounter, a group of teens have seen a doll that might have belong to a young child ...


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    Maple Lake

    Willow Springs, Illinois

    40.2 miles from Essex, IL

    The ghost light at Maple Lake is, according to local legend, a reddish-yellow orb that appears over the lake and floats into the woods on the other side. It is believed to be the spirit of a man who was decapitated nearby in an accident; the light is his lantern ...


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    The Leland Tower

    Aurora, Illinois

    40.7 miles from Essex, IL

    This 21-story building, the tallest in Aurora, has been the means for several jumping suicides. Evidence that the building is haunted includes reports of bad odors and moaning sounds that come from the elevators.


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    The Irish Legend

    Willow Springs, Illinois

    41.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Formerly a speakeasy, this 1915 building was a popular hangout for gang members, including Al Capone. The place has a very violent history, and is haunted by several spirits. These include a bartender who was allegedly pushed down a flight of stairs by a gangster who took a dislike to ...


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    Willowbrook Ballroom

    Willow Springs, Illinois

    41.2 miles from Essex, IL

    The 1921 Willowbrook Ballroom, formerly called the Oh Henry Ballroom, is a dance venue and banquet facility and is believed to be the last place famed Chicago hitchhiker ghost Resurrection Mary danced before she died. Her ghost is said to appear here and sometimes dance with ballroom patrons. Another interesting note: ...


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    Grimes Sisters Murder Site

    Burr Ridge, Illinois

    41.3 miles from Essex, IL

    The Grimes sisters were kidnapped and murdered between December of 1956 and January of 1957. Their bodies were found along this part of the road and the murders were never solved. Photographs have been taken around only to have a young woman appear in the photos. Submitted by Chris Berglund


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    Benedictine University

    Lisle, Illinois

    41.8 miles from Essex, IL

    This university has more than its share of haunts, including a little boy ghost in a blue t-shirt and shorts who wanders around campus, and disappears. Reports say Benedictine Hall was closed because it was so haunted. Its 4th floor was said to be haunted by a clergyman, and in ...


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    Maple Tree Inn

    Blue Island, Illinois

    41.9 miles from Essex, IL

    This Louisiana-style brasserie serves up classic southern fare in a historic former speakeasy dating back to the early 1920's, and is rumoured to be haunted be a former owner. Known as 'Helen', the spirit haunting the place is not pleased with the changes occurring in her former establishment, and ...


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    Archer Woods Cemetery

    Willow Springs, Illinois

    42.6 miles from Essex, IL

    Legend has it that only those leaving the cemetery can see and hear a white, filmy, hovering spirit of a sobbing woman.


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    Starved Rock Lodge

    Oglesby, Illinois

    43.1 miles from Essex, IL

    At this circa 1900 historic lodge, folks say, reside the ghosts of Native Americans who once fought a battle nearby. Guests have reported seeing a black apparition and strange orbs of light, and they have felt cold spots and experienced doors that open and close by themselves. It should be ...


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    Baymont Inn and Suites

    North Aurora, Illinois

    43.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Claims of a white moving "light" have been seen in the lobby as well as some visitors reporting feeling like they are being choked.


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    Country House

    Clarendon Hills, Illinois

    43.9 miles from Essex, IL

    The haunting here, which has been profiled on many TV shows and newspaper articles, is a young woman who appeared to have committed suicide by running her car into a tree. Her ghostly figure has been seen walking through the dining room, beckoning customers from an upstairs window and even ...


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    Resurrection Mary

    Justice, Illinois

    44.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Resurrection Mary, according to popular local legend, was a pretty young girl who was killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking along Archer Avenue. She had just left the Oh Henry Ballroom after a fight with her boyfriend. The driver left Mary to die. Her grief-stricken parents buried her in ...


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  • Chicago Ghosts
    Rachel Brooks
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    Stallbohm-Kaske House

    Munster, Indiana

    44.3 miles from Essex, IL

    According to locals, the original inn that stood here burned down on Halloween of 1909. And in 1949, resident Wilhelmina Kaske passed away in a front bedroom, and these incidents may have led to the house's hauntings. Witnesses have reported a figure leaning out of the barn window, a presence ...


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    The Givens Castle - Beverly Castle Academy

    Chicago, Illinois

    45.3 miles from Essex, IL

    The 1886 limestone-towered castle built by real estate promoter and novelist Robert G. Givens is said to be haunted by his Irish wife, who passed away before she could come to America to live in her castle. Witnesses say her apparition has been seen walking up the hill to the ...


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    St. Mary's Cemetery

    Evergreen Park, Illinois

    45.3 miles from Essex, IL

    The cemetery and surrounding areas have seen a lot of violent deaths, but despite that, not a lot of ghostly phenomena have been reported or known here. However, drivers past the cemetery late at night have seen a man leaning against the fence and looking at them as they passed.


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    Crown Point Sheriff's House and Jail

    Crown Point, Indiana

    45.7 miles from Essex, IL

    The Crown Point Sheriff's House was built in 1882, and the jail was added on in 1926. This is the very jail from which John Dillinger made his notorious escape in 1934. He used jail-issued razor blades to carved a gun out of part of a wooden washboard. He used ...


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    Evergreen Cemetery

    Evergreen Park, Illinois

    45.8 miles from Essex, IL

    The phantom hitchhiker in this ghost story is a teenaged girl who looks for a ride to Evergreen Park, where she vanishes from the vehicle. Legends say her body is buried in Evergreen Cemetery within the park, but her identity or the reason for her restlessness is unknown. This ghost ...


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    Reeder Road

    Griffith, Indiana

    46.5 miles from Essex, IL

    Local lore about Reder Road tells of Elizabeth Wilson, a hitchhiking ghost who drowned in a swamp when her car went off the road. Her ghost waits at the roadside for a ride to her former house, but she disappears from cars at Ross Cemetery, where she was buried in ...


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    Portage Woods

    Lyons, Illinois

    47.7 miles from Essex, IL

    These woods are known by locals to be the home of the ancient gnomes. Beware coming here at night, glowing eyes follow you throughout these woods. Heavy sightings are seen on the other side of the river, just over the railway bridge. (Submitted by Juan Z)


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    Kaskaskia Hotel

    LaSalle, Illinois

    48.4 miles from Essex, IL

    This historic hotel opened in 1916. Locals tell a story of a young woman who committed suicide by jumping from the top floor in the 1920s, but some will tell you she was pushed by her boyfriend. It is said that employees there would hear the click of her heels ...


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    St Turibius Church

    Chicago, Illinois

    48.6 miles from Essex, IL

    At this old Roman Catholic church, the ghost of a priest named Father Joe Lechert lingers. It is said that after a church reorganization he was let go, and as a result, he died of a broken heart. Parishioners and altar boys say they have seen his ghostly figure and ...


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    St. Rita of Cascia

    Chicago, Illinois

    48.8 miles from Essex, IL

    This site is known for a harrowing experience said to have happened on All Souls Day (November 2) in the 1960s. Reports say a small gathering of parishioners witnessed the organ begin to play by itself as 6 robed monks, 3 in red and 3 in white, advanced toward the ...


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  • Paranormal Illinois
    Michael Kleen
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    Ninth Street Pub

    LaSalle, Illinois

    48.9 miles from Essex, IL

    According to local tales, the Ninth Street Pub's ghost is Mrs. Sonnenburg, an elderly woman who lived adjacent to the pub and often complained about its noise. After her death, the owner of the pub purchased her home and made it into a pub addition. A staff member who was ...


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    Queen of Heaven Cemetery

    Hillside, Illinois

    49.1 miles from Essex, IL

    25 victims of the Our Lady of Angels Fire of 1958 were buried here in a mass grave. There is a memorial here for the victims of the fire. People visiting the memorial and the cemetery have reported smelling smoke and feeling a burning sensation of smoke while breathing. ...


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    Patten House Restaurant

    Geneva, Illinois

    49.4 miles from Essex, IL

    This historic restaurant dishes up fine southern cuisine, an exquisite range of liquor and a litany of ghost stories. The main spook reported here time and time again is that of a poltergeist that makes itself known on stormy nights. (Submitted by Callum Swift)


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    Cigars and Stripes

    Berwyn, Illinois

    49.4 miles from Essex, IL

    This bar and lounge is believed to be haunted by a number of spirits. Screams and footsteps are heard in the building when there's no one around. Objects move around by themselves, and at least five people have seen a shadowy apparition moving around the building. (Submitted by Callum Swift)


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    Morton College

    Cicero, Illinois

    49.7 miles from Essex, IL

    The spirit of Emily, a young girl who was murdered, lingers around this school. The murder took place on nearby Laramie Bridge before the school was built. Security guards have seen Emily on the rooftops at night, and theatergoers have heard her in the theater, especially during violent plays that ...


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    Mount Carmel Cemetery

    Hillside, Illinois

    49.8 miles from Essex, IL

    This cemetery is said to be haunted by the ghost of Julia Buccola Petta. One family of visitors claim that, upon noticing their small boy was missing, they retraced their steps to find him hand in hand with a lady in a white gown. When they came closer, she disappeared. Al ...


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    Moline House

    Berwyn, Illinois

    49.9 miles from Essex, IL

    This house is a private residence. According to reports, the Moline House is haunted by shadowed spirits who hide objects or move them to places where they don't belong.


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    Whihala Beach

    Whiting, Indiana

    50.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Some say that at Whihala Beach at night, you can see and hear phantom sailboats and apparitions of folks swimming and playing with innertubes in old-fashioned bathing suits.


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    Showmen's Rest

    Forest Park, Illinois

    50.2 miles from Essex, IL

    Showmen's Rest is a section of Woodlawn Cemetery where remains from a 1918 circus-train wreck were buried in a mass grave. Between 60 and 110 employees were killed when another train conductor fell asleep, causing his train to strike the circus train. Many of the victims' names were not known, ...


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    Holmes Death Castle Location

    Chicago, Illinois

    50.3 miles from Essex, IL

    A post office now stands on the former site of the Holmes Death Castle, or Murder Castle, built by serial killer H.H. Holmes. He built the hotel to lure in 1893 Chicago World's Fair visitors, then tortured and murdered his guests, including women and children. In this area, witnesses say ...


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  • Peoria's Haunted Memories
    Stephanie E. McCarthy


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