Chicago Ghost Tours To Get Your Fright Fix

LLINOIS — From the river towns and prairie to the city with big shoulders, Illinois is full of ghosts bumping into each other. If you’re looking for a spectral encounter this Halloween season, Patch has rounded up the best bus and walking tours in Chicagoland and beyond.

Each touring company offers its own unique interpretation of Illinois’ local haunts, including historical perspectives, storytelling and opportunities to do your own paranormal investigations. You may even find yourself part of a YouTube video or podcast.

October is brisk for boos, so you may want to reserve now because these tours fill up fest. Much like the news, ghosts aren't known to take a vacation, so don’t be bummed if some tours are currently sold out. Many of these touring operators actually run tours throughout the year.

Chicago Gangster and Ghost Tours

Chicago Gangster and Ghost Tours runs four walking tours daily through the old Chicago Loop Vice District at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. The tour dives into the city’s haunted gangster hangouts and old crime scenes where it all went down 100 years ago. Notable stops include the Congress Hotel, where ol’ Scarface himself, Al Capone, ran his incognito bootleg business, Death Alley and Palmer House. Tours are led by historians, who share the infamous stories of the ghosts and gangsters of Chicago’s streets on the 1.5 walking tours. Tickets range in price from $35 adults; $25 for seniors (age 65+), youth (7-17) $17. Kids age 6 and under are free. Book online to reserve a spot or call 708-239-8542.

Graveside Paranormal

Guests ride on luxury coach buses, where Graveside Paranormal explorers Neal Gibbons and partner Steve Leinweber keep things entertaining and scary. You’ll roam the forest preserves visiting little-known haunted destinations and sing karaoke with the ghosts at Chet’s Melody Lounge.Tours have previously uncovered paranormal activity in exclusive locations unknown to other ghost tours throughout the southwest suburbs. Guests get hands-on paranormal investigation experience with the help of EVP recorders and other ghost hunting tools. This year Graveside Paranormal is mixing things up by introducing a lantern walk through the sacred grounds of St. James Cemetery, aka Monk’s Castle, in Lemont.

The October Friday and Saturday tours are waitlisted on EventBrite, but Thursdays tours are still available. The Archer Avenue Supernatural Tour departs from the Branding Iron, 7036 S Harlem Ave., Bridgeview. Tours are set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 and Oct. 26. Arrive one hour early for check-in and enjoy food and drinks. Book tickets online.

Old Joliet Prison Tours

Take a tour of the Old Joliet Prison where some of Illinois’ most notorious criminals passed through its cells. The Joliet Area Historical Museum offers a variety of walking tours of the Old Jolly Tearoom, including self-guided and docent-led history tours. The prison was built with convict labor in the 1850s and opened in 1858. Before the Joliet Prison closed in 2002, Leopold and Loeb, Baby Face Nelson, Richard Speck and John Wayne Gacy passed through its cells. Tours offer a glimpse into the grim history of the state and the nation’s correctional practices. Also, you never know when Dickie Loeb might stumble out of the old prison shower.

Self-guided tours are mostly outside, but you can walk through the North Segregation Building. The 90-minute, docent-led historical tours take guests through the East and West cell blocks, North Segregation Building, cafeteria, chapel and the Honor Dorm. Tours led by former guards and photography tours are also offered. Tours range from $20 to $30, including discounted rates for museum members and children. Meet at the Old Joliet Prison main parking lot off Collins Street in front of the prison (1125 Collins St., Joliet, IL for your GPS). Book tickets online, Old Joliet Prison Tours, or reserve by phone, 312- 978-1282.

Chicago Hauntings

Chicago Hauntings offers a treasure trove of walking and bus tours, and frequently makes the lists of top ghost tours in America and Chicago. Take a chilling walk through Lincoln Park and Prairie Avenue, which was once the home of Al Capone. The ghost tour company also ventures into the suburbs, including Aurora and Naperville, where you might run into the Naperville Bride. Beware: In addition to encountering a phantasm, you might learn a tidbit about local history, too.
Tours are being booked now for the Original Chicago Bus Tour, Lincoln Park Haunting Chicago Ghost Tour and Ghost Hunt, Prairie Avenue Ghost Tour, The Devil In the White City, Resurrection Mary/Archer Avenue Triangle, Aurora Hauntings Ghost Hunt and Naperville Hauntings, as well as private tours. Visit Chicago Hauntings to book a tour; call 833-446-7813 or email info@americanghostwalks.com.

Weird Chicago/American Hauntings

Weird Chicago/American Hauntings visits all the sites of Chicago’s mayhem and mystery. Tours include the Devil In The White City, where you visit H.H. Holmes’ hangouts . All Weird Chicago bus and Haunted History Downtown Walking tours have no itinerary, so every tour is different. Knowledgeable Chicago tour guides mix it up to keep everyone guessing. Book a Weird Chicago ghost tour. Tours start at $30.

Windy City Ghosts

Windy City Ghosts hosts daily walking tours, rain or shine, including 60- and 90-minute walkabouts of the Lincoln Park area, clearly one of the weirdest and most haunted neighbors in the United States. Tours are led by knowledgeable Chicago guides who offer strange and disturbing tales of such haunted sites as the Order of the Golden Dawn, the former Hobbs Institute asylum, Biograph Theatre, Red Lion and John Barleycorn Memorial Park. Also hear about Lincoln Park’s history as the city’s burial ground. Tickets start at $25 and $30 for adults, with discounts for kids. Upgrades available. Book tickets online. Get your daily steps as you learn the chilling back store of one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods.

Beyond Chicago

American Hauntings

Troy Taylor, author, ghost and crime buff, manages American Hauntings out of Jacksonville, Illinois. The ghost tour company offers no-hype supernatural bus tours, river road tours and ghost hunts, as well as “evenings with” dinner events (Lizzie Borden, Edgar Allen Poe, an exorcism).

American Hauntings publishes ghost books and newsletters on the paranormal (American Hauntings Ink) and has a podcast. Tours and ghost hunts visit the Midwest’s most haunted landmarks in Carlinville, Alton and Springfield, into Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. October is booking quickly, so you have to hurry. Tours are offered throughout the year. Book online.

Haunted Decatur

Who knew Decatur was such a hot spot for sin, scandals and sordidness? One of Jacksonville-based American Hauntings' oldest tours, Haunted Decatur, offers a supernatural bus tour of the city’s crime scenes, scandals, unsolved murders and more. Each tour gets on and off the bus throughout the night at the most haunted places in town, including indoor locations where you might have the chance to meet a deceased Decatur resident. Book online.

Haunted Galena Tour Co.

Stroll through historic downtown Galena by candlelight. Guests of Haunted Galena Tour Company are led by costumed ghost guides who share Galena’s ghostly tales and eerie folklore about Galena. Tours are performed in a true storytelling format, and Sunday and Wednesday tours are available throughout October. This is not a ghost hunting tour, but you are welcome to bring your EVP equipment. No kids under 7. Tours start at the Dowling House, 220 Diagonal St. in downtown Galena. Tickets are $23.50; buy them online. Check out Haunted Galena Tour Company's other tours.

Amelia’s Haunted Galena Bus Tours

If you’re headed to Galena for a romantic fall weekend, consider climbing aboard a shuttle bus for one of Amelia’s Haunted Galena Bus Tours. Amelia will take you to all the paranormal cold spots and share the lore and history behind these local urban legends. Sites visited include one of the area’s oldest cemeteries, along with the Dowling House, Ryan House and the DeSoto House Hotel — where Abraham Lincoln once made a speech from the balcony and the Lady In Black roams. Multiple tours are offered daily throughout October. Tickets start at $32. Not recommended for children under age 12. Buy tickets online.