Local Cold Spots And Paranormal Phenomena Unveiled On Chicagoland Ghost Tours

Fall is brisk for boos, and ghost tour companies are revving up for their busiest season, from the river towns and prairie to the city with big shoulders, Illinois is full of ghosts bumping into each other.

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

We've added some new ones to this year's supernatural lineup of paranormal phenomena, including tours of Aurora, downtown Chicago and another excursion in Galena, alleged to be the most haunted city in Illinois. And for all you fans of HBO's “The Gilded Age,” a tour of Chicago's most prestigious block of the 19th Century — Prairie Avenue.

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 run tours throughout the year.

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.

American Ghost Walks/Aurora

Who knew Aurora was so spine-tingly and shadowy. American Ghost Walks offers two walking ghost tours of Aurora, where spectral fans can take a lantern-led tour of through the haunted Two Brothers Roundhouse Bar (formerly Walter Payton Roundhouse Bar)
led by “America’s Ghost Storyteller” Diane Ladley and an Aurora Hauntings tour of the “Cities of Cemeteries, including an EMF-ghost investigation. Tours of the Roundhouse are offered at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $25. Aurora Hauntings at 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays from $30. Order tickets online.

American Ghost Walks/Prairie Avenue Ghost Hunt

If you’re a fan of HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” then American Ghost Walks “Prairie Avenue Ghost Hunt” is for you. Stroll down Prairie Avenue, once the home to sausage kings, industrialists, and merchants of Chicago’s Gilded Age. Explore Millionaire’s Row where many of the incredible homes are still standing in this haunted history tour and ghost investigation of Chicago’s most prestigious block of the 19th century. Meet the ghosts of Marshall Field, George Pullman, Philip Armour and many, many more. Tours start at 1800 S. Prairie Ave., Chicago, and depart 8 p.m. Fridays in October through Oct. 24. Minimum age is 13+. Tickets are $34.99. Book online at American Ghost Walks/Prairie Avenue Tour.

Bridgeview Park District

Kick off spooky season with the Bridgeview Park District and Graveside Paranormal and climb aboard for a bus tour of the South Side’s most haunted cold spots. Your convivial ghost-tour hosts – Kylie O’Connell and Jack Chavez – will share eerie tales, creepy legends and a mini-paranormal investigation using the Estes Method Spirit Box. Daytime and nighttime tours are being offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. Tours depart from the Bridgeview Park District, 8100 S. Beloit Ave. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased online or call 708-594-1818.

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-mile walking tours. The company also offers a ghost foodie tour and minibus tours. Tickets range in price from $35 to $79, with reduced children/senior/active military available for some tours. Book online to reserve a spot or call 708-239-8542.

Graveside Paranormal

Climb aboard a luxury coach bus with Graveside Paranormal explorer Neal Gibbons. You’ll roam the forest preserves visiting little-known haunted destinations and sing with the ghosts at Chet’s Melody Lounge on Archer Avenue, and where Resurrection Mary has also been known to drop in. Guests get hands-on paranormal investigation experience with the help of EVP recorders and other ghost hunting tools. NEW this year, GP will be applying an Estes Method Spirit Box at various locations, employing a spirit box, sensory deprivation in the form of noise reducing headphones and blindfold combined with human interaction for communication with spirits. Gibbons has lined up a cast of other well known paranormal explorers for the Halloween season, including AJ True Crime, Tony Szabelski, mentalist Jacob Mayfield and psychic medium DeEtte Ranae. GP is offering a variety of daytime and nighttime tours, including its first North Side tour, as well as out-of-town seances, that can be booked online. Tours have previously uncovered paranormal activity in exclusive locations unknown to other ghost tours.

Ghost City Tours/Chicago

Ghost City Tours offers haunted tours of cities across the United States, including Chicago. Walking tours are 90-minutes long, where you’ll duck into dark alleys at night when ghosts are often seen. Feel the energy around as you stroll among the ghosts of Chicago’s past. Ghost City offers two haunted excursions. The “Ghosts of Chicago Tour” is an after-dark, all-ages tour. This is the perfect tour for families with children, curious teens, and adults who enjoy spooky tales without the mature content of adults-only tours. You can also bring your dog, who are known to pick up extra-sensory activity. Tickets start at $29.99 for adults, $14.99 ages 6-11, 0-5 free. The tour leaves nightly at 9 p.m. Book a tour online.

A second, adults-only “Wind and Souls Tour” delves into the darkest and most disturbing hauntings in downtown Chicago. With mature themes and language, this tour is strictly 16+ and delivers the raw, unfiltered truth behind Chicago's most cursed corners. You will love learning the history of a side of Chicago they didn’t teach in school. Tickets are $34.99 and must be purchased in advance. The tour leaves nightly at 8:30 p.m. Book a tour online.

Ghost City Tours portends to hire the best professional storytellers who are masters of suspense, humor, and horror, and they don't hold back. You'll learn stuff.

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. Definitely some weird stuff happening here. Self-guided tours and specialty tours are available, ranging from $22 (self-guided) and specialty tours (docent-led) start at $35, 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.

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 oddest and most haunted neighborhoods 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 $26 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

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.