All states / Illinois
Explore 50 haunted places in Illinois. Read ghost stories, local history, source notes, and visiting information in the PHASM Haunted Atlas.
Decatur, Illinois · Theater
A friendly backstage presence called Red is said to linger at the Lincoln Square Theatre. HauntedPlaces.org describes whispers, a shadowlike figure and sightings near the stage, alongside a woman's apparition. Claims connecting other spirits with an earlier hotel fire remain part of the theater's lore. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Spring Valley, Illinois · Cemetery
Local tales collected by HauntedPlaces.org give this Lithuanian Liberty Cemetery mausoleum a spectral guardian nicknamed the Hatchet Man. Other versions describe an unnaturally warm door, a thin pale figure and a groan from inside the crypt. These are folklore, not reasons to approach or disturb the mausoleum. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Lebanon, Illinois · Other
McKendree's campus lore includes unexplained footsteps at the Alumni House, televisions changing channels and an organ playing in the chapel. HauntedPlaces.org describes running footsteps apparently crossing a sanctuary where there is no central aisle. Individual campus buildings are not counted as separate places in this batch. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Alton, Illinois · Historic house
At Alton’s McPike Mansion, the restoration of an Italianate house has become entwined with stories of figures at the windows and presences in the wine cellar. Scheduled ghost tours visit the grounds and cellar; the property is not open outside authorized events.
Alton, Illinois · Other
Children’s voices, moving objects and dark figures are part of the folklore of the former Milton School, which now houses businesses and apartments.
Streator, Illinois · Cemetery
The Hatchet Lady is said to guard her son's grave at Moon Point, sometimes ordering intruders away. HauntedPlaces.org also records a boy's apparition, colored lights and unexplained scraping sounds. Moon's Point and Moon Creek are aliases for this same cemetery, not additional locations. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Cicero, Illinois · Other
Campus lore calls its ghost Emily. HauntedPlaces.org says security staff have reported a girl on the rooftops and theater audiences have heard disturbances during plays, particularly violent scenes. The story links her with an alleged death near Laramie Bridge, which is not independently established here. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Okawville, Illinois · Hotel
HauntedPlaces.org describes a white-clad woman in an old-fashioned large hat moving through Original Springs. Guests also report music without a visible source, footsteps, mistlike figures and doors moving by themselves. The older wing's second floor figures prominently in the hotel's stories. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Galena, Illinois · Other
An account submitted to HauntedPlaces.org identifies a figure beside the nearby railway as Otto Sallman, the restaurant's namesake and a former resident. In this telling, Otto's presence is welcoming: he is imagined greeting visitors to his former home. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Belleville, Illinois · Other
A contributor's account at HauntedPlaces.org describes four presences in the historic Belleville restaurant: stagecoach driver Charlie, a mother and child, and a former schoolmistress. The back stairs reportedly provoke a particularly strong sensation that someone else is present. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Charleston, Illinois · Other
Residents have told stories of Mary Hawkins walking Pemberton Hall at night to check on her students. An archived campus newspaper also records scratching at doors, mysteriously rearranged furniture and a white-gowned visitor who vanished near the fourth floor. The same article quotes a hall counselor rejecting the alleged murder story and explaining the floor’s closure as storage and unfinished space. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Peoria, Illinois · Other
A curse, an apparition of an early director and unseen callers belong to the long folklore of Peoria’s downtown library.
Bartonville, Illinois · Other
The best-known figure in the hospital's folklore is Old Book, identified by HauntedPlaces.org as Manuel A. Bookbinder. A patient who assisted with burials, he is said to have remained at the hospital after his own death. The broader Bartonville hospital grounds are treated as one site. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Godfrey, Illinois · Other
At the former Monticello College chapel, a vanished scent of lilacs is said to announce the return of beloved educator Harriet Haskell.
Justice, Illinois · Cemetery
The white-clad hitchhiker known as Resurrection Mary is said to disappear from a passing car as it nears this cemetery on Chicago’s Archer Avenue.
Golconda, Illinois · Hotel
A contributor to HauntedPlaces.org describes a friendly presence called Miss Lucy Morse at the Riverview Mansion in Metropolis. Guests and staff reportedly encountered her over many years. The account identifies her with the wife of a former bank president and associates the property with the Levee Lounge name. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Chicago, Illinois · Other
Near the Robinson family monument, HauntedPlaces.org records reports of moving shadows, colored lights and mistlike forms. The account is unusually sensory: unexplained sounds are joined by violet and lavender scents. These experiences are attributed to witnesses rather than presented as established supernatural activity. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Lake Forest, Illinois · Other
HauntedPlaces.org recounts stories that Charles and Laura Schweppe remained in their Lake Forest mansion after death, accompanied by former servants. The tale imagines the long-empty residence still occupied by its earlier household. This is a private property, not a public ghost attraction. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Rosemont, Illinois · Hotel
A suited figure is said to watch from an upper balcony of this Rosemont hotel. HauntedPlaces.org also records guests' accounts of clothing unexpectedly scattered in a room and voices or typing sounds with no apparent source. The building's business name and present access need current verification. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Forest Park, Illinois · Cemetery
Within Woodlawn Cemetery, Showmen's Rest memorializes circus workers, including victims of the 1918 train wreck. Its best-known supernatural story concerns elephant calls supposedly heard after dark. HauntedPlaces.org presents those phantom animal sounds as local lore, not evidence that elephants are buried there. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Lemont, Illinois · Cemetery
HauntedPlaces.org records robed figures chanting in Latin around the St. James grounds, a ghostly horse-drawn carriage and a woman in white moving in an energetic dance. The associated Monks Castle name is retained as an alias, not a second counted site. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Ashmore, Illinois · Cemetery
An impossible date and an unusual stone orb made Caroline Barnes’s grave one of Illinois’s more unusual rural cemetery legends.
Chicago, Illinois · Other
A legend set on All Souls Day describes an organ playing without an organist as six robed figures approached worshippers. HauntedPlaces.org's version ends with the figures fading and a voice asking for prayers. The historical church location must be resolved before any visitor pin is created. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.
Willow Springs, Illinois · Other
A man in an overcoat supposedly climbs the cellar stairs and then disappears at the Irish Legend. A submitted HauntedPlaces.org account also describes a woman seen in a downstairs bathroom. Stories assigning violent speakeasy-era identities to the pair are folklore rather than independently verified history. Concise original paraphrase of an attributed folklore source; historical details not independently established.