Chicago's Haunted Crime Scenes (Haunted America)

Ghostly reverberations pulse for eternity in the most haunted crime scenes in Chicago. The ratatat of machine guns echo at the site of Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The ghost of Louisa Luetgert makes the occasional appearance on the grounds of the old Luetgert Sausage and Packing Company―her husband, “The Sausage King,” cooked her down in a vat of meat tenderizer in 1897. Ghostly screams ring out and dogs get their hackle up at the site of serial killer H.H. Holmes’ “Murder Castle” on W. 63rd Street. Hundreds died at the Iroquois Theatre fire in 1903―inspectors had overlooked violations that made the theatre on W. Randolph Street a veritable tinder box. Today, passersby are greeted by cold spots and panicked clutches from the long-dead and perpetually tortured. The City with Broad Shoulders is burdened by souls whose lives were stolen and are seemingly in pursuit of justice, comfort―or perhaps vengeance. Author Eva Pilch guides readers on a citywide tour of the most haunted crime scenes in Chicago. Read more