This story reminded me of the story from last year where another ghostly apparition was captured on film during a family visit to Tantillon Castle in Scotland. Experts seem to be baffled with this case.

Have you ever captured anything mysterious with your camera?

I am not sure as to when it was sold to the rental property from who I rented, but she said when they bought it, there was a heart-shaped bed in the penthouse! It consisted of 9 apartments on 3 floors, with 8 efficiency apartments and the top floor penthouse had 4 bedrooms. There was a winding staircase in the front hall that led to the second and third floors, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling in the main entryway.

Kate had lived there for a year before I moved in and had made friends with quite a few of the tenants. One of the first things Kate told me when I moved in was that the place was haunted. Being very curious, Katie and I went exploring all through the building in hopes of finding evidence of the building’s history and/or ghosts. There were hidden stairwells, sealed doors, tiny cupboards, and so many places to explore. The big pile of bed frames in the basement made us think, “If those frames could talk…”

I always felt that I wasn’t alone in my apartment. It wasn’t a scary or threatening feeling, but just the sense that I wasn’t the only one wandering around my tiny apartment. When things started to go missing, I knew I definitely wasn’t alone. My table knives kept on disappearing. Katie had a key to my apartment, and when I found myself with no knives one day, I asked if she had borrowed any. She said she hadn’t. I looked over my entire apartment many times and didn’t find a single knife. I was very frustrated and said “Okay, ghost. Return my knives.” The next morning I opened the silverware drawer and there were all my knives, right where they should have been in the first place. I later learned that a man was murdered in my apartment in the late 1980s. The police had to break down the door, as he had been in there for a few days in the hot summer heat and started to smell. That explained the large chunk of my door that had been nailed back into place…

Things would disappear now and then, I’d search, demand for them back, and they would appear, in their rightful place, a day or two later. Thankfully it was never anything major, like car keys, term paper, or a book I needed for class.

The only thing I ever witnessed during my year there was strange lights. I was sitting on my futon, watching tv and doing homework, and all of a sudden I was surrounded in these strange, bright lights. It was like there were a million illuminated glass shards, floating all around me. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me so I shut my eyes. Complete darkness. I opened them and the lights were still all around me. I shut my eyes again. Complete darkness. I opened them again. The lights were still around me. Then all of a sudden, they were gone. I had been sitting the entire time and it hadn’t been a case of standing up too quickly. The same thing happened a couple times, and when my friend Sarah, who had moved into to Katie’s apartment in December after Kate graduated, had the same thing happen to her, I knew it wasn’t my eyes playing tricks on me.

The most amazing story to come from that year I spent there came from Katie. She was in a larger apartment that was in the front of the building. Mine was much smaller and at the back, but I had a lovely view of the river. Kate’s bed was lofted and overlooked the living area. One night she woke up and heard what she said sounded like a music box. She didn’t think much of it and went back to sleep. The next night she woke up to the same music and turned over to look down to the rest of her apartment. In the middle of the living area, she saw a woman in a long blue dress who was, what Kate described, cranking “one of those old fashioned record players.” I said, “You mean a Victrola.” She said, “Yeah, but it sounded like a music box, not a record player.” My response was, “But that’s what the early ones sounded like.” Kate said that she got scared, turned her face to the wall, the music stopped, she turned back around, and the woman was gone. It took Kate a long time to get up the courage to tell me because she had been so freaked out about the experience.

Chad Lewis, a paranormal researcher based in Eau Claire, came to my local library and talked about ghosts a few years ago. Afterward I went up and asked if he had heard any stories about 113 Ann Street, and he said, “Yes, I always get a few emails every year from tenants who live there.”

I went to Eau Claire last Saturday and drove by the old apartment, as I do every time I’m in town. It was no longer there. The area was going to be where the jail expansion was going to take place but never happened. The city had bought many of the buildings, which sat for a couple years, fell into disrepair, and were torn down. I was so very sad to see an empty spot where I spent my senior year of college, which was by far my favorite. I am very thankful to be able to have been part of that building’s long history.

Rest in peace, 113 Ann Street.

One of my “must see” destinations is the Tower of London. Anne Boleyn is said to still be roaming the place where she spent her final days. I want to go see the place for its history and to see the crown jewels, but my senses will be on high alert to see if I can sense anything while I’m there. There’s so much mystery and legend and lore that is spinning through my head. I am sure that my trip, which is the first to London (and the UK for that matter), will be full of exciting and amazing experiences. It will be a bonus if there’s anything supernatural!

Have you ever specifically planned a trip to a haunted destination or stopped by one while on a trip? If so, did you see/hear/feel anything?

Harpo Studios

In 1915, the Lake Michigan  steamship the Eastland sank abruptly in the Chicago River just after departure (ballast compartments had been emptied so that more passengers could be boarded). Over 800 passengers, including over 20 entire families, were killed. The corpses were brought to the 2nd Regiment Armory until they were identified and released to the families. Today, that armory is part of Harpo Studios, home of talk-show queen and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. Ghost stories from the armory rank it among the most haunted sites in America. The ghosts range from a benevolent “gray lady” to the sounds of laughing (but unseen) children.

The Biograph Theater

It was at Chicago’s Biograph Theater that John Dillinger allegedly met his end in 1934, having been set up by girlfriend Anna Sage (the famous “Lady in Red”). While many dispute that Dillinger indeed died that night, theorizing instead that the man shot by FBI agents was not John Dillinger but in fact Jimmy Lawrence, what is certainly not disputed is the fact that something otherworldly still spends its time at the Biograph. People passing by the Biograph have reported seeing a blue, hazy figure running down the alley next to the theater, falling down, and then vanishing (mirroring the movements of Dillinger/Lawrence prior to dying). People have also reported cold spots, chills, unexplained cool breezes, and feelings of anxiety. Local business owners have even noticed that people have stopped using this alley next to the Biograph Theater as a shortcut to Halstead Street.

O’Hare Airport (Flight 191)

In terms of fatalities, the deadliest single-airline accident on US soil was the May 25, 1979 accident of American Airlines Flight 191. The flight, en route from O’Hare to Los Angeles, crashed during takeoff, killing 258 passengers, 13 crew, and 2 on the ground. The cause of the accident was attributed to the left wing engine pylon, which had been possibly been damaged during an earlier engine change. Among those on board were a number of Chicago literary figures, on their way to a booksellers’ convention in LA. Not too long after the accident, ghostly tales about the site began to spring up. According to Des Plaines police officers, motorists began reporting seeing odd, bobbing white lights in the field where the aircraft had gone down. First thought to be flashlights carried by “souvenir” hunters, all police responses to the field found it silent and deserted (even those within moments of a report). Many residents of an adjacent trailer park have reported knocks and raps, odd behavior from animals, and even front doors answered to find a worried traveler who had to “make his connection” or “find his luggage.” Another long-standing report is from the terminal at O’Hare itself. According to travelers, many have reported seeing a man making a telephone call from a booth that is located close to the departure gate that was used by Flight 191. Those who have seen him say that he is quite normal-looking, with the exception of his business suit being oddly out of date. Allegedly, he will step away from the telephone booth, walks a few steps, and then vanishes into thin air.

These are a mere three of the myriad haunted spots in the Windy City. Adam Selzer, tour guide with Haunted Chicago and now with Weird Chicago Tours, even penned a book, Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps, about all of the haunts the city has to offer. Being that I’ve only been to Chicago once (I was thirteen), I haven’t had the chance to explore any of these haunted places. Have you visited these places? What good ones am I missing?