Illinois is known for its windy city and is home to the Blues Brothers, Homer Simpson and Oprah. With all of these celebrities of course there are the countless ghost stories to follow. Most of these old souls can be found inhabiting the old homes and woods of the rural areas, however there are also some haunting spirits walking the streets and highways.
The headless horseman of Lakey’s creek is a known classic of illinois. A frontiersman named Lakey started to build his cabin near a ford along the old wagon trail to Mt. Vernon. Lakey’s body was soon discovered by travelers. His head had been removed by his own axe, that was left at the scene.
The murderer of Lakey was never found. Many decades after the murder, tourist and truckers reported being chased down by a headless horseman. “the rider, on a large black horse, joined travelers approaching the stream from the east, and always on the downstream side,” a witness wrote. “Each time and just before reaching the center of the creek, the myst-like figure would turn downstream and disappear.”
Below you will find more ghost stories from Illinois. If you have any to share, please contact us.
Stories from Illinois
IllinoisAt Bartonville, Illinois, where the former Peoria State Hospital stands in memory more stubbornly than in brick, the past does not present…
July 30, 202615 min read
IllinoisThere are houses that look abandoned even when the lamps are lit. Tinker Swiss Cottage in Rockford, Illinois, is one of those.…
May 7, 202638 min read
IllinoisRight in the heart of the hustling, bustling city we know as Chicago, a series of chilling tales have taken root. They…
March 23, 20263 min read
IllinoisIn the stillness of the midnight hour, when the pulsating reality of the world is thrown into pitch-dark shadows, the stretch of…
March 5, 20263 min read
IllinoisIn the bustling heart of Chicago, nestled among the city's highlights, stood a paradoxical vestige of a haunting past – the Hull…
February 24, 20263 min read
IllinoisOn Michigan Avenue in the steely heart of the Windy City hums a magnificent structure known as the Chicago Theater. She’s a…
February 20, 20263 min read
IllinoisOur story enfolds within a small town’s whispered legends, a tale that makes children gaze in awe and adults shiver in dread.…
December 27, 20254 min read
IllinoisThe Hayner Public Library in the historical heart of Alton whispers with the dust of over a century's worth of stories. It's…
November 29, 20254 min read
IllinoisIn the heart of Chicago lies a peculiar structure, aged by time and enveloped in an ethereal aura. Hull House, a brick…
November 13, 20253 min read
IllinoisThe late afternoon sun, bleeding crimson and periwinkle over the Chicago skyline, beat down lethargically on the S.S Eastland. The mammoth vessel…
November 11, 20253 min read
IllinoisOur haunting tale starts in the throbbing pulse of a sprawling metropolis, once upon a time when a simple whisper from the…
October 23, 20253 min read
IllinoisThe accursed, battered streets of Chicago widened as the city insomniac danced in the eerie darting of translucent moonlight. The year was…
October 7, 20253 min read
IllinoisDeeply embedded in the heart-strewn heart of Evanston lies a place of significant historical importance yet unbeknownst to local lore, a place…
September 1, 20252 min read
IllinoisIn the landscape of nocturnal apparitions, there exists a spectral vision with the countenance of a haunting beauty - Resurrection Mary of…
August 10, 20252 min read
IllinoisThe city of Chicago is more than just criminal alienation and precision architecture. It holds the prominence of being the playing ground…
June 3, 20253 min read
IllinoisI. Arrival On a chilly December night, a group of thrill-seeking friends decided to venture out into the heart of Chicago, driven…
April 24, 20253 min read
IllinoisHas only 82 plots, but that certainly hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the most haunted cemeteries in the United States.…
October 26, 20182 min read
IllinoisDuring the 1893 Columbian Exposition there was a doctor who opened his home as a hotel for visitors to the infamous World's…
September 3, 20132 min read
IllinoisThe Vanishing Hitchhiker (The ‘vanishing hitchhiker’ legend is a reported strange and mysterious occurence in which people travelling by vehicle met with…
May 30, 200914 min read