Chicago Haunted Handbook - Jeff Morris America's Haunted Road Trip

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Road, houses the more pleasant ghosts. People have seen figures in this section of the cemetery and will often see orbs of light floating through the area at night. Voices are also heard in this part of the cemetery when there is no physical body present.

      The other side of the cemetery, on the south side of Cary Road, has a much darker presence. The ghost of the rapist haunts this section of the cemetery but cannot leave the circle that was drawn by the priestess around his gravesite. If you stand on the gravesite of the rapist, you will apparently feel extreme discomfort. People who stand on the gravesite will report seeing figures running back and forth in the adjacent woods. Sometimes the ghost of a small boy will stand at the edge of the forest and watch anyone who stands on the rapist’s grave. Other visitors to the cemetery will see the apparition of a man in a black suit standing on the site of the rapist’s grave, watching any passersby menacingly. Angry whispers are heard in the area, and some people report being pushed by some unseen force or grabbed by the ankles when standing on or near the gravesite.

      visiting

      The cemetery is open from dawn until dusk, so it is closed at night. Your best bet for experiencing the ghost of the rapist is to go into the cemetery just before it closes at sunset. Many of the ghost legends surrounding this site occur at night, but you should not enter the cemetery after it closes or you will be subject to arrest for trespassing. The grave of the rapist is reportedly the one closest to the woods on the south side of the road that loops through the dark side of the cemetery. Some say that you can still see the vague imprint of a circle in the ground surrounding the gravesite.

      The balls of light on the north side of the cemetery can be seen from Cary Road, which is, of course, open to the public throughout the night.

      (MOUNT GLENWOOD MEMORY GARDENS WEST)

      8301 Kean Avenue, Willow Springs, Illinois 60480

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      directions

      From the center of Chicago, travel south on I-55 for 13.5 miles to the exit for US 12 East and South La Grange Road. Follow South La Grange Road for about 3 miles and then turn left onto W 87th Street. Take a left onto South Kean Avenue. The cemetery will be on your right after about 0.5 mile.

      history

      Not much is known about the history of the ghost that haunts this cemetery. The cemetery itself was established in 1920 and has been accepting burials since that time, so the ghost could belong to any one of the thousands of people who were buried here.

      There are many old and interesting headstones and monuments within the cemetery. Perhaps the most interesting of these monuments is called the Garden of Hymns monument, a stone wall topped with organ pipes.

      ghost story

      This area is a notoriously haunted part of Chicago. It is near the haunted Archer Avenue, Willowbrook Ballroom, Resurrection Cemetery, the haunted intersection of Kean and 95th Street, and St. James Sag Cemetery. Several ghost stories circulate about this cemetery. The most famous ghost of Archer Woods Cemetery is a woman in white who sobs just inside the front gate. The woman is most often seen by passing motorists after the cemetery has closed at sunset. These motorists report seeing a woman just inside the gates hunched over and crying. When they go up to her to see what is wrong, she vanishes into thin air.

      This woman is also seen during the day. When witnesses encounter her during the day, they report entering the cemetery without seeing the woman. As they are leaving, though, witnesses find her hunched by the entrance, sobbing. Those who see her during the day will only see her on their way out, and never encounter her on their way into the cemetery.

      Remarkably, there are many people who claim to have photographed the woman. Most often, these photographers will not realize that they have photographed the apparition until they get home and examine their photographs.

      Beyond the sobbing woman, this cemetery boasts a handful of other strange happenings. People will sometimes get lightheaded and dizzy in the cemetery for no apparent reason. Others will hear the Garden of Hymns playing organ music. Still more will watch a black, horse-drawn hearse slow down in front of the cemetery, then vanish.

      visiting

      The cemetery is open from sunrise until sunset. Even though the gates are often left open throughout the night, it is illegal to enter the cemetery after nightfall. No matter; most all of the photographs of the sobbing woman have been taken during the day. Passing motorists who see the sobbing woman at night need not enter the cemetery, as they will see the woman sobbing behind the gates.

      5900 Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, Illinois 60445

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      directions

      Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is rather difficult to find. From the center of Chicago, take I-94 East to I-57 South. Follow I-57 South for about 5 miles to Exit 353, the Burr Oak Avenue exit. Take your first right onto 127th Street and follow that for about 3 miles. Turn left onto South Pulaski Road and follow that for another 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Midlothian Turnpike. About 2.5 miles down the road, you will see a parking area on your right for the Rubio Forest Preserve. Park there. Cross Midlothian Turnpike, heading toward cell towers by the woods. To the right of the cell towers is a small path that runs into the woods. Follow that path for about a 0.25 mile into the woods, and you will come to the decrepit cemetery.

      history

      Until the 1960s, instead of angling at 143rd Street, Midlothian Turnpike continued straight, all the way to Ridgeland Avenue. But in the 1960s, the road was shut down at 143rd Street to vehicular traffic, leaving only a trail leading out into the woods. This stretch of road between the angling of Midlothian Turnpike and Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery has a rather turbulent history for an area so remote.

      Perhaps the most famous recorded death in the area occurred in the 1870s. A farmer was plowing a field across 143rd Street when something startled his horse. The horse ran across 143rd Street towards where the small pond exists today near the cemetery. As the farmer struggled to control his horse, he became entangled in the reins. When the horse arrived at the pond, and the plow began to sink into the water, the farmer was still hopelessly entangled. Unable to escape, he was slowly pulled under the water and drowned. This same pond would become a dumping ground for bodies of the victims of the gang wars of the 1920s.

      This story is just a drop in the bucket of all of the troubling occurrences that have happened here since 1833, when four unmarried bachelors founded the settlement for which the cemetery is named. Many of the worst occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, after the road was shut down. Even before the road was closed, the area was a popular “lover’s lane,” where local teenagers hung around late into the night. Newly closed to access, the remote burial site was exposed to vandals, who destroyed what they could of the cemetery by tearing up or spray-painting its headstones. These headstones would be strewn about and discovered miles away. Local police would not even return the found headstones to the cemetery, knowing that they would just be taken again.

      The 1960s and 1970s also saw Bachelor’s Grove become a center for Satanic rituals. People would find dead animals strewn around the area, apparently victims of some dark sacrifice. Eventually, the vandalism and rituals all but stopped. Some thank the increased patrols of local law enforcement. Others say that something darker inside of those woods scared the vandals away.

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