HauntBound Press Fact Sheet · Updated September 2026
The Most Haunted Places in Illinois
Illinois has 156 documented haunted locations in the HauntBound index.
Top 10 identified after source-level analysis of the 24 strongest Illinois candidates.
By the numbers
- Total documented
- 156
- Cemetery / Burial Ground
- 41
- Museum / Historical Site
- 22
- Haunted House / Historic Home
- 18
- Family-friendly
- 140
- Bookable
- 43
- Oldest documented site
- Sugar Tree Grove Cemetery (1820)
- Most-reported phenomenon
- apparitions
Ranked
- 1. Peoria State Hospital (Bartonville Asylum) Peoria State Hospital opened in Bartonville in 1902 as a psychiatric institution under reformer Dr. George Zeller and closed in 1973; most of its sixty-three buildings have since been demolished. Zeller documented the hospital's early history in a memoir published in the 1920s, and the site remains one of the most investigated former asylums in the Midwest. Visitors to the surviving buildings report shadow figures, cold spots, and disembodied laughter, along with heavy footsteps in the old men's ward. 4 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1900-2000 · retold in 5 later publications
- 2. Bachelor's Grove Forest Preserve Bachelor's Grove Forest Preserve is the wooded Cook County land around the cemetery of the same name, reached by a quarter-mile trail from the Rubio Woods lot after the Midlothian Turnpike was rerouted decades ago. Visitors on that abandoned road report a phantom sedan and horse-drawn vehicles appearing and vanishing without sound. Others describe a white farmhouse with a woman on its porch that disappears when approached, along with lights in the woods at dusk. 4 original accounts · documented across 6 decades, 1950-2015 · retold in 4 later publications
- 3. McPike Mansion Alton mayor and horticulturist Henry Guest McPike built this sixteen-room Italianate mansion between 1869 and 1871 and lived there until his death in 1910; the house sat empty for decades before new owners began restoring it in 1994. Guides describe a dozen presences, most often a woman named Sarah, believed to have worked as a household servant. Visitors to the wine cellar report cold spots and the smell of flowers with no source nearby. 3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1994-2017 · retold in 5 later publications
- 4. Roff House (Watseka Manor) Built in 1868 by Spiritualists Asa and Anna Roff, this house became the center of the 1878 Watseka Wonder, when twelve-year-old Lurancy Vennum reportedly took on the identity of the Roffs' late daughter Mary, dead since 1865, and lived as Mary for roughly fourteen weeks before returning to her own family. Guests today report doors found open that were shut the night before and sudden cold drafts in the upstairs corridor. 3 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1877-2013 · retold in 4 later publications
- 5. Rock Island Arsenal, Quarters One Quarters One was completed in 1872 on Rock Island's Arsenal Island for Brigadier General Thomas J. Rodman, the arsenal's first commanding officer, and remains the second-largest federal residence in the country at 51 rooms. The US Army now partners with a local paranormal group on monthly investigations of the house, one of the few standing paranormal programs run by the US military. After recent occupants reported unusual activity, an earlier investigation there documented doors opening on their own, alarms triggering simultaneously, and unidentified figures on video that an investigator on the case could not explain, and a separate 2011 investigation recorded cold spots, equipment shutting off, and a flashlight that seemed to respond to questions. During a 2021 ride-along, an investigator recounted the first full-body apparition she had ever seen in the house, in the basement, and a staff member described her grandchildren hearing and being addressed by a singing female figure in an upstairs room. 5 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 2011-2021 · retold in 4 later publications
- 6. Old Joliet Prison Old Joliet Prison opened in 1858, built partly of limestone quarried by the inmates who constructed it, and operated for more than a century before closing in 2002. Its residents included Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in the 1920s and John Wayne Gacy in the 1980s. Tour guides and visitors report phantom footsteps echoing along the cell block galleries and sudden cold spots inside individual cells, concentrated now in the storm-damaged administration building undergoing restoration. 2 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1858-2018 · retold in 5 later publications
- 7. Mineral Springs Hotel The Mineral Springs Hotel began in 1914 as a planned ice warehouse for the Luer Brothers; when construction crews struck a natural spring, the project became a mineral-water resort hotel instead, and the building later housed author Troy Taylor's American Hauntings shop and Oddities Museum. Clarence Blair, an 18-year-old sheet metal worker from Granite City, drowned in the hotel's pool during a swimming lesson. Tour groups report a man matching Blair's description at the pool's edge and describe being touched near the water. A separate presence known as the Jasmine Lady has been reported near a hotel stairwell for decades, marked by a strong floral scent with no identifiable source; researcher Troy Taylor found no historical death on record to account for her. 3 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1913-2019 · retold in 2 later publications
- 8. James M. Nederlander Theatre (Iroquois Theatre Fire Site) HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this working theater, across four kinds of published source. Nine later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include cold spots and disembodied voices. 2 original accounts · documented in 2005 · retold in 9 later publications
- 9. The Drake Hotel The Drake Hotel opened on Chicago's Magnificent Mile on New Year's Eve 1920, designed by the firm of Marshall and Fox, and has operated as a luxury hotel for more than a century, now under the Hilton flag. Its best known ghost story, the Lady in Red, is a widely repeated legend for which Chicago historian Adam Selzer found no supporting record in contemporary newspapers. The hotel's one documented violent death came on January 19, 1944, when a woman in a black coat shot society matron Adele Born Williams in her eighth-floor suite; Williams died the next day and her killer was never caught. Later paranormal accounts describe activity on the eighth floor tied to the unsolved case, along with reports of unexplained photographs and cold spots elsewhere in the hotel. 3 original accounts · documented in 1920 · retold in 5 later publications Disputed by a historical authority. Chicago historian and researcher Adam Selzer, investigating the hotel's most-repeated ghost story, the 'Woman in Red,' found no period newspaper record of the death behind it and no one who claims to have actually seen the apparition.
- 10. White Cemetery (Cuba Road) White Cemetery on Cuba Road traces to an 1847 burial and was formally chartered in 1855 by early Cuba Township settlers; the township took over its upkeep in 1983 after years of neglect. Visitors since the 1960s have reported glowing white orbs over headstones and hazy figures passing through the iron fence. The best-known account describes a black car that turns into the entrance late at night and disappears before reaching the gate. 1 original account · documented across 6 decades, 1820-2011 · retold in 5 later publications Disputed by a historical authority. A paranormal-research organization's own investigation traced the cemetery's 'one-armed man' legend to a local schoolteacher who originated the story in the early 1960s, and its 'self-standing headstone' legend to schoolchildren who repeatedly tipped over a loose marker in 1971.
By city
- Chicago: 31 documented sites
- Springfield: 9 documented sites
- Alton: 8 documented sites
- Decatur: 6 documented sites
- Peoria: 5 documented sites
- Bartonville: 4 documented sites
- Bloomington: 3 documented sites
- Aurora: 3 documented sites
- Carbondale: 3 documented sites
- Forest Park: 3 documented sites
- 76 more across the rest of Illinois
Press images
- Peoria State Hospital (Bartonville Asylum) Willjay, CC BY 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peoria_State_Hospital.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/bartonville-insane-asylum-state-hospital/hero.jpg
- Bachelor's Grove Forest Preserve Mark Bergner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MG_9524_5_6_7_tonemapped-asm.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/bachelors-grove-forest-preserve/hero.jpg
- McPike Mansion Mcpikemansioncrew, CC BY-SA 4.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McPike_Mansion,_September_2017.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/mcpike-mansion/hero.jpg
- Rock Island Arsenal, Quarters One Kepper66, CC BY-SA 3.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quarters_1_(Rock_Island).jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/rock-island-arsenal-quarters-one/hero.jpg
- Old Joliet Prison Joseph Gage from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20200829-DSCF4977_(50359243676).jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/old-joliet-prison/hero.jpg
- James M. Nederlander Theatre (Iroquois Theatre Fire Site) Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nederlander_Theatre_-_Chicago_(51574653991).jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/james-m-nederlander-theatre-iroquois-theatre-fire-site/hero.jpg
- The Drake Hotel Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drake_Hotel,_Michigan_Avenue,_Streeterville,_Chicago,_IL.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/illinois/the-drake-hotel/hero.jpg
Images listed here may be republished with the credit shown; all other HauntBound images are not offered for press use.
Superlatives
- Oldest documented site: Sugar Tree Grove Cemetery Documented since 1820.
- Most documented: Rock Island Arsenal, Quarters One (Visits by guided tour only) 5 distinct published accounts.
- Top haunted stay: The Congress Plaza Hotel Overnight stays bookable.
- Most family-friendly: Tinker Swiss Cottage Family Comfort rating: High.
Methodology
For purposes of the HauntBound Index, "most haunted" means the location with the strongest documented record of reported haunting phenomena. We evaluate the quantity, independence, persistence, and documentary quality of published reports. We do not attempt to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real, and we never count a source that only establishes a building's history as evidence of haunting claims. Repetitive coverage is subject to diminishing returns, so a story retold many times does not outrank a story independently documented. Rankings never consider commercial relationships.
The 2026 Index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.
Updated September 29, 2026: documented totals now exclude the private homes, operating hospitals and venues with nothing left to visit that were withdrawn on September 25 and 26. The ranked ten are unchanged.
Updated October 19, 2026: listings that could not be sourced, or that are private or have no public access, were withdrawn after an October review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
Updated October 23, 2026: more listings were withdrawn after a dignity and sourcing review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
This is a documentation ranking, not a visitation guide; sites not open to visitors are marked on their entries.