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Page UPDATED on 1/16/08 - Keep the questions and stories coming - they will be addressed!

Add your story or respond to the ones posted by eMailing me!

Title: Haunted House in Willow Springs & Asylum in Wadsworth Date Submitted: 9/9/05
Location of Haunting: Wadsworth and Willow Springs Date of Haunting: n/a

Story/Question: Hello, my name is Jenn and I need your help with two things. First of all, I too am inquiring about the blue Victorian house over in Willow Springs. It was always an attraction when we were teens and I've always wanted to know the history on it. I have even considered purchasing and restoring it. Please tell me what you know.
Next I would like to know ANYTHING you can tell me about the "building" over in Wadsworth. People say that it's an abandoned mental institute. I have seen it. If you were traveling east on Wadsworth road coming from Hunt Club road you would keep your eye out for a big white house on your right on a dirt road. You would then turn on this dirt road and follow it down quite a ways. Then straight ahead of you there will be what appears to be a big house. There are VERY strange people that will follow you in your car through here. Trust me, I've run into a couple and they're not your typical bunch of people just wanting you to stay out. Needless to say I was scared away. So I went home and looked on line at satellite photos only to find that what I thought was a big house at first was really the "mental institution". It's a very big building with a side entrance and a large wing extending from the back. I compared this photo to those of very large houses and this building was defiantly more than a house.
Please help me. I have tried to research it and found nothing. Please help, Jenn

Response from Slim Pictures:  Jen, As for the house in Willow Springs, I do know of the one you speak, but, since it's a private residence, there is little I, myself, know about it. If you wrote me in the past (others have had the same questions about it as you), I can only refer you to theunexplainedworld.com. The operator of that web site knows much more than I do. In addition, I have recieved word from Willow Springs police officers who have eMailed me to tell me to stop posting info about that particular location on my site (which is pretty laughable since there's almost no mention of it whatsoever on my site).
As for the location in Wadsworth, I am not familiar with it, however I will start looking into it. If anyone out there in Internet land has any information, it is much appreciated by Jenn and myself. However, most importantly, do not tresspass, don't break the law and look out for your own safety at all times.

Response from Jenn: Dear Scott, thanks for letting me know about the house in Willow Springs.
I am also writing you to give you better directions to the "mental institution." I read over my original message to you and you would have gotten lost if you went by that. I will assume that you will be taking 94. If I am right, then you would want to get of on Rt 132/Grand Ave west. Take that to Hunt Club road and make a right (north).You will then take this to Wadsworth Rd. and make a right (east). Now from here you just have to keep your eye out for a dirt road on your RIGHT. It's right before the overpass that takes you over 94. There's a large white house there. Make a right on that dirt road and just keep going until you see what I thought was just a house but is actually THE building that I am speaking of. It has a large circular driveway. Like I said, there are some strange folk back there so be prepared. No police were called on us so at least that was a bonus. Now lets back up for a minute - when you are traveling north on Hunt Club road, you will come to a stop sign at Milburn Rd. You can go left but there's a sign that states NO Outlet to your right, (another dirt road) but there is an outlet. This too will lead you to this house however you will get noticed ALOT sooner taking this route than the first way. I am just letting you know that there is an alternate route. One more piece of advice I can give you is that both of these roads are very very bumpy and rough. They are both extremely dark!!! I will try my best to email you a copy of the aerial photo. Good Luck if you decide to go & thanks Again, Jenn

Response from Bob Jensen (paranormal investigator from Ghostland Society - www.ghostlandsociety.com): In regards to the whole wadsworth aslyum off of hunt club. . . its all BS. Mary met an ex GF of mine that lived back there. those people like their privacy and do what they can to conceal it from everyone.

Title: Haunted House in Willow Springs? Date Submitted: 1/3/05
Location of Haunting: Willow Springs, just off of Archer Avenue Date of Haunting: 1/05

Question: Me and my friend visited a house and we video taped the house and we heard voices and stuff on it and trains that weren't there. We would like to know the history on it, if you could provide that. it is located in Willow Springs. We don't know if its abandoned or what. its a blue house (Victorian) with crosses on the windows and it has an ambulance in the drive way on the side of the house from the 20's or 40's.  Please, it would be so awesome if you could give us some info on it. please peace, --kristine and stephy

Response from Slim Pictures:  If the house you speak of, is it the one pictured here: theunexplainedworld.com/ Unexplmiscphotos/ pages/ housefront_jpg.htm, send an eMail to Ed Shanahan (the web master of The Unedxplained World). That's his neck of the woods and he knows more than I. Thanks for your inquiry, good luck in your quest for info.  What I can tell you is that it is not abandoned.  It is a private residence and please respect the privacy of the people living there  I doubt anybody would be crazy about 'ghost hunters' crawling around their yards with video cameras in hand.

Title: A Question about Archer Avenue Date Submitted: 8/4/04
Location of Haunting: Archer Woods Cemetery, Hickory Hills, IL* Date of Haunting: (ongoing)

Question: what's the deal with Archer woods? I've read just about every book on Chicago hauntings and all I can ever get are generalities and rumors. Other than the phantom hurse, or the cemetery, does anything else go on there? I've heard the typical rumors of satanic worship, but that's about every chicagoland forest preserve. any specifics?  I was down there one time and the gate had been smashed down. The cemetery worker that was repairing it didn't know what happened (they called him in from a different cemetery), but he said that the last guy they had working there just left his job without telling anyone why. That seemed a little out of the ordinary.

Response from Slim Pictures:  First off, it's the scariest cemetery I've ever been to and, in Chicago, I've been to most. Satanic worship rumors are pretty common, however, I have interviewed Hickory Hills police officers who confirmed that that kind of stuff does happen back there regularly and they're often notified by neighbors who see lights in the cemetery after dark.

Those same police officers I interviewed also talked about their own paranormal encounters when investigating disturbance calls. The hearse is the biggest ghost story there, but there are also legends of a sobbing woman. The female ghost these police officers saw was screaming and running full steam. I got the impression that the appirition passed within a few feet of the officer.

Why is this place haunted? It's possible it has to do with the 'devil worship' going on there, but I'll guess the hauntings were going on long before that started. As you probably know, that area (near Archer Avenue) is the paranormal focal point of Chicago and probably the entire midwest. There's around a dozen haunted sites within a mile of there. Also, hauntings tend to 'flair up' in areas where graves are desecrated. This is one such place, and it doesn't help that the cemetery administration does little to stop or repair this.

I don't know if you've read my book, "Voices from the Chicago Grave," but I talk extensively about Archer Woods Cemetery and I've included dozens of pictures. (if you haven't, check out www.slimpictures.com/slimstore.htm for more info)

Add your story or respond to the ones posted by eMailing me!

* Location is covered in the book/CD-ROM Voices from the Chicago Grave.
** Location is also covered in the DVD, "Voices from the Grave."