Intorduction from Slim Pictures: I have known Dave Black for several years and have come to completely trust his opinions on hauntings and haunted locations. He is a gifted medium and one of the forces behind Chicago's Ghostland Society. To find out more about them, click here. In September '06, after a long time away from Chicago's ghost scene, I asked Dave to catch me up on the famed Rainbow Road property. After finding this information, I created the video that can be found attached to the submission on 8/9/05. The following is what he sent me. Additional details about the property can be found on the 8/9/05 submission and several others:

Submission by Dave Black: I have been to the location after the renovation began and it is still very haunted, specifically the area around where the silo is still standing. I actually talked to the realty agent that was handling the property and he was pretty conversational about the history of it. Apparently the guy who owned the house got into some legal trouble and was arrested in the late 80's/early 90's (he may have been involved in some mob activity and it was some sort of embezzling/tax/insurance type scam). The house layed dormant for about 10 years and then an investor bought the property and hired a local guy to keep an eye on it. The house was burned down as part of a training excersice for the fire department. I also heard from reliable sources that there was a bowling alley and a theater in the basement of the house and that Styx played there for the guys sons birthday party. I'm not sure the timeline on all this stuff its just kind of a jumble of information I picked up along the way.

Halloween of 1999 I stopped by to check the place out and there were 6 plain clothes police officers guarding the gates with shotguns. When I asked why they were there they refused to give any other details than "to keep out tresspassers."

In respect to 'orb' photos, I learned to dismiss any and all orb pictures a long time ago in that 99.9% of the time they are just lens flare from moisture, rain, snow, dust, etc. The only surefire "proof" photgraphically is the mist and even then only when it is confirmed there is no smoking going on.

I am doing some work on the House of Blues and the Marina Towers you may be interested in as well.

These pictures were submitted by a viewer to the site. You can click to see them in full size.

Story: I was reviewing your site when I read the listing for Rainbow Rd. as a correction, all the house's have been torn down. The only structure remaining is the silo and barn and the barn has been renovated as storage. the area/roadway is being converted into a new, upper class subdivision. The property owners sold the property for development in 2005. The mansion was burned down around 1993 for fire/rescue training but there hasn't been any tragedy recorded after 1955. records prior to 1955 for that property are very few.

These pictures were submitted by a visiter to the site. You can right-click and open them in a new window to see them in full size.

Story: I have been past the gates at the house on Rainbow road about 6 years ago. Myself and a group of friends parked our cars on a sidestreet where there is a cul de sac where they were just building houses. I don't remember the name of the street but it was the last street that you would pass if you were traveling south before you reached the house. Anyways we walked thought the forest area and had hopped a fence which had once had barbed wired but was all cut away. We walked about a 1/2 mile or so and arrived at this enormous house. We went through the house in groups so some could keep a look out. It was an experience that I will never forget. There was devil worshipings everywhere. Mirrors were broken the house was a mess. There were calenders from 1985 on the wall. The strange things about the place was that it looked as though no one had lived there for years except that the house had a distinct clean smell to it and it was freshly vaccuumed and the lawn was cut. Outside the house was a smaller guest houe that we went through and the same thing. It was a mess but it had that smell of a clean house. Outside the guest house was a huge barn that we assumed was their garage. As one of my friends got closer and was about to walk in my other friend grabbed him and thank God. There was no floor. The ground was dug out about 10-15 feet down. It was an overall strange experience.

As far as Cuba Road goes I have seen the vanishing car and have also seen a house and then nothing with the same group. --Andrea Szewczyk

Story: My friend and I went to White Cemetary on Cuba Road. It was about 67 degress out and the wind was calm. I took some pics with my digital camera and found some suprising images. The first pic has and image of a girl looking from behind a headstone. The second pic looks to be a small boy kneeling. We took some other pics and found a lot of "orbs". We went there twice and as we were leaving the second time we drove slowly past the cemetery with the radio off. Out of no where my head unit flipped open and the volume turned up three clicks. Neither of us had the remote because it was sitting in the cup holder of my car. The really weird thing was you need to press two buttons on the remote to open the head unit and turn up the volume. We tested to see if there was any way that the buttons could have been pressed. We couldn't find anything. -- Sean

Click on the Tumbnails for full images

response from Slim Pictures:  First off, I definately do see what you are looking at in the picture where you think you see a girl. The one with a child is a little sketchy in my opinion. In both instances, however, its impossible to say anything definitively. With the light being so dark and the locations of the possible apparitions being so far away from the camera, it could be anything. There could be further distant object catching just enough light to make a tiny imprint on the film. Plus, in cases like this where you are really looking for an anomoly, our eyes will start to find patterns in vauge objects that create something organic to us - kind of like how it's easy to find faces in wood grain.

The pictures that make the biggest impression on me are pictures that come with a story. If someone had a bad feeling in a particular place, flet a cold spot, heard a sound, etc. In addition, pictures that are taken in the daytime that have strange images or lights on them are definately worth looking at deeper (though now you have to look out for glares from reflections and light sources. No matter what, there's always going to be at least two ways to explain a picture. Good work and keep looking!

Question: I have been to the Rainbow Road place in Barrington, gone past the gates and took several pictures. The most common features that I saw were orbs, then, moving orbs, then, in some of the darker photos when I did a gamma correction, several more orbs showed up. I took these pictures in May of 2004. --Jon Martin (right-click and open image in new window to see full size, larger image)

Response from Slim Pictures: 

Story: I happened upon your site and I noticed you had an article about the house on rainbow road. I was there about five or six years ago and at that point the buildings were still there. We went at night of course. After jumping the gate, you had to walk a short distance down a paved driveway until it inclined a bit then curved. At that point the house was right there. There was a large concrete in-ground pool in the back though we did not see it until we were inside the house looking out the back. It was a rather large house though by our standards I would not call it a mansion. If I remember correctly there was a main floor, second floor, small third floor by way of a cramped staircase, and basement.

The front door had a roof over it in such a way that it almost looked like a commercial building in a way, perhaps a hotel, though I can't be sure. After walking in there was a large sweeping staircase to the left and beneath the loft that it reached there was a bar with broken mirrors behind it. This also added to my suspicion that the building may have been used commercially to entertain. As I said the mirrors behind the bar were broken and there was some spray paint on that as well. On the right there was a large open room and a fireplace on the wall of that room. Upstairs there were a few interconnecting bedrooms with some intact and very nice furniture. Just a few dressers and cabinets. I do remember being able to climb on to the roof from the windows on either the 2nd or 3rd floor. There was also a basement via another cramped but this time concrete staircase.

None of us spent much time down there due to a terrible smell. There was one strange thing there. Now I did not see this happen I was turned the other way but it seems that someone found a "secret" room behind the fireplace. The wall next to it seemed to collapse and I did get a look back there and noticed a matress which may have been torn up and a lot of stuffing about. Also the smell of damp rot but not to the extend of the basement.

Outside of the house was pretty much an estate. There were Tennis courts and also a few small two story houses, one of them burned out. Also there was the barn and stables. We remember there being a somewhat modern lawn tractor in the barn and some old stuff on the second level, mostly clutter. We also found in the middle of the yard a hatch that opened into the ground. There were stone stairs that went down below a mans height and this seemed to be access to some sort of plumbing. There were large and small pipes at the bottom and pressure gauges on many.

I went back again recently and the property is now being turned into a subdivision. There is a paved road and curbs are already in place. The only thing
left from the old estate as of about 2 months ago is an old silo and some of the original electic poles.

I was at sunnybrook a few years back as well. This was also at night. There were small white buildings there at that time but that was all. We searched for a foundation but there was none. Upon a recent daytime visit I found the small houses to be gone but there is a mowed path there not big enough for a car that leads to a brown house previously unnoticed at night. This house is in good condition though old and locked up. There was a new ADT sign by the front of the house facing the lake. This house is locked up and is in good condition. I assume anyone would use discretion and not vandalise this site as someone IS taking care of it. There does seem to be a path going to the lake and there is a small footbridge on the way. -- Ken

Pics of the new rainbow road:

response from Slim Pictures: 

Story: I am 18 years old, and I reside in Waukegan, Illinois. I used to live in Park Ridge until last March, when me and my family moved out here to Waukegan. I am e-mailing you because I would like to share with you my experiences at the house on Rainbow Road, and give you a little update about that "glass house" that someone talked about in a post on your website.

About a year or so ago, (I can't give you an exact date because I don't remember, but it was during my Junior year of high school around winter time) my uncle who lives in Barrington (in the Braemar subdivision), told me about the house on Rainbow Road, and how it is haunted. So of course, curiosity killed my cat and I got some friends to come with me to check it out. What I saw there, absolutely freaked me out. What's interesting is none of my friends saw it. I was the only one that experienced it.

As you know, you go over the gate and walk down a long road that eventually leads to a fork. It takes you to what i remember to be a silo to the left, and another road to the right. You keep walking down that road to the right and there is the mansion. We had seen boarded up windows that had "keep out, police order" spray-painted on there. The door had been chained, so we could not get in that way. On the side of the house, there was a window that had no glass or wooden board covering it. We entered through there, and what I saw next scared the crap out of me. There was a wooden table in the corner, and two chairs. There was nothing there for a second, and when I reached into my pocket to look at my phone to see what time it was, my phone had shut off, which I thought was odd considering I had it on the car charger the whole ride over there. When I looked up, I saw two figures sitting at the table, what appeared to be a mother and a daughter. They were looking at each ot her, not saying anything. They then turned and looked at me, and just stared at me. And it wasn't a friendly stare. It was a cold, hateful stare, like a "get away from us" kind of stare. I turned to my friends, and told them that it was freaking me out. My buddy asked me what I was talking about, because they didn't see anything. I was like, "DO YOU NOT SEE THESE TWO PEOPLE STARING AT US?!" That's when it happened. I felt behind me, what felt like some kind of pressure. Then, a ghostly figure walked right through me, and it from what it seemed like, he was the father. He lit up the whole room with his glow, and once again, my friends didn't experience any of this. He then turned around, looked at me, and in an evil, deranged voice, stared at me and said, "get out." I grabbed my friends and told them to jump out the window and run. We hauled out of there, and as we ran, I heard screaming. A loud, painful screaming from the room that we were in. We hopped the gate and went back to my car. As I sped off and out of there I told my friends what I saw, and they said they didn't see any of it. I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone, which was no longer turned off, but back on with a full battery. I did not turn it back on. We went home, and I said I would never go back there again.

What happened that night has never happened to me before, and I've never had a supernatural experience since. But I will tell you this, what I saw that night was ghosts. They were ghosts that were very deranged and cruel. They looked just like human people, but very lightly transparent, and they were glowing. But by the way they stared, I could feel the hatred. The man who told me to get out said it in such a deep, deranged voice, it seemed as if it was satanic. And the painful, ear jarring screams I heard when I ran away, it was almost unreal.

Can you explain to me what happened? Have you ever heard any stories like this at Rainbow Road? What I experienced there does not match the story behind that house, about the mafia or whatever. I would just like to know what I experienced, and if I am in any danger for telling you this story. --Alex Gratys

P.S. ~ About that glass house, it is not haunted. My cousin's (the son of my uncle that lives in the Braemar subdivision) girlfriend lives in that glass house. She says that she has never experienced anything in her house, but has seen things when walking home at night.

Response from Slim Pictures:  Alex, Can you tell me about the house you went into? Is it the image shown that is the third from the top on this page: slimpictures.com/ghostpicts2.htm

From Alex: Yes that is absolutely the one.

Story/Question: I don't think it was an insane asylum but most of the stories I've heard and read about all say it is. One night me and three of my friends went to Cuba Road to look for anything strange. We didn't see anything at the cemetery but when we got to the gate on Rainbow Road, strange things started to happen. It was about 11:00 at night when we got there. We parked along side of the road where no one can see us and one of my friends stayed in the car just in case a cop showed up. The gates were closed and locked so we saw no way in. But by looking around we saw an opening in the fence. We climbed through and started to walk down the road. We heard some noises but they could have been the houses next door. As we walked we got as close to the big group of trees. Mind you it was very dark and scaring we started to hear sounds coming from the trees and thought it was a cop or something so we ran back to the car. We must have tripped a wire because when we got back to the car the cops showed up. They didn't say anything but they were mad. They told us that it was a vacant house from the 30's or so and there wasn't any asylum there. They did say that the asylum was on the other side of Northwest Hightway on Cuba Road, but that's all they said. They also warned that when somebody goes back there, the cops get called very fast - there are wires and an alarm. After they drove off we got out of the car and took one final picture of the gates to remember the night. As we walked back to the car, I started to get in and looked at the front end and saw a hand print but all my friends got in to the car from the back and so did I. We turned around and went back to Cuba Road to go home and saw a car in front of us that seemed to be coming at us and then disappered right in front of us. Very scary [stuff]. --William

response from Slim Pictures: 

Story/Question: Hey, my friend just sent me a link to your site and it had a whole bunch of stories regarding Rainbow and Cuba Rd.

First off about Cuba Rd, my friends and I have driven up and down that road and didn't really feel anything one way or the other. One weird thing we encountered was an extemely small, extremely dense patch of fog, and once we drove through it my friend's iPod shut off and made the radio cut to static.

We were under the impression that Cuba somehow connected to Rainbow Rd. so that's why we were driving along it. We searched for Rainbow Rd. for another half hour or so, then I said "screw it let's go someplace else" and not even 20 seconds after I said that, the intersection sign for Rainbow Rd. popped up. That was the first indication that something weird was happening.

We drove around on the road for a while since none of us had ever been there before, and we came across a bend in the road a couple of times. The second time we decided to see what was down there. We went just last week (Sunday June 19) and the gate was torn down. We went down the winding road and it stopped in a little roundabout so we decided to park the car and get out for a while. The area is nothing more than dirt and bulldozers right now, in fact believers in this area who knew we went down there were shocked and appalled that we had the courage to do something like that.

It was our main goal in this trip to test the orb theory and we did that by taking my friend's digital camera and taking random photographs. I was really excited to take pictures of this land since it's supposedly one of the most haunted areas in Illinois. Since I was with a couple of people I didn't really feel all that scared. My friend Mike, however, was a different story. He drove there and nearly the second we stepped on the land he started to freak. He reported feelings of extreme sorrow and panic, as I was fumbling with the camera he eventually took it and took pictures and was then like "we have to go now, lets go please, come on we're leaving please we have to go. this doesn't feel right, something's wrong. we have to leave." We thought he was just being stupid but we left anyway. As soon as we were in the car driving up the road he felt completely fine.

This was one of the pictures we took in the torn up area at the end of the road, as you can see there are numerous visible orbs that seem to be coming towards the camera. This was also the area, keep in mind, where my friend was experiencing all these horrible feelings.

This past week, Mike's life has been extremely tough. His friend from school was just in a tragic accident that left him for all intents and purposes brain dead. Also he's been through trying incidents that have caused him panic, such as a major change in job scenery, two speeding tickets, and being forced to go against his morals. As we were at dinner friday night he got a shocked look on his face as he told me this revelation: Every single bad feeling and event he's experienced in the past week is something that he felt on Rainbow Rd.

What we are both trying to figure out (now that we're firm believers in ghosts, we didn't really believe in paranormal activity before this night) is why this is happening. Did the feelings he get serve as a warning? Were they just simply warning him of troubles ahead? Or was it a punishment? He transported us to their land, we disturbed them by walking around and taking pictures. Therefore, they let him know what he was going to experience as a result.

We've contemplated driving back there and offering an apology to the spirits there, and weirdly enough as we were talking about that this past Friday Mike got a phone call like 2 seconds after the conversation was done and received promising news about his friend from school.

I dont know what to make of all this. I'm wondering what you think. Thanks for your time.

Response from Slim Pictures: 

Question: My friends and I have been going to Cuba Road for a while. We still didn't see anything. We weren't able to find the house on Rainbow Road either, but by the cemetery we took a side street right parallel to the cemetery, the street went around it and ended up in some ones driveway. Can you help us? We want to see something.

Response from Slim Pictures: