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Abandoned Train Bridge
Spring Valley, Illinois
20.2 miles from Varna, IL
Shadow figures have been seen on and around the abandoned bridge that goes over the train tracks in DePue, Il. The sounds of screams, train whistles, and a train stopping have been heard in the location when the train that runs the track is nowhere near the village. Many ...
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Moon Point Cemetery - Moon Creek Cemetery
Streator, Illinois
20.3 miles from Varna, IL
Moon Point Cemetery, aka Moon's Point Cemetery or Moon Creek Cemetery, is older than the Civil War and legendary with those who like to tell ghost stories. It was thought to have begun as a family cemetery for early settlers Jacob Moon and his family. The cemetery's most-talked-about ghost is ...
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Massock Mausoleum
Spring Valley, Illinois
21 miles from Varna, IL
The Massock Mausoleum stands in a small graveyard called the Lithuanian Liberty Cemetery, and it's the stuff of legends. Locals tell of a Hatchet Man, a scary ghost who guards the cemetery, and the mausoleum door is said to remain warm and has been sealed closed since the 1960s when ...
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Kaskaskia Hotel
LaSalle, Illinois
21.4 miles from Varna, IL
This historic hotel opened in 1916. Locals tell a story of a young woman who committed suicide by jumping from the top floor in the 1920s, but some will tell you she was pushed by her boyfriend. It is said that employees there would hear the click of her heels ...
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Ninth Street Pub
LaSalle, Illinois
21.7 miles from Varna, IL
According to local tales, the Ninth Street Pub's ghost is Mrs. Sonnenburg, an elderly woman who lived adjacent to the pub and often complained about its noise. After her death, the owner of the pub purchased her home and made it into a pub addition. A staff member who was ...
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Starved Rock Lodge
Oglesby, Illinois
23 miles from Varna, IL
At this circa 1900 historic lodge, folks say, reside the ghosts of Native Americans who once fought a battle nearby. Guests have reported seeing a black apparition and strange orbs of light, and they have felt cold spots and experienced doors that open and close by themselves. It should be ...
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Peoria Players Theatre
Peoria, Illinois
28.7 miles from Varna, IL
Peoria Players Theatre is said to be haunted by a playful ghost named Norman, a former theater director who died in 1960 at age 34, and a more sinister entity whose identity is unknown.
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Peoria Public Library
Peoria, Illinois
30.4 miles from Varna, IL
Peoria Public Library, according to local lore, was built upon cursed ground. So the story goes, Mrs. Andrew Gray lived in a house here around 1830. Family and financial hardships led to a foreclosure on her home, and Mrs. Gray cursed the property and all of its future owners. Her ...
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Emack and Bolio's
Peoria, Illinois
30.5 miles from Varna, IL
This ice cream parlour is haunted by former owner Jim Schwab, who died after falling headfirst down a flight of stairs. Staff have reported disembodied footsteps descending the staircase, while others have encountered a male apparition on the upper floor. (Submitted by Callum Swift)
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Safari Bowl
Morton, Illinois
31.7 miles from Varna, IL
You will hear footsteps on the lanes when it is jaut you in there. You can hear pins be thrown across the back of bowling ally when no one is back there. There are dog barking. There is also a little girl that is 8 yrs old that haunts ...
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Peoria State Hospital
Bartonville, Illinois
35.4 miles from Varna, IL
This abandoned mental hospital, now in the planning stages for restoration, is said to be haunted by Manuel A. Bookbinder, or Old Book. Old Book was a patient who worked with the burial crew at the hospital until his own death.
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Williams Hall
Normal, Illinois
38.5 miles from Varna, IL
Illinois State University's Williams Hall was the site of the university's first library, and is thought to be haunted by the spirit of the first librarian, Angie Milner. Even though a new library was eventually built in her name, and the old one was turned into Williams Hall, the ghost ...
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Atkin-Colby Hall
Normal, Illinois
38.6 miles from Varna, IL
Atkin-Colby Hall at Illinois State University is rumored to be haunted on its 11th floor. One witness claims to have been pushed down the stairs by the ghost. Also described by witnesses are doors opening, whispers, strange noises, and an overwhelming feeling of discomfort and that you are not wanted ...
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Kemp Hall - International House
Bloomington, Illinois
39.6 miles from Varna, IL
Kemp Hall International House, or I-House, is said to be haunted by a ghostly Lady in Red. She is believed to be Mrs. A. E. DeMange, former owner of the mansion. She passed away after living here only a year, in 1908. Mr. DeMange sold it to the Illinois Weslayan ...
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Stanford Pour House
Stanford, Illinois
41.6 miles from Varna, IL
Originally built at the turn of the century as a mercantile grocery store, it was shortly after used by a local church for their temporary place of worship until their regular church building was completed. It was then used for many years as a funeral home. It ...
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Stanford Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Stanford, Illinois
41.7 miles from Varna, IL
Built in 1901, the Stanford Cumberland Presbyterian Church had been loved and enjoyed by it's congregation until it was sold in 2004. Between 2004 to 2012 it has changed hands four times since. The first owner lived it for a very short time. It was then ...
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Amboy Pharmacy
Amboy, Illinois
47.1 miles from Varna, IL
This old-fashioned pharmacy is haunted by at least seven spirits, according to a visiting psychic. Dating back to the early 1860's, the main haunting here is by a former pharmacy owner who was displeased by recent renovations. Known as 'Steve', he has been known to knock objects off shelves, ...
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Aux Sable Cemetery
Morris, Illinois
52.7 miles from Varna, IL
Aux Sable Cemetery is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a mischievous young girl who has been known to play pranks, such as lowering electrical car windows when the key is not even in the ignition. The site is also said to be a portal from a ghostly ...
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Julia Markham - Death Curve
Cambridge, Illinois
54.9 miles from Varna, IL
Locals say that a woman wearing a white flowing gown glides across the field on quiet nights. It is said she is the spirit of Julia Markham, who in 1905 killed her 7 children with an ax and then set her house on fire, killing herself.
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Lincoln College
Lincoln, Illinois
61.2 miles from Varna, IL
Lincoln College is rumored to have ghosts in the 1866 University Hall, where a face appears in the bell tower and white misty forms appear in the windows. The ghosts, whose footsteps also are heard from time to time, are believed to be a boy and girl who passed away ...
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Friendly Cafe
Abingdon, Illinois
63.3 miles from Varna, IL
The café is rumoured to be haunted. Employees have been touched by unseen hands, and a woman in a long dress appeared to a former owner in the main kitchen. (Submitted by Callum Swift)
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Lawford Theatre
Havana, Illinois
67.2 miles from Varna, IL
Folks who have visited or worked at the Lawford Theatre have seen faces appear in photographs and have felt cold chills behind the curtains on opening nights.
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Mount Olivet Cemetery
Aurora, Illinois
67.4 miles from Varna, IL
This cemetery dates back to the 1850s, and has a very specific type of haunting. It is said on numerous Internet sites that spectral ghosts wearing 1950s attire are seen throughout the cemetery, only to disappear on second glance.
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Patrick Haley Mansion
Joliet, Illinois
67.8 miles from Varna, IL
Egyptologist and architect Frank Shaver Allen built this mansion that's been popular with ghost hunters since the '70s. Among the spirits believed to be active here are the architect himself as well as a little boy, an older woman who died on the premises, and a nanny. Perhaps adding to ...
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Conover Square
Oregon, Illinois
67.9 miles from Varna, IL
Conover Square is a former piano factory, now a shopping mall. Built in the 1890's, it is now the home of many haunted happenings. A little girl's spirit giggles in the hallways & museum, loud crashes boom from the unoccupied third floor, and more than one female ...
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Old Rush Copley Memorial
Aurora, Illinois
68 miles from Varna, IL
The Old Rush Copley Hospital was build in 1888 and shutdown in 1996. Paranormal researchers and people that have broken in this hospital have heard footsteps,unexplained voices and even apparitions. In one encounter, a group of teens have seen a doll that might have belong to a young child ...
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206 N. Broadway
Joliet, Illinois
68.1 miles from Varna, IL
Built in 1882, the Victorian house at 206 N. Broadway St. was originally a private residence, but was a school and a boardinghouse for women until the 1970s when it again became a private home. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a 19-year-old who was shot ...
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Rialto Square Theatre
Joliet, Illinois
68.4 miles from Varna, IL
The Rialto Square Theatre was built as a movie palace and vaudeville venue in 1926. Today, it is said to be haunted by a woman believed to be a former actress. Employees, construction workers and visitors have seen the female form floating throughout the theater. There are also a male ...
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The Leland Tower
Aurora, Illinois
68.7 miles from Varna, IL
This 21-story building, the tallest in Aurora, has been the means for several jumping suicides. Evidence that the building is haunted includes reports of bad odors and moaning sounds that come from the elevators.
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Baymont Inn and Suites
North Aurora, Illinois
70 miles from Varna, IL
Claims of a white moving "light" have been seen in the lobby as well as some visitors reporting feeling like they are being choked.
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City Tavern
Kankakee, Illinois
71 miles from Varna, IL
Employees and diners at this popular restaurant and bar have reportedly encountered a male spirit. Known as 'David', patrons have had their hair pulled and have been pushed around by unseen hands. (Submitted by Callum Swift)
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Majestic Theater
Kankakee, Illinois
71.2 miles from Varna, IL
Dating back to 1912, the historic theater achieved notoriety when the 'Marx Brothers' performed a vaudeville act there in 1916. However, the theatre is also renowned for its ghostly inhabitants, including a ghostly child and Julia Remmington, a former owner. (Submitted by Callum Swift)
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East Otto Cemetery
Lewistown, Illinois
72.3 miles from Varna, IL
Local legend has it that the specters of two headless women can be seen at this cemetery late at night, screaming as they're being chased by an axe-wielding maniac. No word on exactly how a headless woman is supposed to be able to scream, but you know, details, details...
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Central Avenue Ghost
Bettendorf, Iowa
74.4 miles from Varna, IL
The spirit of a middle-aged washerwoman haunts the area with her wooden washtub. She has been reported since the late 1800s, but some say she upgraded her equipment and sometimes appears with a double-wringer washing machine.
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Manteno State Hospital
Manteno, Illinois
75.1 miles from Varna, IL
The 1930s Manteno State Hospital suffered a typhoid fever epidemic in 1939, and more than 50 patients and staff members died. The hospital eventually was renamed the Manteno Mental Health Center; it ceased operations in 1985 and the complex became business rentals, a bank, part of the Illinois Diversatech Campus ...
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Patten House Restaurant
Geneva, Illinois
75.6 miles from Varna, IL
This historic restaurant dishes up fine southern cuisine, an exquisite range of liquor and a litany of ghost stories. The main spook reported here time and time again is that of a poltergeist that makes itself known on stormy nights. (Submitted by Callum Swift)
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Cotton House
Clinton, Iowa
75.8 miles from Varna, IL
This historic gothic mansion belonged to a family of barristers, who moved out after seeing the apparition of a woman in white roaming the hallways and ground after dark. Visitors to the house will not go down to the basement alone, which is believed to be haunted by an ...
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Hotel Baker
St. Charles, Illinois
76.8 miles from Varna, IL
At this splendid historic hotel, originally built in 1928, an apparent suicide is often given as the reason for some strange phenomena. Moaning sounds come from the sixth floor storage area, which used to be used as housing for employees. Folks say in the 1970s, a hotel chambermaid who was ...
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Arcada Theater
St. Charles, Illinois
76.9 miles from Varna, IL
Arcada Theatre, built in 1926 by millionaire and Chicago Tribune cartoonist Lester J. Norris, is haunted by disembodied voices that waft from the balcony throughout the rest of the building, a phantom odd odor, and unexplained cold pockets.
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Hotel Blackhawk
Davenport, Iowa
77.5 miles from Varna, IL
This place has undergone extensive renovation since almost burning down in a fire started by a meth lab operating out of the eighth floor in 2006. Could meth fumes, seeping through the walls account for the reports of ghosts? Cary Grant suffered his fatal stroke on the eighth floor ...
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Ghosts of Springfield and Southern Illinois & Other Haunted Tales from the Prairie State
Rachel Brooks Posadas
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Allerton Mansion
Monticello, Illinois
77.6 miles from Varna, IL
The Robert Allerton Park, with its 1900 Georgian Revival mansion and incredible gardens, are both open to the public. Here visitors may see some ghostly goings-on in the form of a Lady in White, believed to be a guest at the mansion long ago. It is said that she is ...
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Alice French House
Davenport, Iowa
77.6 miles from Varna, IL
This historic mansion was the residence of the notable writer, who spent her years throughout here during the warmer months. Her father, the town mayor, originally owned the house, and it may be his spirit that is often reported here by visitors. Witnesses claim to have seen a distinguished ...
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Masonic Temple
Davenport, Iowa
77.7 miles from Varna, IL
A wide assortment of haunted activity is claimed to occur at this former masonic temple. These phenomena include disembodied voices carrying on a conversation, noises without a recognizable source such as footsteps when there is no one seen, names being called when there is no one present, etc. Objects ...
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Scott City Hall
Davenport, Iowa
77.8 miles from Varna, IL
An imposing building with a bell tower just begs to have a good ghost story associated with it, and this city hall building is no exception. People claim to see the ghost of a hanged man in the tower at night, allegedly from prisoners who were illegally hanged there. ...
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Phi Kappa Chi
Davenport, Iowa
77.8 miles from Varna, IL
This fraternity house has a haunt of its own, the apparition of a large man who enters at the front door and walks up the stairs to the front bedroom. He wears an overcoat with the collar turned up. Student lore says that the apparition belongs to a homeless man ...
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Palmer College of Chiropractic
Davenport, Iowa
77.9 miles from Varna, IL
There is a lecture hall, built in the 1800s, that is said to be haunted by ghosts who fly around the ceiling, making the hanging lamps sway. It is said that there are no air vents, fans, or windows of any sort placed in such a way that would cause ...
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Benedictine University
Lisle, Illinois
77.9 miles from Varna, IL
This university has more than its share of haunts, including a little boy ghost in a blue t-shirt and shorts who wanders around campus, and disappears. Reports say Benedictine Hall was closed because it was so haunted. Its 4th floor was said to be haunted by a clergyman, and in ...
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Ambrose Hall
Davenport, Iowa
78.4 miles from Varna, IL
At this hall in St. Ambrose University, witnesses have reported hearing strange noises and footsteps late at night. They have also seen flickering lights. Some attribute the occurrences to the spirit of an old priest who died many years ago.
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Roff House - The Watseka Wonder
Watseka, Illinois
80 miles from Varna, IL
The Roff House was one of the two houses in which the Watseka Wonder took place. The Watseka Wonder was a spiritual possession said to have happened in the late 19th century to an epileptic girl named Lurancy Vennum, who was 14 at the time. One of the spirits who ...
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Vennum House - The Watseka Wonder
Watseka, Illinois
80.3 miles from Varna, IL
The Vennum House was the home of Lurancy Vennum, a teenaged epilectic girl who was said to have been possessed in the incident known as the Watseka Wonder. The story of the late-19th-century possession was related in the 2009 film "The Possessed." The house may be open for ghost tours ...
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