Why did hundreds of people line up, in the winter of 1980, bumper to bumper in rural Illinois, to catch a glimpse of a scantily clad phantom along Kennedy Hill Road? Did you know that a ghost of a homicidal mother still haunts the road near her former home? What is the real history behind Independence Grove and Devil’s Gate? When these questions and more are answered, you will never look at the history of Illinois the same way. This painstakingly researched book leaves no ghost unturned.

This book is the culmination of years of research, and it is accessable both to casual fans of the paranormal and anyone interested in Illinois history and folklore (or, what I like to call “folk history”). It’s fun, informative, and greatly entertaining. Even though I wrote the book, I became engrossed in it as soon as I got the preview copy in my hands. It’s not every day an author can say that!

The book is divided up into four sections:

• Archer Avenue
• Haunted Colleges and Universities
• Rivers and Roads
• The Abandoned

I promise you, you have never seen most of this information before! If you think you’ve read everything there is to know about Airtight Bridge from my previous writing, you are mistaken. Paranormal Illinois is the first and only book to contain the complete story, featuring interviews and first hand accounts by people who were involved with the case. This book also contains a detailed history of the abandoned schoolhouse along Shoe Factory Road, as well as camp St. Francis and “the Gate.”

Paranormal Illinois is available at several fine retailers, as well as a local bookstore near you. If you don’t find it there, ask them to order it! The book is also available online at the following websites:

Amazon.com ($13.25 – a really good deal!)
Borders ($14.99)
Schiffer Books ($16.99)

So what are you waiting for? Order it today before it’s sold out!

Authors Ursula Bielski and Scott Marcus will be at Horrorbles in Berwyn signing their latest books on Friday February 19, from 6-9pm. Horrorbles is located at 6729 W. Roosevelt Rd.

Download entire issue (in .pdf): $1.35 $1.00!

Willow Creek Farm dates back to 1838 when William Boardman and his wife Mary staked out a claim in Cherry Grove Township, Carroll County and erected a log cabin there. According to public records, the current farmhouse dates back to 1878, although there is evidence to suggest it was built more than a decade earlier. In 2006, Albert Kelchner, the farm’s current owner, bought the property and immediately sensed that he was sharing his house with some invisible guests. He began to record his encounters and has invited mediums and paranormal investigators to his farm in the hopes of corroborating his experiences. Home to as many as seven identified ghosts and as many as a dozen others, Willow Creek Farm has been called one of the most active haunted sites in Illinois.

Download the entire issue, featuring the history & hauntings of Willow Creek Farm, the adventures of The Fallen, a special report on the Forest City Paranormal Society investigation of the farm, and much more!

Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Ron Fabiani, founder of the Chicago Paranormal Detectives – now the subject of the TV show “Paranormal Cops” on A&E!

Click on the cover above to read a section from the new issue, or click here to download the complete issue.

Carla fumbled with the keys to her 2002 Ford Escape on the parkway of Seventh Avenue, just east of downtown Sterling. It was night, but the moonlight reflected off the fresh snow just enough to find the key hole. Her head swam. She had drank one more Goose Island than she intended, and was paying for it with the eternity it seemed to take to get into her car.

She was so concentrated on the task at hand that she almost failed to notice the shape out of the corner of her eye–almost. She spun around. “Hello?” she called out. There was nothing but the deserted street. A porch light turned on, and the chilly breeze brought with it the distant sound of crying.

Carla immediately thought of the river just a few yards away, past the railroad tracks. Was someone hurt? She shoved her keys back into her purse and stumbled toward the dead end. Her shoes clicked on the brick street, and the sound echoed among the darkened homes. She stopped at the metal guard rail and strained to see beyond the railroad tracks. For a brief moment, she thought she caught a glimpse of a figure standing among the barren trees at the riverbank. “Hello?” she yelled. “Are you ok?”

Suddenly, a male voice called out through a nearby screen door. “Who’s out there? What’s going on?”

“I think someone needs help,” Carla replied, turning her head momentarily to face the new interloper. When she turned her head back toward the railroad tracks beyond the Seventh Avenue dead end, the mysterious figure was gone…

Download our entire issue featuring the history & hauntings of the Seventh Avenue Dead End, the adventures of The Fallen, trivia, a brand new section for the skeptics among us, and much more! Only $1.35 – 1/2 the price of a gallon of gas! Make sure to click the download link and “save as” when your purchase is complete!

Buchanan officials bar ghost hunter from cemetery
Associated Press
January 14, 2010

BUCHANAN, Mich. – A self-styled ghost hunter will have to do his sleuthing somewhere besides a cemetery in southwest Michigan.

Alex Cooper made the request at a Buchanan City Commission meeting earlier this week. But after a spirited discussion, the commission rejected the 20-year-old Niles resident’s bid to search for ghosts in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Cooper said he made the request after hearing the cemetery is haunted. Commissioner Carla Cole said Cooper should have a chance to confirm or dispel talk of ghosts at Oak Ridge.

But City Manager Meg Mullendore said she was concerned that Cooper’s exploits would draw people to the 164-year-old cemetery for paranormal-related activities such as seances.

Read the entire article…

What do you think?

“Emma Jones,” from Michael Kleen’s appearance at the Rockford Public Library on October 17, 2009:

Emma Pauline Jones was a Norwegian immigrant who lived at this home (built in 1856) from the 1920s into the 1950s. Her husband Frank was often away on business, and she spent much of her time with her two beloved Dalmatians, Moxie and Channing. After her husband died in 1941, Emma—who was 66 years old—continued to live with her faithful dogs, but after they passed on, she began to descend into loneliness and dementia. She spent her twilight years sitting in a rocking chair, waiting for loved ones who would never return.

Emma finally sold her home and moved in with a relative, where she died in 1964. According to local legend, she returned to her house on North First Street in her afterlife. Owners of the home have reported strange noises, moving furniture, and even seeing the ghost of an elderly woman in the attic windows. One newlywed couple reported that an old woman appeared in their living room and asked what they were doing in her home, then vanished.

Download entire issue (in .pdf): $1.35

While rumors of deaths along the nearby railroad tracks and the banks of the Rock River have circulated for years, one phantom in particular has captured the imaginations of residents of Sterling, Illinois. She is the ghost of a weeping woman who wanders the tracks just beyond the Seventh Avenue dead end, searching for her missing children. Having lost those most dear to her, she is doomed to spend eternity there.

Join us as we explore this mysterious location! Included in this issue is a brand new section for the skeptics among us, trivia, and letters from our readers. Of course, you won’t want to miss the adventures of your favorite paranormal investigators, The Fallen. In this issue, they encounter the weeping woman of the Seventh Avenue dead end!

Click on the cover above to read a section from the new issue, or click here to download the complete issue.

Check out this report from Observation Point Rock in Afghanistan:

Eerie outpost unnerves US Marines with strange lights and whispers in the night
The Times Online
December 28, 2009

…There is talk of members of the Taleban entombed in caves below; the bodies buried on the summit are identified confidently as dead Russian soldiers from the ill-fated Soviet invasion.

Corporal Jacob Lima’s story is the latest addition. One night he was woken by the sound of screaming. It was Corporal Zolik, a Marine who has since been moved to a unit farther south. “He was yelling and begging me to go up to the firing point he was guarding,” Corporal Lima, 22, told the men taking over from him. “When I got there he said that he was sitting there when he heard a voice whisper something in his ear. He said it sounded like Russian. He begged me to stay in there with him till he was relieved from guard duty. After that he really didn’t like standing post up there.”

The Marines’ predecessors, a unit of Welsh Guards, also produced tales of the unexpected. “The Brits claimed to see weird things, hear noises,” Corporal Lima said. “Lots of them said it’s creepy at night, especially from midnight till 4am. You see a lot of unexplained lights through night-vision goggles.”

Read the entire article…

Do you have relatives serving in Iraq or Afghanistan? Do they have any stories about this or other places? Leave a comment or e-mail us!

Manteno State Hospital was one of two mental hospitals in Kankakee County. It has been the subject of several television shows and numerous investigations both professional and amateur. In 1939, the hospital was the scene of the “Manteno Madness,” a typhoid epidemic that resulted in the deaths of 47 patients and staff. Closed for decades, the hospital has been slowly divided up and sold off, until only a few of its buildings remain abandoned.

Manteno State has been one of the most popular issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois to date. Download the entire issue, featuring the history & hauntings of Manteno State Hospital, the adventures of The Fallen, Paranormal 101, trivia, and much more:

Only $1.35

Have people been trying to get in... or out?

The hospital is now a shell of its former self.

Soon, this place will be just a memory...

Lights dance on the walls in this, the scene of the "Manteno Madness"

Interested in abandoned hospitals? You may also enjoy our issues about:

Ashmore Estates in Ashmore

Sunset Haven in Carbondale

Bartonville (Peoria) State Hospital

Own a signed and numbered limited edition copy of Haunting the Prairie before its official release! Only 20 copies available – $12.95 each

Sold Out!

“If you are reading this, you are part of a small but dedicated group of people who relish in the exploration of the unknown… I honestly hope that you visit the places listed in this book, and always remember, the point is to have fun, get scared, and learn something along the way…” – From the Introduction.

For over a decade, Michael Kleen, author of the Legends and Lore of Illinois and the forthcoming book Paranormal Illinois, has been researching and traveling to mystery spots all over the Prairie State. Now, he has created the most organized and comprehensive guide to haunted and legendary places ever written about Illinois. Haunting the Prairie is that guide.

Haunting the Prairie contains 130 mystery sites and 60 individual illustrations, plus the only bibliographic time line of paranormal and folklore research in Illinois over the past century. In Haunting the Prairie, Michael Kleen not only examines the sites, but also the hobbyists and professionals who have devoted their lives to exploring the strange and unusual in our great state. But that’s not all, this book also contains an extended and exclusive interview with paranormal investigator Larry Wilson about his documentary Strange Williamsburg Hill.

Divided among eight distinct regions and listed by county, each location features a description, directions, and sources drawn from a diverse variety of books and articles where the reader can find out more information.

Haunting the Prairie challenges you to get off the couch and start exploring our wonderful State of Illinois. You might be surprised at what you discover!

Title: Haunting the Prairie: A Tourist’s Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of Illinois
Author: Michael Kleen
Format: 9 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 978-0979040146
Publisher: Black Oak Press, Illinois
Number of Pages: 154
Publication Date: January 1, 2010