H A U N T I N G : C H I C A G O

Best Bet: "Parapsychology and Consciousness" Conference

2011-07-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

In this age of paranormal superstars and back-to-back episodes of ghost hunting reality shows, much of the quiet reality of academic paranormal research goes unnoticed. For the most part, hobby or amateur ghost hunters have distanced themselves from the intellectual realm of parapsychology. Some are aware that, for generations, parapsychologists had no use for them. In fact, parapsychology sought to filter out the "spontaneous phenomena" that ghost hunters crave--ghosts, hauntings, poltergeists, and others-- favoring those human psi abilities that could be studied in a proper laboratory. Today, scientists and amateurs are increasingly aware--and needful--of each other. Ghost hunters seek validation via technology more fervently every day; scientists seek to find their principles in action: in "haunted" houses, prisons and hospitals, as viewed by millions of eager fans every night on t.v.

A unique conference this fall on "Parapsychology and Consciousness" is an invitation to all with an interest in parapsychology--and the human mind that is common to all psi experience. Along with numerous stars of the world of academic parapsychology, ghost hunters will be delighted to find such presenters as Loyd Auerbach, who will present his findings from an investigation of the USS Hornet.

Following is an excerpt from conference organizer Nancy Zingrone's blog. A Chicago-area native, Nancy and her husband, Carlos Alvarado, have been working and teaching in parapsychology their whole lives--and championing the cause to the ends of the earth. For ghost hunters used to gathering at informal conventions around the nation, there may be a bit of sticker shock on this one, but I promise you: it will be the best conference you've ever attended. If you've never been to an academic conference, I daresay it will change your life. I'm just going for the hotel, situated right on the beach ;) and to get a look at amazing Atlantic University, which is working on offering a Masters in Parapsychology in the not-so-distant future. Hope to see you there!

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Monday, May 16, 2011 11:41 PM

Atlantic University is a small online graduate school in Virginia Beach, Virigina offering a Masters of Arts in Transpersonal Studies. Last year (a year and 13 days ago), Carlos S. Alvarado and I were hired by AU and started an entirely new phase of our lives.

We've been working on a number of things this year, but one of the most important is the inauguration of a new series of annual conferences to highlight various aspects of the work and interests of Atlantic University. Since 1985, when Atlantic University was a residential school, Doug Richards (known to a lot of PA members) has been teaching a course called 'Principles of Parapsychology." This year, between October 14th and October 16th, 2011, Doug, Carlos and I, and other Atlantic University faculty members Henry Reed, Bob Van de Castle, Loyd Auerbach and Christine Simmonds-Moore are taking part in our conference, "Parapsychology and Consciousness." David McMillan of the Meridian Institute and Kevin Todeschi, the CEO of both Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. and Atlantic University will also be taking part.

We're really excited about all of the folks who will be joining us to give papers: Julie Beischel of The Windbridge Institute, Dean Radin of IONs, Ed May from Laboratories for Fundamental Research, Roger Nelson of the Global Consciousness Project, Steve Braude of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, John Palmer of the Rhine Research Center, Jim Carpenter in private practice in Chapel Hill, Frank Pasciuti in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Ginette Nachman of Durham, NC. The topics range from "Biomedical Aspects of Psi" (Nachman) to "How Do the Synesthesias Relate to Anomalous Experiences" (Simmonds-Moore) and "Before the Tipping Point: Reconsidering the Nature of Consciousness" (Radin), among many others.

The conference starts at noon on Friday October 14th and continues through 6pm on Sunday October 16th. Of course we think "Parapsychology and Consciousness" brings together a unique and unprecedented mixture of some of the best speakers in the field, as well as some of the most interesting aspects of the varied research in scientific parapsychology.

The Visitor's Center at Edgar Cayce's A.R.E., where the conference will be held, has a great large auditorium and a number of function rooms we'll be using as well, plus a bookstore, a top floor meditation room with a view of the ocean and tons of parking. The campus of the A.R.E. is very unique. It's a block from the Atlantic Ocean (the reason for the great view from the meditation room). The campus also includes a meditation garden, a meditation labyrinth modeled on the one at Chartres, and the A.R.E. Heath Center and Spa. The spa is on the ground floor of the "Headquarters" Building which also houses the Cayce/Reilly School of Massotherapy, Atlantic University, and a variety of units of the A.R.E. Two other buildings complete the campus, and by the time of the conference, construction will have started on the new Educational Building. The campus backs up to First Landing State Park. (Virginia Beach is a very interesting place and we have fallen completely in love with it. More on that in another blog.)

The conference hotel, the Wyndham Oceanfront, is 10 blocks away from the "Parapsychology and Consciousness" conference venue, south of the A.R.E. on Atlantic Avenue. We have rooms blocked off for the conference there. The hotel has a great restaurant, the Surf Grille, with beautiful views of the oceanfront. The Wyndham runs a shuttle to the A.R.E. We also have rooms blocked off for the conference at the Holiday Inn Express, another oceanfront hotel down in the "strip", an area full of hotels and restaurants. The Holiday Inn Express doesn't have a shuttle but the HRT bus is close by, and if you're coming in by car, it's a quick trip up Atlantic Avenue to the A.R.E. The closest airport is Norfolk International Airport. Carlos and I love this airport (having been in a ton of airports over the years); small, easy to get around, with a shuttle.

Anyhow as time goes on, I'll write some more about the details. We're putting together the best experience possible and really looking forward to having all these great speakers in town. If you go to Atlantic University's home page -- http://www.atlanticuniv.edu -- you can find a link to the conference description, and to biographies and abstracts, plus a page for registration (there's an early bird price at the moment) as well as reservation pages for the two conference hotels.

Carlos and I have been involved in a lot of great conferences over the years, but we're really looking forward to this one and hope you'll all be able to join us this October 14th to 16th in Virginia Beach!

From Garbage to "Ghostbusters": The Strange Case of Streeterville

2011-07-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

In urban areas around the world, architecture’s brilliant progress has been checked by many faults. For every successful design there are ten that fail--aesthetically, financially, or environmentally. Most troublesome have been the so-called “sick buildings” that have caused everything from nausea and headaches to brain tumors and cancer, due to difficulties with exhaust and ventilation systems, mold growth and other quirks. In Chicago, one of the most controversial buildings in this birthplace of skyscrapers is believed by Chicago paranormal experts to have a much more malicious quality. Since its completion in 1968, the John Hancock Center has been the site of multiple murders, suicides and deadly “accidents.” Why? Windy City occultists are convinced that it is the very design of the place that causes its residents and workers to often take a turn for the worst.

The John Hancock Center was designed as a trapezoidal structure by its chief architect, Bruce Graham, under the counsel of Fazlur Khan, a structural engineer at the esteemed Chicago firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Khan proposed the shape as an economical way to combine larger office spaces on the lower floors with smaller apartment units on the upper levels. But it wasn’t long before some Chicagoans began to question the “innocent” trapezoidal design as a poor one. Was the building’s form, in fact, the shape of things to come?

A little over three years after the Hancock’s completion, a 29-year-old Chicago woman named Lorraine Kowalski fell to her death from her boyfriend’s 90th-floor Hancock Center apartment. To this day, detectives are dumbfounded by the event; the building’s windows are capable of withstanding more than 200 pounds of pressure per square foot and winds of more than 150 miles per hour, yet Kowalski actually broke through the glass. Four years later, a transmitter technician for a local radio station plunged to his death from the 97th floor offices of his television station. Just three months later, a 27-year old tenant “fell” from his 91st-floor apartment while studying for an exam at breakfast. In 1978, a 31-year old woman shot a man to death in his home on the Hancock’s 65th floor, and in 1998, beloved comedian Chris Farley was found dead in the entrance hall of his 60th-floor apartment. Most recently, in March of 2002, a 25-foot aluminum scaffold fell from the building’s 43rd floor, crushing three cars, killing three women and injuring 8 others. All of these incidents were called “baffling,” “inexplicable” and seemingly unmotivated by detectives and journalists.

Many years before construction on the Hancock began, the area it would occupy was part of the most luxurious residential district in the city--the Gold Coast--, and this neighborhood, still known as Streeterville--was already thought to be a cursed tract of land. Cap Streeter was a ragtag former sea captain who made a living ferrying passengers between Chicago and Milwaukee on a beat up old schooner he owned with his wife. After the vessel literally washed up on the Chicago shore during a storm, Cap decided to settle down in the city for good. He staked claim to the very parcel of land on which he had run ashore: prime lakefront property much in demand by Chicago‘s first families. Cap found the land so lovely that he decided to share the beauty. He set up shop in the old Tremont Hotel, selling tracts of “his“ land to willing buyers. Soon a legion of squatters peppered the lakefront, angering Chicago‘s elite and the city council that served them. But when the city tried repeatedly to run off the trespassers, Cap and company responded with shotguns, batons and all manner of homemade weapons . When Cap ran out of land to sell, he quickly made more by inviting residents and contractors to dump their garbage on his land for free . . . creating one of the most desirable garbage dumps in history, the soon-to-be "Gold Coast" of Chicago.

The battle over “Cap’s” land--which he called Streeterville--raged until the man’s dying hour--and beyond. On his deathbed, Cap cursed “his” land and swore that no one would ever be happy on it again. Then is the “Curse of Cap Streeter” the source of the Hancock’s problem?

Not likely. But it can’t help.

In 1930, a baby boy was born in his family’s posh home in the 800 block of Chicago’s North Michigan Boulevard, the same block as the Hancock would someday occupy. Musically gifted, Anton Szandor LaVey grew to enjoy a colorful career with many facets, playing in nightclubs and even taming lions for a time. On a spring night in the 1960s, LaVey brought some like-minded friends together, ceremoniously shaved his head, and founded what he called the “Church of Satan,” an institution that was part religion, part philosophy, and all based on his own extensive ideas about love, hate, pleasure and will.

When occultists like LaVey saw the plans for the Hancock revealed, they were devastated. The problem? Not necessarily one for the city itself, but for the residents and workers of the Hancock structure.

LaVey wrote many essays during his time as the Satanic Church’s leader, including fascinating analyses of the problems of modern architecture. LaVey knew--as most occultists do--that the trapezoidal shape holds significant power for arcane forces: traditionally, the shape is believed to serve as a doorway or “portal” for occult--or even diabolical--forces. As a young man, LaVey was fascinated with the thought of H.P. Lovecraft, whose horror novels often feature characters grappling with the dangers of “strange angles,” and it was Lovecraft’s work which led LaVey to first pursue his study of modern architecture’s sometimes deadly capabilities.

The Hancock center offers both apartments and offices, and all of the apartments are on the outer edge of the structure, wrapping around the outside as in any other such building. Unfortunately, in the Hancock, every one of these apartments has, due to the trapezoidal structure of the building, an outer wall that is “off-kilter” because it does not rise at 90 degrees. Many--LaVey among them--have believed that these “strange angles” have caused residents of the Hancock to behave in strange and deadly ways, and that the superhuman strength of those who have forced themselves or others through the building’s seemingly impenetrable windows were calling on a ready supply of supernatural energy in the Hancock itself: energy coming through the “portal” of its trapezoidal structure.

Students of popular culture will want to note three intriguing facts about the Hancock. First, the structure’s legend inspired Harold Ramis’s Hollywood dream of a diabolical building: the centerpiece of his film, “Ghostbusters.” Second, the late, little Heather O’Rourke, myth-shrouded star of the “Poltergeist“ films, took a turn for the worst after a final publicity plug . . . held in one of the Hancock’s studios. Third, a number of controversial or distressed personalities have called the Hancock home; among them, talk show host Jerry Springer, Catholic priest and novelist Andrew Greeley, and--as mentioned--comedian Farley, whose time in the building was riddled with drug and alcohol abuse, the eventual cause of his death.

(For more quick looks at the ghosts of Chicago, visit www.chicagohauntings.com. Chicago magazine called us one of "the most important web sites for local history!)

New Book Now Available for Pre-order!

2011-07-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified: Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings

Am I Being Haunted?

By Michael Pye and Kirsten Dalley, with original Essays From Loyd Auerbach, Michelle Belanger, Ursula Bielski, Raymond Buckland, Dr. Bob Curran, John Lerma, Nick Refern, Joshua P. Warren, and Many More

“Behind every man now alive stand 30 ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living.”
—Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey

What are ghosts, spirits, and other apparitions?
Why do they visit, and what do they want from us?
Are OBEs, NDEs, and PDEs real?

"Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified: Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings" tackles these questions and more, as some of the world’s best-known paranormal experts come together in a tour de force of investigative journalism. Ghosts have been an integral part of the folklore of almost every culture; indeed, extant references to them stretch as far back as the ancient civilization of Babylon. And the evidence for their existence is mounting.

Professor of parapsychology Loyd Auerbach tells us what every ghost hunter should know about parapsychology. Noted expert on paranormal research Joshua P. Warren carefully examines some startling photographic evidence of ghosts.

Andrew Nichols, PhD, director of the American Institute of Parapsychology, discusses his theory of haunted houses, which posits hauntings as manifestations of ESP and/or psychological projection. Raymond Buckland (Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications) looks at ghosts as spirits and gives a take on how to talk to ghosts . . . and get a response.

Folklorist Dr. Bob Curran delves into the connection between poltergeists and human origins, and regales us with three classic cases of poltergeist activity. Journalist Nick Redfern examines cases of ancient animal ghost apparitions.

Noted folklorist Ursula Bielski gives a spooky and detailed account of the “Vanishing Hitchhiker” phenomenon.

Evidence of ghosts is everywhere—if you know what to look for. Whether you’re a believer, a skeptic, or somewhere in between, "Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified: Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings" is sure to entertain and educate.

Hello Again!

2011-07-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

After a long absence, our blog is back. I hope to share with you regularly news, events, and musings from the Chicago paranormal world. I hope that you will subscribe to Haunting Chicago--and that you will enjoy what we share here. We begin with one of my favorite topics: the graveyards of Chicago.

I was recently asked some questions that really had me thinking hard. "What cemetery in Chicago hold the most historical significance?" was the first question. A doozie, right? I had to seriously ponder this one, and this is what I came up with:

This is a very difficult question to answer. Each cemetery in Chicago has a unique place in Chicago's history, so it's quite hard to choose. Pressed, I have to pick the burial ground of St. James Church at Sag Bridge. The oldest cemetery in Cook County, it was founded in the 1830s but had a long history as a sacred site even before this. The Native Americans are said to have used the area as a sacred ground along this ancient Indian Road (Archer Avenue). Even today, burial mounds dot the area just over the existing woods. During the time of French exploration of the interior, the land hosted a French signal fort, and this is when the first Catholic church stood on the site. Some of the first burials here were of the vanquished workers on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, one of the most important engineering projects in American history The canal workers were mostly Irish immigrants who built the canal up from their Bridgeport neighborhood, and who perished from starvation, thirst, disease and violence along the ill-funded canal-building route.

"What is the most striking piece of architecture you have encountered at a Chicago cemetery?" was the second question. Here's my long-pondered answer:

Another very difficult question. There are so many incredible monuments and mausoleums. When I was a girl I was astonished by the striking and varied family mausoleums at Graceland Cemetery, near my childhood home: the Getty Tomb, with gates designed by architect Louis Sullivan (also buried at Graceland); the Goodman crypt, whose roof is a terrace which overlooks Lake Willowmere; the towering Pullman monument at the pinnacle of a lakeside embankment; the underground tomb of Ludwig Wolf. Today, however, I continue to be astounded by the community mausoleum at Rosehill Cemetery, which houses tens of thousands of crypts on four levels, in a neoclassical fortress. Along with countless individual crypts, the mausoleum also has scores of "family rooms," the final resting places of some of Chicago's most familiar families, including the John G. Shedds. The Shedd room is the centerpiece of a beautiful skylit chapel in the center of the building. The chapel is completel with chairs decorated with marine-inspired ironwork depicting seahorses and shells: tributes to Shedd, who loved the sea and dedicated his namesake Aquarium to the city he loved. The Shedd room is illuminated by a breathtaking window created by Louis Comfort Tiffany. At dusk, the setting sun shines through, making the room look as if it were underwater. In fact, the comunity mausoleum is home to the largest secular collection of Tiffany glass. Many of the family rooms contain one of a kind commissions of stained glass, depicting gentle streams, flowers, sunsets and other Paradisal images. It's a truly awe-inspiring, moving place.

Lastly, I was asked the following: "Overall, Chicago is home to some exquisite places of rest, and their aesthetic ranges from the creepy to serene. What do you tell people who are frightened of these locations?"

This is something I've been trying to answer for most of my life, as I was one of those "odd children" who enjoyed spending time in cemeteries from my earliest years. Drawing others into an appreciation of cemeteries has not been easy. The stigma has, however, been greatly worn down in recent years . . . for most. But for those truly afraid of death, the old reassurance that "death is a part of life" does not offer much comfort, but it's true. And just as death is a part of life, so cemeteries are a part of our culture, our history and our city. Truth be told, cemeteries have always been constructed as much for the living as the dead: as places of beauty and peace and comfort. I would say to please give one of these places a try, perhaps on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. Truth be told, cemeteries have always been constructed as much for the living as the dead: as places of beauty and peace and comfort.

(If you are interested in learning more about the cemeteries of Chicago, check out the book I wrote with Matt Hucke: Graveyards of Chicago. Lake Claremont Press, 1999.)

Tales from the Chicago Ghost Conference

2009-10-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

On behalf of co-host Mike McDowell and conference organizer Wanda Spudic, I want to thank, this Monday morning, all of the wonderful friends--old and new--who joined us this weekend for the second Chicago Ghost Conference at the Portage Theater. Dennis Wolciewicz's beautiful venue was the perfect spot for this event, and so many people commented on this, as well as on how untiring and friendly the entire staff was. Indeed, all in the Portage family seemed completely at our service the entire time, whether we needed more chairs, a special cord for a radio broadcast, or more popcorn and beer!

I think all were impressed by the turnout; we were pleased to welcome nearly three hundred attendees over the two-day conference, along with nearly a dozen speakers from around the country, all of whom did an incredible job in presenting their range of perspectives on the world of the paranormal.

I want to especially thank my dear friend, Jeff Belanger, for being with us this weekend. It has been an honor and a priviledge to know him these past years, and we were delighted to have him speaking for our own event. Of course, I cannot thank enough Lorraine Warren, who traveled such a distance to spend some time with us, and who was so gracious and friendly to all. I would also like to thank Dave Schrader of Darkness Radio for helping us out in so many ways before and during the conference. When we needed to replace a speaker or two, he stepped right in to help us find a replacement right away, including securing an appearance by Chicago Paranormal Detectives, from the upcoming A&E show, "Paranormal Cops."

Scott Jackson, once again, was a pleasure to have with us. His generous "sneak preview" of his acclaimed Halloween Art Exhibit impressed all of us, and his conference poster/t-shirt design stunned us all. What a warm, positive person--and a dear friend to our conference.

A special thanks to the ghost hunting groups who set up temporary headquarters with us this weekend. This awesome "encampment" included some of the most devoted groups around, including P.R.I.S.M., Chicago Paranormal Investigators and the Indiana Ghost Trackers, and we were so pleased that Ghostly Talk was willing to make the grueling trip to record our speakers and attendees for the archives of their hugely popular radio broadcast.

Thank you to our tour guides for beautifully executing a difficult tour on Friday: one hundred and forty people boarding three buses in the rain at 8:30pm! I heard so many compliments on the tour, making the effort more than worthwhile. And thank you, Wendy Weaver, the pilot of the famous Ghost Bus, for safely shuttling our precious speakers and friends between the hotel and the theater, whenever necessary, and for filling in as a helper whenever she was needed--and even letting me cry on her shoulder when something went wrong!

Thanks to all of you who attended and promoted this event for so many months. I said before and will say again: We plan every speaker, the careful timing of their talks, where each vendor will set up, when to begin and end, what hotel to choose, when to have the lunch break. What we don't plan is how it feels. Every conference has a different level of "conferring," as it were, among the attendees. I think everyone was blown away by the fervent and easy exchange of ideas and theories, methods and directions this weekend. As Lorraine Warren herself exclaimed: "What a wonderful group of people!" I fully agree.

Thank you, all.

Wanda would like to add . . .

I would really like to thank Leslie Adkins from the Post Tribune for her advertising efforts not only with her paper but also many of the Chicago papers, along with my very good friend, Troy Wilkey, for the creation and upkeep of the conference 'my space' page! Once again, I'd like to thank my wonderful husband Mike for giving up so much of his time to help out and listen to me ramble about plans and details every day for almost 10 months! I'd also like to thank my business partner and very good friends, Danielle Garrison, and her husband Ron, who changed their plans at the last minute and came out to help us! We could not have pulled this off without their behind the scenes help!(Ron even helped Dave work to repair the ghost bus and got a cab for Ursula's mom and her kids in the rain on Friday night!) I have to reiterate Ursula's remarks about Jeff Belanger and Dave Schrader...they will be invited to every conference we do from here on out; they did so much for us, again, behind the scenes that no one knows about! Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my very close friends, Phil Holman, Tammy Weaver, and JC Rositas for all of their help dj'ing, running the sound, decorating, and for all of their emotional support!

Until next year....

Warm Regards,

Wanda

Online

2007-11-20T08:35:00.000-08:00

Most of my life has changed since I met Mark Macy on October 27th at the first Chicago Ghost Conference. Since then, I've read Mark's books to the dog-eared stage and begun my own program of ITC research. ITC is the umbrella under which thrives every kind of electronically-assisted communication with the spirit world, including EVP, the darling of 21st-century ghost hunters around the world. But ITC isnt' really about going into haunted places to communicate with the troubled souls there. It's about connecting to the brightest minds of the next world to work on healing troubled souls before they pass over. It's a difference that has, again, changed my life these past few weeks.

Here's my setup:

-two radios, each turned to foreign-language broadcasts
-a white noise machine
-my television set, "tuned" to a static-y channel, with VCR tape running
-an old school audio recorder, with headphones.

To begin, I say an Our Father and then welcome any spririts who want human beings to move closer to God and each other.

I record for ten minutes each day, at eleven o'clock in the morning.

Anyone who knows me will be shocked by this new program of mine. I am, or should I say was terrifed of spirits in the past. When colleagues spoke of collecting EVP in their homes, such practices chilled me to the core. Now, I find only peace and hope in this pursuit.

Mark Macy assures me that it may take months to receive my first "voices." No problem, I think, I've been crouching in the dark corners of so-called haunted houses for twenty years with the tiniest rewards to keep me on the path: a whisper here, a swinging door there.

Contact--real, repeated contact--with the next world, offering hope to change our own world: I can wait a long time for that.

For more information about the quietly growing field of ITC, visit Mark and friends at www.worlditc.com

Haunted Monday

2007-10-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

The First Annual Chicago Ghost Conference is, unbelieveably, now just a memory. But what a memory . . .

I had a lot of ideas in my head this past year about what this past weekend would be look like and sound like, but I didn't think for one moment what it would feel like. So when that feeling came, it was a startling, wonder-ful thing. So many beautiful things happened this weekend, but here are some of the things I'm thinking about:

. . . being together all weekend with Mike McDowell and the Indiana Ghost Trackers, some of the nicest people I've ever met. . . meeting my dear friend Brian Leffler for the first time in person, and becoming friends with the other members of NMPI . . . seeing Anney again from P.R.I.S.M. and meeting the lovely and accomplished members of her team . . . being totally disarmed by down-to-earth icon Sally Rhine Feather (and her charming husband, Bill); meeting for the first time dedicated Pete Crapia of the increasingly successful Bachelors Grove Restoration Project . . . watching the Halloween Art Exhibit gallery actually come to fruition, and making future plans with wonderful organizer and artist Scott Jackson . . . seeing terrific author and friend John Kachuba again and finally meeting his wife, Mary . . . having our own Elizabeth Rintoul at the podium, dazzling a whole new audience with her charming personality . . . giving Greg Myers a big hug in person after way too many emails . . . watching the reaction of the audience to the intriguing photographs of Nate Larson . . . having the great folks from Ghostly Talk set up and recording in my own beloved city . . . seeing my pal Ed Shanahan as busy as could be with a steady stream of successful readings . . . hanging out all day with my lifelong friend, Sharon Woodhouse of Lake Claremont Press . . . seeing our attendees intrigued by the Twilight Tales booth, making plans to attend future readings . . . being mesmerized by the peaceful and intriguing ways of Mark Macy, and hearing his legendary ITC evidence playing in our own conference room . . . having the great people of Southern Wisconsin Paranormal Research Group (SWPRG) exhibiting their incredible research and evidence . . . seeing Mike Esposito again and hearing his fascinating recordings . . . watching even the hotel security and housekeeping staffs drifting in and out through the day, intrigued by what we were up to.

When I think about this weekend, I think about all these images and many more, but most of all I think about the miracles that happened in the course of it all: Mike McDowell, who said "yes" to co-hosting with us: Without the Indiana Ghost Trackers, the conference wouldn't have happened; the College of DuPage chaper of the PCMA, who fell from Heaven and offered endless assistance to us when all seemed overwhelming, and who were with us, smiling and supportive, from the first to the last minute; Scott Jackson, whose Halloween Art Exhibit--and kind, generous way--brought a marvelous dimension to our event; Ghostly Talk, who patiently and perfectly recorded every minute of the conference for our friends around the world, as they tirelessly do a dozen times a year at conferences around the nation; Scott Markus, who worked around the clock in record time to produce--with Mary Czerwinski--the rich film clips for the conference spotlight and the evening screening session(and who valiantly assumed the undesirable post of man-in-charge of our hair-raising A-V situation!); artist Mary Gutfleisch, whose breathtaking conference poster and program appeared like magic from her talented brush--and the goodness of her heart.

I think about our after-hours events and our longtime Chicago friends who thought the conference idea was "so cool" and who supported us with their talents, spaces, and friendship: Neil Tobin and the Excalibur nightclub, Denny our seeminly tireless Chicago Hauntings driver, the good folks at Chet's Melody Lounge (who always make us feel like we're coming home for Christmas, and who extended that hospitality to all our new friends, and Lawrence at the National Pastime Theater, for letting us meet his own ghosts (even when our bus was really, really late!).

Mostly, I think constantly and with wonder about all the attendees and exhibitors and speakers who put their lives on hold for three days to be together in Chicago with us. I wasn't expecting the feeling that came from that; I don't think anyone was. And I think the Congress Hotel--whose ghosts were felt and seen by many attendees-- woke up today just a little more haunted, too . . . by the memory of that feeling. I know I am. I know I always will be.

Thank you, everyone. See you next year!

The time of the season

2007-10-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

October greetings to everyone who is struggling with Halloween careers . . . it seems that each year there is more and more interest in the unexplained, and we're happy to provide our own little perspective on it all.

I'm still reeling from the events of the past year: Amidst operating our Chicago Hauntings tours throughout the busiest tourist season ever in Chicago, I managed to present programs at 47 libraries all over Chicago as part of the City of Big Readers program, sponsored by the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago History Museum. This program had a profound impact on my experience of my beloved Chicago. I was privledged to visit neighborhoods I had never set eyes on, and I met children and librarians from every corner of Chicago who seemed thrilled to hear my stories of haunted Chicago. I'll never forget this remarkable Summer, but right now I don't even have time to think about it; we are already into the most astounding Halloween season I've ever known.

Ahead of us lies four weeks of whirlwind tours through our haunted city, led by some of the most astute and engaging tour guides the city has seen. We'll view the fruits of filming Chicago's most haunted with some of the most innovative filmmakers in the city today, and we'll investigate two of the most intriguingly haunted sites we've found to date. If we survive, we'll cohost (with the Indiana Ghost Trackers) the First Chicago Ghost Conference at the haunted Congress Plaza Hotel over October's last weekend, and welcome into the city some of the most provocative speakers and exhibitors the ghost hunting world has known.

If you haven't already signed up for the Chicago Ghost Conference, there are still some tickets left for this unprecedented event. Join us at the haunted Florentine Ballroom of the Congress Plaza Hotel for a weekend of exploration into the world of the unknown. For more information and registration information, please visit our conference page at www.chicagohauntings.com/conference.html to check out all of the incredible speakers and exhibitors coming from around Chicago and around the country. If you have but a ghost of an interest in the paranormal, you'll enjoy this intriguing event! For more information on everything we're up to, visit us at www.chicagohauntings.com

Happy October!

Words to live by

2007-07-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak,
sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.

This Little Ghost Conference Thing

2007-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't believe the response in just one day since I first posted news of our first Chicago Ghost Conference this October. I'm delighted, first off, that Chicago Hauntings is now co-hosting the event with the Chicago Ghost Trackers, an afiliate of the incredible Indiana Ghost Trackers! I'm so honored that Mike McDowell and the many chapters of IGT want to be involved in this event with us--I've always had so much respect for their careful investigative techniques. Mike has also agreed to speak at the conference which, as anyone knows who's heard him, is always fascinating. Mike's visited some of the nation's most haunted places and always seems to capture great evidence of the paranormal. He participated in the recent, much-acclaimed "Dead Whisper" documentary as well, shot on location at Chicago-area sites with fascinating, convincing results.

Also speaking will be Brian Leffler, of MagickMind Paranormal Research Radio, Ed Shanahan, one of Chicago's longtime paranormal researchers and readers, and, if his schedule permits, Jim Graczyk, Chicago native and author of five books on ghosts and hauntings. I've also got my fingers crossed that Scott Markus ("Voices from the Chicago Grave") will share his firsthand research experiences with our attendees. He promised earlier that he would, so I'm hoping he'll be there. We've also got some surprise national--and international--guests in the works that I'm dying to tell you about, but . . . can't. Soon, I hope!

We're also getting news that many Midwest and national ghosthunting groups will be sending representatives to this conference, and we're thrilled, of course. If you haven't yet signed up for our newsletter, you can subscribe at info@hauntingchicago.com to receive registration information before everyone else. We will have limited tickets for our special events on the conference weekend, such as our tours, pub crawl, and private investigations, so you'll want first chance by being a newsletter subscriber.

And please, please, please: if you are an individual or group of ghosthunters in the Chicago area, plan on coming to this event! We're thrilled that our conference is drawing national attention, but one of the reasons for this conference is to create an association of Chicago-area paranormal researchers so we can get together from time to time, compare notes, and get to know what others are doing in our great city!

Resurrection Mary Forever

2007-01-31T08:16:00.000-08:00

One of the things I think about nearly every day in January is my beloved Resurrection Mary. In the midst of all the other projects and books in the works, I'm finally writing a book devoted just to her, and each night, after my daughters are in bed, I find time to type out a few hundred words just for her.

The story of Resurrection Mary, as every Chicago ghosthunter--and any self-respecting Chicagoan!--knows, is the pivotal tale around which revolves the entire folklore of Southwest Chicago. As a girl, my dad would take me to Resurrection Cemetery to visit the graves of his Polish cousins; inevitably, we'd stop for his shot and a beer (7-Up for me) at Chet's Melody Lounge, the infamous tap across from the cemetery gates. I never could have realized, in those days, that someday I'd frequent this place as a writer, historian, and ghosthunter. I never could have imagined the life that lay ahead.

Each night, after I've finished my typing, after I've finished remembering, I shut off the computer and turn out the office lights. Looking out the window in the darkness, these nights, soft snow is often falling. And I'm taken back to Archer Avenue, so close, so far . . . and I imagine I'm walking with Mary, along the roadside, nearly a hundred years gone by--searching for something we'll never find. Never.

Look for "Beloved: The Lives and Afterlives of Resurrection Mary" this Summer.

2007-01-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

Breathe in, breathe out.
It's been a crazy couple of months. I'm working day and night to finish the script for the audio book, "The Best of Chicago Haunts," of which a third will be new stories from the upcoming "Chicago Haunts 3," due out in paperback in the Fall of this year. Since the audio book contains new material, I've been running around the metropolitan area, tracking down leads, talking to fascinating people by the dozen, and investigating what seems more and more like an endless supply of Chicago ghosts and hauntings. I hope you like the new book--it's got a different feel from the others; I guess that has a lot to do with the fact that it's the first book I've written since we started Chicago Hauntings, Inc., so it has a more hands-on narrative style than the others and talks a lot about our investigations from a first-person perspective.

I've also been structuring syllabi for Chicago-area college courses in folklore and parapsychology, preparing notes for a new BBC show, outlining a new, non-regional book, and preparing materials for the Chicago Public Library's summer reading program. Whew. Like I said, it's been crazy.

Our tours have had their best seasons ever. We are in our fifth year of year 'round operation and are looking forward to an unprecedented Spring, Summer, and (of course) Fall. Thanks to all of you who have supported the books and tours through these years-it's all because of you that we are able to keep doing the research that made the books--and the tours--as acclaimed as they continue to be. If you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, please do so--you'll get all the special tour announcements and discounts as well as anouncements about book releases and all that fun stuff.
I'll write again this weekend; I want to share with you a case I've been looking into this past week, unfolding just off Archer Avenue. It smacks of a famous, 1970s Chicago case, but with decidedly different "spiritual" aims.

2006-10-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Myth and Memory and . . ?
Had the best talk ever today with Nancy Zingrone at the Parapsychology Foundation. Nancy was one of the first people I ever met in academic parapsychology, and she is still one of the most remarkable people I know. I ended up back in touch with her over a case going on in Wisconsin, and she filled me in on lots of developments in the parapsychological community.

I've still never met Nancy in person, but I've known her since I was an undergraduate, amazed at the existence of the science of parapsychology. As many young people do each year, I contacted the Parapsychological Association for information about careers in parapsychology, and I got the same advice that parapsychologists have always given: Don't quit your day job!

So I didn't. I pursued a career in history and folklore, which has gone a long way, I think, in helping to make Chicagoans aware of "what lies beneath" their city. When I wrote my first book, Chicago Haunts, back in the mid-1990s, two Chicago ghost tours had been operating for years, but--though we had the the Halloween stories in the local papers each year--not a single volume had ever been published on the subject of Chicago's ghostlore.
Unfortunately, among the great reviews of Chicgo Haunts were the unspoken responses of those famous Chicago ghosthunters who suddenly decided to publish their own books after thirty years. I know what their reviews were: "Who does this girl think she is?"
But that's okay. Because now, their years and years of research are documented for generations to come. That's a great thing! And that's all I wanted in the first place: for someone to write down all these intriguing stories. And boy did they ever! Today, there are about a dozen books on Chicago's ghostlore. And they're still coming.
Ghostlore is a funny word, but it works.It's a funny word because it's a made-up word. And it's a made up word because we needed one.
There is no word which adequately describes what my more able colleagues around the world and I do. It's its own thing--kind of like parapsychology itself. If you don't get it, you don't get it. And you can't get it unless you're willing to look at what you're looking at from out of the corner of your eye. Sound confusing? It is.
As some of the reviews on Amazon.com attest, "Is this supposed to be history?" "Ursula Bielski is a lousy historian . . . she doesn't even tell us the year these things happened!"
And so ghostlore is not traditional history. It is purposefully--and shamelessly--elusive at times, sparing of dates and names, all in the interest of maintaining a certain fogginess that speaks to the way in which people experience the remarkable events of which we write. Ghostlore tries to communicate that these events are timeless, and universal, and transcendent of our mundane existence.

Ghostlore is not folklore, because its subject matter comes from the rush of real experience--believe it or not.
Ghostlore is not even properly categorized with the thousands of ghosthunting reports published each year these days on the internet, or on television (or in books, less and less), because it is not searching for answers, but is happy with emotions . . . with memories . . . with sighs for days gone by. In fact, these are its only rewards.

I am enmeshed these days in preparing the third volume of Chicago Haunts, and as I work each day my own memory is flooded again and again with memories of my own Chicago--with that special blend of myth and memory--and experience--that makes ghostlore something that (like these beautiful, preternatural phenomena) refuses to be defined. I hope that my flooded memory--and the memories (and experiences, and myths and . . . ?) of many, many past and present Chicagoans--will make this coming volume as elusive, as transcendent, as decidely undefinable as the first two.

2006-10-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

It is children who have the most extraordinary relationships with the paranormal. Many are aware that adolescents usually serve as the agents in poltergeist cases, unwittingly upsetting the force fields of random or significant objects with their own displaced energies. What I didn't know is that, in the world of parapsychological research, children are proving responsible for much more than the chaotic activity of the poltergeist. In fact, many autistic children demonstrate significant psi abilities--abilities which they seem able to control much more easily than "normal" children or adults.

Judith Lecuyer, mother of an autistic boy named Ben, was used to living in a slightly different household. Like all of us, little Ben had habits that were difficult to live with, some of them symptoms of the mysterious condition called autism. Lecuyer was used to carrying Ben up the three flights of stairs to their apartment (he refused to use stairs but would climb up on to the furniture with delight), but she didn't quite know what to think when dangerous objects began to appear in Ben's hiding places. These were objects that had been deliberately placed in high, locked cabinets, well out of reach of a two-year old, yet they appeared again and again. Similar events continued to cause Lecuyer to wonder if something paranormal was going on. While the children were strapped into their feeding chairs in the dining room, a Winnie-the-Pooh cake on the sideboard found its way into the baby's lap. When questioned about the cake, Lecuyer's older son said that, while buckled into his chair seven feet away, Ben had made the cake fly. The moment of truth came one day in the family's kitchen, when an empty two liter pop bottle became the object of Ben's desire. Unable to reach it, Ben stared intently at the bottle. Lecuyer tells how his little face became beet red, and she watched as the bottle "shimmied and trembled and gently bounced its way to the edge."

Many people are discovering what the families and friends of autistic children have known for a long time: these deeply misunderstood children surely exist on a higher spiritual plane; they exhibit a deep empathy with both people and with animals and are often able to "teach" these abilities to those around them. Frequently, family members like Lecuyer report that, at an early age in the autistic child's life, the parents and siblings became aware of receiving images and messages from the child via paranormal means. With Ben, it was at the most frustrating moments--when communication seemed hopeless--that he would press his forehead against the forehead of his mother or father, brother or sister. And what followed was always a moment of clarity: instant knowledge-- without a word--of what Ben needed or wanted or felt.

"Normal" children, adults and their families aren't typically able to use their paranormal abilities at will. If I press my forehead against yours, it's unlikely that I will suddenly know you are hungry or thirsty or want to dance. Parapsychologists are starting to think it's because we don't have to. Often, even those with motor or vocal impairments have alternate means of normal communication. If one cannot pysically write or type, one can still speak--to another person or a machine that will transform that speech into writing. If one cannot speak, writing and typing are always there. Likely, it is the lack of any channel of "normal" communication--speech or writing--that forces autistic families to a place where they're desperate to communicate, and it's that desperation that starts the psi powers flowing. Interestingly, autistic individuals can sometimes learn to use a keyboard to communicate with the "outisde" world. Six years ago, when Ben's mom wrote her book about his paranormal abilities, Ben had not been introduced to one. I wonder if now, at the age of nine or ten, he has begun this method of communication. I wonder if, simultaneously, his psi abilities have decreased in proportion to his fluency with the keyboard?

I aim to try to contact Judith Lecuyer to learn more about the progress of her remarkable son. Her story--their story--is a fascinating one for anyone interested in paranormal communication. You can find Lecuyer's book, "Mommy! Ben Made the Cake Fly!" at www.amazon.com.

2006-09-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Why do some places become haunted only years after their tragic events occur? And why do some haunted places become more actively haunted for no apparent reason? This question has bugged researchers for as long as we've been hunting ghosts, but what is the answer? Many believe that it lies in an intimate connection between the living and the dead: that it takes the living to bring them back.

Case on point: Dillinger's Alley in Chicago. This nondescript throughway draws thousands of visitors each year from around the world. For this little alleyway, just a few steps from the old Biograph Theater (now purhcased by Victory Gardens Theater and under renovation), is the storied spot where, on a hot July night in 1934, "Public Enemy Number One" John Dillinger was gunned down by police and Chicago FBI agents. Dillinger's death rocked the nation; in Chicago, where the climax came, the people were electric. At the site of the shooting, pilgrims gathered to dip handkerchiefs in Dillinger's blood, and countless Chicagoans lined up for a public display of the body at the city morgue. It would have been no surprise if passersby had immediately begun seeing the famous ghost of Dillinger--the bluish figure of a man stumbling and falling--in the alley where the shooting occurred. But they didn't. In fact, it wasn't until the 1970s--some forty years later--that rumors arose of the alley's haunting. Why did it take so long? Some cultural experts believe it's a matter of life and death--literally. In 1972, "The Godfather" took the nation--and eventually the world--by the throat. What followed was, among other cultural fallout, a rash of gangland ghost sightings in every American city. Seems the heightened interest in the culture of crime led to a sharpened perception of the ghosts it spawned. But are ghosts like these just figments of our activated imaginations? Or were they just waiting for us to see them?

All over the world, the recent mania over T.V's now-famous T.A.P.S. (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) has led to the formation of hundreds of new ghosthunting groups--and increased reports of hauntings and ghostly manifestations just about everywhere, including Borley, Essex. Long a favorite topic of mine, the haunting of Borley Rectory has held a place of honor as one of the world's most haunted places since Harry Price first made it public. This week, I was thrilled to start talking via email with one of Borley's modern investigators, Eddie Brazil. According to Brazil, who's made a career of photographing (very well) Borley sites and other British subjects, even the site of "the most haunted house in England" has become more actively haunted of late.
Why? Does the answer have more to do with us than we know? Who can tell. Nonetheless, we are grateful for the renewed opportunity to study some of the most famous ghosts in the world: at Borley . . . and in Chicago.

2006-08-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Haunted baseball on the brain. Something wanted me to think about the curse of the Cubs this weekend. Or about their great fan: musician Steve Goodman, devoted even after death. Or about "Holy Cow"-yelling Harry Caray, still very much with us even post-mortem. Or any of all the wonderful, mysterious things said to haunt Chicago's Wrigley Field. I met Friday afternoon in the shadow of the great park with writer Mickey Bradley, a great guy who is finishing up--with co-author Dan Gordon--what sounds like an intriguing read indeed: Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends and Eerie Events. Mickey and I talked about all the memories you might expect: the day the goat came, the day Harry left us, the day the Cubs won the pennant--96 hours after the death of hardcore fan Goodman. Mickey seemed intrigued by the tale of our ghost hunt at Cubs' Park back in 1998, when all of Chicago thought the recently departed Caray was sending down some good vibrations to the home team. But Mickey had some tales to tell that even a neighborhood girl like me had never heard of, including chilling accounts of the haunted hotels frequented by on-the-road players. Be on the lookout for what sounds like a great book, expected to be released in time for opening day 2007. Check for updates at hauntedbaseball.com.

Speaking of books and baseball . . . . After my meeting with Mickey Bradley, I headed downtown to give the nightly Chicago Hauntings tour. I arrived early, and it was getting drizzly, so I walked over to the Billy Goat Tavern to have a drink and ran into sweet Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune. We talked for awhile about things going on, and I got an update on the release date (September of this year) of Rick's upcoming book on the Billy Goat: A Chicago Tavern: A Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream, to be published by none other than Lake Claremont Press. Fitting indeed: both author and publisher are a Chicagophile's best friend. Check out www.lakeclaremont.com for ordering information and forthcoming details on the book release party, to be held at none other than . . . The Billy Goat!

2006-08-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

What's it like to be part of a ghosthunting team? Some days, you receive utterly intriguing posts like the one I got today, from a young woman who recently moved into the parsonage of a Northwest side Lutheran church in Chicago:

While living in the house provided by the church my family has been experiencing various paranormal activity or things we can not explain. Our events have varied from knives spinning on counters, mysterious figures walking in the halls, to bleeding scratches on my stomach in the middle of the night. We are also hearing voices call our names when there is no one home or making noises. My mother was pushed in to a wall with no one in the house. My sister has had her bed made and unmade in several cases when it was not done by anyone in the house. We have heard people walking in the kitchen (which) can be heard with no one there. We would like it if these events could some how be explained weather it be lights from cars, pipes clanking, or actual paranormal activity. Would you please rest our minds and help my whole family?

It's both exhilarating and unnerving to receive requests like these. On the one hand, they are invitations to observe firsthand the "spontaneous phenomena" that are so elusive to us as investigators, but so necessary for the further understanding of the paranormal. When something like this happens, we as a team experience two reactions: we are grateful, and we jump at the chance. On the other hand, it's hard to escape feeling the chaos of those families or individuals involved--and often traumatized--by their experiences with the events in question. Can we help to figure out what's going on? Will our efforts help to alleviate their personal fears? We never really know. All we can do is try.

2006-08-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

A traumatic weekend. While on the way home from a family reunion in Waupaca, Wisconsin, I got word that the beloved but bedeviled Ghost Bus was having mechanical problems. Bad news for our tour tonight, but of course, Hector and Adam saved the day. Score another for the astonishing abilities of the Chicago Hauntings team! Good thing. Friday will bring the overnight tour company, Southern Ghosts, into town for a weekend with Chicago's most haunted. We'll be staking out the Congress Hotel on Friday night, focusing on two of the building's most paranormally active sites: the Florentine Room and the legendary Gold Room. Both sites did their folklore good when Ken, Hector, Adam and I did our preliminary investigation there earlier this summer. Particularly interesting is the Gold Room, where--according to longtime night security guard Johnny D--strange photos have been taken over the last few years. Wedding guests enjoying receptions in the Room have often taken photos around the piano on the dancefloor . . . only to have their photos developed with certain people missing from them. This intriguing phenomenon reminded me of an earlier trip to the Bell Witch Cave in Adams, Tennessee, where the property owner, Chris Kirby, keeps a binder of photographs that have been taken near the cave. A number of them bear evidence of the same phenomenon. Most chilling is Chris's photo of a group of schoolchildren, taken by a teacher several years ago on the steps of the welcoming cabin on the cave property. In the front row of the group of children is a child with his arm stuck out to one side in an awkward position. When asked why he held his arm that way for the photo, he pointed out that he'd been standing next to his friend, and had had his arm around him. The friend, however, failed to show up in the photo. We'll be taking a lot of pictures this weekend in the Gold Room--and enjoying what promises to be a great weekend with some of our best Southern pals. Check back next week to see what happens, and look for a full report on our Congress investigations in the weeks to come.

2006-08-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Haunting Chicago, your look into the days of some of the city's most accomplished paranormal investigators. Please join us as our blog builds in the weeks to come. In the meantime, see what we're doing at chicagohauntings.com, home of Chicago's most acclaimed supernatural tours.

Happy Ghost Hunting!
Ursula Bielski