Customer Reviews

Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

So many of these ghostly compendiums are sloppily researched and written for the lowest common denominator. Not so with this book. Bielski is first and foremost a historian, a "ghost scholar" second. Her stories of these Chicago legends, many of them done to death (sorry), resonate with a scholar's respect for research and a sociologist's eye for the big picture. A ripping good read.

This book is as thoroughly compelling and insightful as it is entertaining and frightening. It is quite obvious that the author is well-versed in the ghostlore and history of her big-shouldered hometown. The research is painstaking in detail and reveals a book that is definitely not the work of an amatuer ghost chaser but rather that of a learned professional. The work is serious yet lively and engaging. It is by far the best book ever published on Chicago ghostlore and paranormality. Not an after dark book for the faint of heart. Two thumbs up.

This book is fantastic! I took a ghost tour around Halloween and met someone who told me about this book. Of course, this is the revised addition. Not only do I own both copies, I have purchased many as gifts! You don't need to pay someone for a ghost tour. Buy the book and gather your friends and have a wonderful time! For those of you who are afraid, no need to be. This isn't a horror book! Chances of seeing a ghost, depends ... do you believe?

As the author of the "Chicago Haunts" series of books it's beyond frustrating to read reviews that ask these questions:

Did I "ever leave my house" during the research for my books?

Did I "ever visit any of these sites?"

You've got to be kidding.

When "Chicago Haunts" was published in 1997, not a single book had ever been published regarding Chicago's ghost stories (save for Kenan Heise's excellent novel, "Resurrection Mary"). As a matter of fact, I spent twenty-nine years "leaving my house" (yes, in Chicago--a haunted one at Irving Park and Western), obssessed with the pursuit of the stories and people behind Chicago's haunted history.

Furthermore, the Internet as a "research tool" did not exist for me. The "Chicago Haunts" research--which officially went on for nearly five years after the liftetime obsession--gave me muddy shoes and a dozen citations for trespassing . . . and put about 100,000 miles on my car and the same in dollars in the coffers of the CTA. I was welcomed into the homes and offices of hundreds of people who kindly and emotionally shared their stories, experiences and memories with me.

Yes, in this 21st century, I, too, know a number of "ghostwriters" who publish prolifically without leaving their homes, writing about Haunted American cities from their offices in Canada and beyond. I am not--and never will be--one of them.

Now, on the subject of "inaccurate" history: Much has been discovered about the Grimes slayings--and the Schuessler-Peterson murders--since "Chicago Haunts" was published amid times of even sketchier knowledge of those cases. Many I spoke to who knew Jayne described him as more of a skid row groupie than the wealthy breeder he was, and Bidwell did "disappear from the face of the earth" as far as the Grimes case was concerned--though he shouldn't have.

Historian? That's what they call me. I have an M.A. in Cultural and Intellectual U.S. History which publishers, librarians and marketers like, because it makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about. However, as an historian, I know that none of us knows what really happened--anytime, anywhere. That's precisely what historiography teaches. Unfortunately, my classification as a historian makes many people focus on the "proper" historical nature of my writing, something that is of far less concern to me than the way we today interpret these "historical" events--and how we react to them, overtly or unconsciously. This is not, of course, to say that we as authors and publishers do not want our facts straight--whatever the consensus of the time may specify as "facts." So yes, please correct our errors . . . but please, please see beyond them.

Who really was Silas Jayne? What was going on in Bidwell's mind? None of us will ever know.

What we do know is that Chicago will be haunted (in many, many ways) by their thoughts--and actions--forever.

Thanks for reading!
Ursula Bielski

This book is wonderful.
The stories are riviting and often heartbreaking, the layout is easy to read, and Bielski's command of the English language is appreciated. The photos are clear and wonderful.
It is obvious that Bielski devoted countless hours of research and interviews to write this book. The result is pure enjoyment.
If it's spooky in Chicago, it's in this book.
No stone is left unturned, from the Fort Dearborn massacre to the Biograph theater where Public Enemy #1 was gunned down to a fun little part about ghostlore commonly told by Chicago's children, such as "I believe in Mary Worth" and "Bloody Mary Bloody Mary Bloody Mary". :)
This book is a fascinating glimpse into the Chicago that most people never know. Buy it, buy it, buy it!

Yikes! Great, great, great writing that is a Chicago "must-have" for historians and legend seekers alike. Our younger daughter loved it, recommended it to others and it has taken on a life of it's own among young readers. Of course, we ive just a stone's throw from the shuttered Chicago_Read center, as haunted a site as anything that Hollywood can conjure up: a potters field, graveyard for Chicago Fire victims, and a sanitarium. Bulldozers unearhted lots of remains during the work for the Dunnig Shopping Center and appartments; this book should have tipped them on the creepiness of their efforts!

I have the revised edition of this book, and I cannot understand how this author can claim to be a "historian" and get so much of the history wrong. For instance, the Grimes Sisters story, Ms. Bielski states that "the police investigated a second confession, that of Silas Jane, a skid row transient who was believed to have been involved in a a string of murders in Chicago" Silas Jayne (correct spelling) was a millionaire horse breeder, which is a far cry from being a skid row transient. There was a 22 year old transient who worked for Silas Jayne by the name of Kenneth Hansen who is believed to have murdered the Schuessler/Peterson boys, but he was a homosexual pedophile, so with his attraction to young boys, it is doubtful that he committed the Grimes murders.
Also in the very same story, Bielski claims that another suspect, Mr. Benny Bedwell "disappeared for all purposes from the face of the earth", that is also not true. For awhile, Mr. Bedwell was a fugutive, but was arrested on a warrant from Florida for the rape of a 13 year-old girl. The crime he was charged with in Florida closely resembled the one that took the lives of the Grimes sisters but he managed to avoid conviction for it, thanks to the passage of time while he was a fugitive. According to reports, Bedwell's accuser had been held captive for three days before escaping and notifying the police of her abduction and rape. Bedwell later spent time in prison on a weapons charge and died at some point after he was released in 1986.
If you have more than one discrepancy per story, how is any of the book to be taken seriously?

Far from a bland re-hashing of tired Chicago ghost legends, this volume is nothing less than a masterpiece of regional "true" ghostlore. The author has taken on a tremendous task and has succeeded with rare brilliance. Not only does she masterfully combine the existing folklore with impressive firsthand accounts from all manner of witnesses, she speaks from one familiar with the field of parapsychology yet gifted with a lively voice for storytelling. Even if you are not a Chicagoan, you won't be able to put down this truly informed, amazingly thorough collection of undeniably urban, yet warmly local lore.

To "a reader" below: True, Ursula Bielski is not a "ghosthunter" in the infrared-gadgetry sense. She is an historian, a folklorist, and a talented, engaging, and professional writer and speaker with over 20 years experience investigating the paranormal. That is, both external supernatural phenomena and the internal, personal experiences of such.

There is a reason this book has been Lake Claremont Press's best-seller since 1997, when its first edition was released; that people from all walks of life give it rave reviews; and that it jumpstarts previously reluctant readers' interest in reading more about Chicago and deepening their understanding of their city.

Simply, she starts with a wildly-popular topic (evidenced in part by the number of imitators her book has spawned) that she is an expert in, then delivers her substance and seriousness with style, charm, and accessibility. Before they know it, readers find they are not only being entertained, but that they are learning something, even being pushed to make their own sense of the interplay of history, mystery, and belief.

In writing the first book on this subject, Bielski wrote the best--something wonderful that works on different levels for different people. Her complex telling of new and old ghost stories combines historical and sociological context, parapsychological theories, colorful legendary details, and a dash of mischief.

Take a copy out of your local library, and judge for yourself.

--Sharon Woodhouse, publisher, Lake Claremont Press

This book has everything: Ghostly hitchhikers, haunted scenes of mass murder, cemeteries, weeping statues, the cult of saints, a fireman's premonition of death, poltergeists, Native American burial sites, etc.

The story of Mary Worth, the witch, is presented as one where her ghost self comes out of a mirror in a darkened room and scratches the face of the person. According to another version, Mary Worth emanates from the mirror and strangles the victim, using her stocking.

To me, the most interesting part of this modest-sized book was the account of the Our Lady of the Angels School fire. A woman who had just identified her son at the morgue woke up to see him sitting next to her, holding her hand and consoling her. A dead sister appeared to her brother, and promised to watch over him. At the rebuilt school, it is said, the sounds of children screaming can sometimes be heard. (Not to spoil it, but my mother taught at the rebuilt school ten years after the fire, and never reported anything unusual).

The author takes a middle view of the paranormal. They should neither be believed uncritically, nor summarily rejected.