Maybe We'll Just Make Our Own Haunted Tours From Now On
By Alicia Dorr in Miscellaneous on Oct 16, 2006 6:40PM
It's true -- a lot of us have a soft spot in our heart for old-fashioned Halloween scares. We know there are a lot of people out there who like sneaking around haunted houses, putting flashlights up to our faces, sticking our hands in bowls of spaghetti and peeled grapes -- the whole bit.
We have to wonder a little bit, though, about the recent report from Naperville on their own haunted tour. Storyteller Diane Ladley is now apologizing for her half-baked scheme to add a local murder that took place in the area just seven years ago to her tour. Imagine the surprise when locals who paid $15 to hear a story about some scary sights found themselves reliving the headlines about a mother who killed her three small children and attempted to commit suicide.
The mayor and the current resident of the home where this took place (obviously) objected, prompting her apology. For many in the town the incident is still very fresh, the mother's former lawyer pointed out — it's not like talking about the Lizzie Borden massacre or anything.
However, we are still behind the idea of haunted houses and the like, and there are a hell of a 
lot of them in Chicago. If you are looking for a cheap, self-imposed adrenaline thrill, Time-Out Chicago and the Chicago Reader have put together some lists for your amusement. There are also ghost tours, like Chicago Hauntings ghost tour, which take you around and tell you about the sites. Then again, you could just compile your own tour for free, stumbling around everywhere from the side of the river where the Eastland crashed to the alley behind the Oriental Theater. Or you could just peel some grapes and make people stick their hands in the bowl. That's always fun.
