Ursula Bielski's Haunted City Tour in Chicago

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UPDATE 28 AUGUST 2012: To insure you're included in the headcount, guests must RSVP and pay for their spots on the bus here. Please do not contact Chicago Hauntings or you will not be on our list. If we're overbooked, the guests listed on the BAGH RSVP list will be given preference.

This meetup is a long shot for most of BAGH's local members, but on the chance they'll be traveling around Labor Day weekend, anyone with the interest is welcome to join in. One of the nice things about regularly attending the World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon) is that it gives me an excuse to go different places. A couple of my favorite things to do when I travel is stay at haunted hotels and take in local ghost walking tours. This year Worldcon 70, aka Chicon 7 (http://www.chicon.org/), is being held in Chicago and although the convention hotel doesn't have a reputation for being haunted, the Windy City has multiple ghost tour operators. I've already taken a couple of its tours and this year selected Ursula Bielski's Chicago Hauntings (http://www.chicagohauntings.com/). I'd like to invite other members of Chicon 7 and BAGH to join me.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ursula, she has published a few books on Chicagoland ghost folklore, including Chicago Haunts (http://www.epinions.com/review/_2000770542_1/content_419547876996) and More Chicago Haunts. Her background research is exhaustive so local history is a major component of her ghost stories. She also chairs the bi-annual Chicago Ghost Conference and has appeared on several TV and radio shows.

…And considering Chicago's heritage of organized crime, it has more reason than other cities Worldcon has visited to have a netherworld population. To hear some of the town's best ghost stories, the sites of the St. Valentine's Massacre, Eastland boat disaster and the Hull House are too spread out to manage in a two-hour walk, so this time we'll be foregoing the walk and catching a bus that will conveniently meet our group at the front door of the Hyatt.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/a/4/4/event_143099972.jpegChicago Hauntings Ghost Tours last approximately 2.5 hours, visiting an array of authenticated haunted sites throughout the city. This is not just a ride where guides point out the windows of the bus. The bus stops several times throughout the tour at some of Chicago's most actively haunted sites, inviting passengers to briefly investigate some of the locations for themselves.

Chicago Hauntings doesn't provide an itinerary because they like to vary the routes, and also because they like to throw in a few surprises. But along with the aforementioned locations, some of the other spots they visit include the Fort Dearborn Massacre site, Iroquois Theater & Death Alley, haunted Streeterville, the death site of Resurrection Mary, Harpo Studios, the abandoned City Cemetery, H.H. Holmes' "glass bending factory," the Tonic Room, and The Biograph theater—some notorious, some not as well-known—but all researched and documented for their authenticity by the Chicago Hauntings team.

This tour is being scheduled at a time when it won't conflict with Chicon 7's masquerade or Hugo ceremony. Cost of the tour is $26 in advance, $28 "at the door," if seats are still available. Please be advised that only cash will be accepted at the door. I hope you'll be able to join me for the macabre stories of Chicago's history and ghosts.

Although this is a bus tour, we will be stepping on and off the bus throughout the evening. Please be advised to dress as warmly for the weather as you require. Cameras are encouraged. If any of you would like to try to collect EVPs, wear soft-soled, snug-fitting shoes—loose, noisy shoes such as Uggs can interfere with any captures.

We will be meeting in front of the hotel and I'll have a BAGH sign, unless we're already obvious. Ursula Bielski will also be available to sign copies of her books after the tour.

Even though this particular ghost tour is being arranged for the convenience of Chicon 7 members, no one has to be a member of the convention to join the tour. The fees collected go to paying the tour operator, not the convention.