Spooky season is officially upon us, and what better way to mark the occasion than with some bone-chilling true stories?
While Chicago’s origins are steeped in prosperity and triumph, the city also holds a darker history—one defined by eerie events and unsettling mysteries.
From a haunted alleyway and an infamous broadcast hijacking, to a bizarre unsolved murder spree and even a UFO sighting, Chicago has seen its fair share of strange and unexplainable events over the years.
Join us as we explore some of Chicago’s creepiest lore!
The Iroquois Theatre Fire
To get to the heart of Chicago’s haunted history, we’ll begin at the turn of the century with the infamous Iroquois Theatre Fire.
The incident occurred on a cold winter afternoon on December 30, 1903. According to the Smithsonian, hundreds had gathered at the newly constructed Iroquois Theatre along State Street to watch the musical-comedy Mr. Bluebeard.
The show got off without a hitch, but at 3:15 pm a spark from a stage light rapidly ignited part of the nearby curtains. The fire quickly spread to flammable props adorning the stage as lead actor Eddie Foy attempted to quell an increasingly alarmed audience.
Attempts to extinguish the fire proved unsuccessful and the blaze exploded, sending audience members fleeing to the nearest exit. An estimated 1,700 people were left clamoring to escape the theatre through only a few exits.
The “Alley of Death”
Within minutes, 600 people perished in the inferno. Overwhelmed by the loss of life, fire officials had to lay the deceased along Couch Place Alley adjacent to the theatre.
The incident drew mass mourning and outrage at the lack of fire safety infrastructure at the Iroquois Theatre. As tragic as the event was, it led to stricter fire safety regulations and systemic reforms that ensured no similar incident could occur.
Today, the Couch Place Alley remains and has become colloquially known as the “Alley of Death.” Many believe the spirits of those who died in the Iroquois Theater fire still haunt the alley, and if you’re brave enough, you can explore the throughway for yourself this Halloween season.
The Chicago Tylenol Murders
Jumping forward almost 80 years brings us to the year 1982 when the infamous Tylenol Murders swept Chicagoland and gripped residents with fear.
According to the Chicago History Museum, the bizarre saga began on September 28, when 12-year-old Elk Grove Village resident Mary Kellerman consumed Tylenol to relieve a headache. Within just a few hours, the young girl passed away.
Just minutes away in Arlington Heights, 27-year-old Adam Janus ingested a Tylenol tablet and died shortly after. In a cruel twist of fate, Janus’s brother and sister-in-law would also pass away one day later after ingesting pills from the same bottle.
On September 29, 27-year-old Mary Lynn Reiner of Winfield passed away after ingesting a Tylenol pill. 31-year-old Mary McFarland of Elmhurst and 35-year-old Paula Prince of Chicago would pass away the same day, both after consuming Tylenol.
A public health crisis
Local law enforcement quickly caught wind of the mysterious deaths and established a link between each victim having consumed Tylenol shortly before their untimely deaths.
Authorities sent samples of the purchased Tylenol bottles off for testing, and results showed the pills had been replaced with lethal potassium cyanide.
The ensuing calamity encompassed not only a widespread murder investigation but a national public health catastrophe.
A speedy response
Within just 48 hours, stores removed all Tylenol from their shelves, and the parent company of the drug Johnson & Johnson declared a national recall of their product.
Officials urged Chicago area residents to dispose of all bottles of Tylenol in the wake of the murders. Law enforcement even drove through the streets of Chicagoland, broadcasting a public service announcement that instructed residents to rid their medicine cabinets of the painkiller.
The massive tragedy had a ripple effect on the US drug industry as well as the processing of many other consumer goods.
As a result of the murders, Congress passed the “Tylenol Bill,” and the FDA mandated the implementation of tamper-proof seals on all over-the-counter medications.
Despite numerous suspects arising over the years, the perpetrator behind the 1982 Tylenol murders has never been identified.
Max Headroom Broadcast Hijacking
Just a few years later, Chicago experienced one of the strangest televised events ever.
According to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the incident occurred on November 22, 1987, at 9 pm when an unidentified person interrupted a WGN-TV sports broadcast.
The unknown hijacker donned a mask of the fictional cartoon character “Max Headroom,” and rocked back and forth before the camera.
The initial interruption lasted only 34 seconds, but a short time later, at 11 pm the same night, the hijacker diverted a WTTW broadcast. This second signal intrusion lasted one minute and thirty seconds, and this time the masked figure made cryptic statements and laughed maniacally.
Authorities have never identified the perpetrators behind the signal hijacking or established a clear motive for the intrusion.
Some web sleuths have suggested that several disgruntled media industry personnel could have conducted the hijacking, but no theory has ever been conclusively proven.
The 2006 O’Hare UFO Sighting
Finally, we arrived in 2006, when Chicago became the epicenter of an alien invasion—well, sort of.
It all started on November 7 of that year, between 4:15 and 4:30 pm, when numerous aviation workers spotted what they described as a “flying saucer-like object” hovering over Concourse C at O’Hare International Airport.
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a United Airlines ramp worker first witnessed the anomaly, with multiple other workers corroborating the sighting later on.
Witnesses told investigators the object was dark gray and around 24 feet in diameter. Some said the object appeared to rotate in mid-air, while others’ sightings discount this.
All witnesses reportedly agreed the object made no sound and hovered at around 1,900 feet before jetting off into the clouds and leaving a circular imprint behind.
It’s a plane, it’s a UFO, it’s a— cloud?
Since the incident, the alleged UFO sighting has been met with much skepticism.
Adler planetarium astronomer, Dr. Mark Hammergren, reportedly stated that weather conditions that day could have produced what’s known as a “hole punch cloud,” a cloud formation that could have mimicked the appearance of an unidentified aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration reportedly refused to investigate the sighting, and despite mundane theories being put forward, we’ll likely never know the truth behind the incident.
Further frights
These are just a few of Chicago’s strangest historical events. For more weird Chicago history, check out one of the city’s fun-filled ghost tours happening this spooky season.