Urban Legends by State Part 15: Illinois

1. Resurrection Mary is a famous ghost legend in Chicago, Illinois, about a young woman who haunts Archer Avenue near Resurrection Cemetery, often described as a vanishing hitchhiker. According to the legend, she died in the late 1920s or early 1930s and was buried in the cemetery. Ghostly sightings include a young woman in a white dress appearing on the street and vanishing from a car at the cemetery gates. While several potential real individuals have been suggested, the most widely accepted identity is Anna "Marija" Norkus, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 1927. Jerry Palus was the first person to reportedly encounter Resurrection Mary. In 1939, Jerry was at a popular dance hall on the Southside, when he met a young blonde woman. He approached her, and the two hit it off and spent the night dancing away. They even shared a kiss. But something was off. According to Jerry, her hands were as cold as ice. He described her as having "cold hands but a warm heart." Closing time came around, and Jerry offered the woman a ride home, as she said she lived in the Southside. Still, the woman asked to be taken down to Archer. Jerry was confused. Archer Avenue was in the opposite direction. So why was she asking to go there instead of home? Jerry took the woman down towards Archer anyway. She motioned for Jerry to stop in front of the Resurrection Cemetery. When he stopped the car, she got out and vanished before his eyes. Jerry was shaken with disbelief but not too frightened to seek out answers. The next morning, he made his way to the address where Mary said she lived. He knocked on the door and encountered her mother. When Jerry asked about the woman he met the previous night, she informed him that she'd been dead for nearly three years. Over the next few decades, several other men would have similar experiences. But Jerry's encounter began this Chicago urban legend. Have you've heard of this ghost story?

2. The Devil Baby of Hull House. According to the legend, social reformer Jane Addams and her staff at Hull House in Chicago cared for a child supposedly born to a devout Catholic woman and an atheist man. Stories described the "devil baby" with pointed ears, a tail, and horns. While the tale was used to keep visitors away from the settlement house, it persists in Chicago folklore. Yet Jane was not ready for the sheer power of superstition when it came knocking on a spring morning in 1913. On the doorstep were six Italian women who had come from several blocks away, demanding to see what they called the Devil Baby. According to these women, a devil baby had been born the night before to a poor young immigrant girl with a horrible husband. Jane later found that there were many versions of the story. The story varied by the ethnic group. In the Italian version, a Catholic girl married an atheist who cursed her when she put up a religious painting, proclaiming that he would rather have a devil in the house than any Catholic icon hanging on the wall. In the Jewish version, the husband proclaims that if she cannot finally give him a son, he'd rather his wife give birth to a devil than another daughter. Have you've heard of the devil baby?

3. The Seven Gates to Hell. The town of Collinsville has several tunnels and bridges on its back roads. Legend has it that there are seven gates to hell located along these tunnels and bridges. The story goes that if someone drives through all seven gates, while passing through the seventh gate at midnight, the unknowing driver or hiker would travel to hell. There have been reports of people, usually teenagers and students, who have driven around the back roads of Collinsville looking for the seven gates. In one story, a group of students looking for the gates crashed their car before finding the seventh gate, and they were all killed and their car demolished, but by doing so, they unknowingly saved themselves from a worse fate. Would you take a trip through the 7 gates?

4. The Enfield Horror originated from a bizarre chain of events starting on April 25th, 1973. A young boy named Greg Garrett was playing in his backyard when he claims he was attacked by a beast on three legs with grey, slimy skin, short claws, and intimidating red eyes. Little Greg retreated to the safety of his home after the monster attempted to step on him. Later that afternoon, Henry McDaniel, a neighbor of the Garrett Family, reported their own encounter with the creature who attempted to break into the home and scratched menacingly at the door. The incident blew up in the press and became a hotspot for thrillseekers and journalists, many of whom also claim to have heard banshee screams in the night and seen glimpses of the nearly 5 foot tall monster. Some say it's hogswallop, but others claim it may be connected to a series of UFO sightings in the area. What do you think? Heard of this 3 legged creature?

5. The Big Muddy Monster of Murphysboro has been under investigation as far back as 1973, when the first sightings of this local legend were reported to the police. Since then, the town has been documenting photographs, eye witness accounts, police reports, letters, and sketches from locals in a publicly accessible evidence file. A local couple was parked in a remote riverside location while out for a romantic interlude, when suddenly they encountered an incredibly large, looming figure of a mud-slathered albino swamp monster. Additional reports from the local area townsfolk confirmed the appearance of a sasquatch style creature covered in mud, gunk and grime. Others claim to have heard a piercing animalistic roar coming from the trees and underbrush, accompanied by a foul smelling odor. For two straight weeks police and local residents collected evidence such as footprints, eyewitness accounts of contact with a bipedal beast, and multiple sightings in passing. We've not been able to confirm for ourselves first hand, but reports suggest this monster may still be at large. Keep your eyes peeled for a 350lb, 7ft tall swampsquatch if you're in the area. Some folks have speculated that this creature may have connections to the Enfield Horror as well. Have you've heard of the Muddy Monster?