Leisure

Ghost Bars

Where to Execute Your Own Halloween Bash

Some of the Halloween parties you’ve attended in years past: frightening. Absolutely frightening. And that was just the cocktail selection. So this year, we’ve dug up some ghoulish venues with private party rooms so you can host your own.

HAUNTED CASTLE

Excalibur Nightclub

Legend has it: Before it was ’80s hot spot Limelight, this castle did a stint as a pop-up morgue for the 1915 Eastland boat disaster. Some say spirits linger today. Lesson: no good deed goes unpunished.
For channeling: Ghost children. Club kids.

TAKE A SHINING

Congress Plaza Hotel

Legend has it: This 1893 hotel inspired Stephen King’s The Shining (it didn’t) and the film 1408 (hopefully, it didn’t). Strange phenomena include the sound of ghostly roller-skating in the Florentine Room, which once was a roller rink.
For channeling: The ghost of roller disco.

GLOWERS IN THE ATTIC

Webster’s Wine Bar

Legend has it: An apparition of a lumberjack ghost has been spotted in the second-floor party room of this 1901 building. Of course, it does offer a wood-burning fireplace.
For channeling: Woodsmen with a taste for burgundy and pâté.

HEY, MARY

Willowbrook Ballroom

Legend has it: When this place was a dance hall called Oh Henry’s, the maiden who would come to be known as Resurrection Mary stormed off in a jealous rage. Then a car struck her. Today, Archer Avenue’s favorite hitchhiking ghost makes an occasional drop-by to hit the dance floor.
For channeling: Drama-addicted coquettes with a good pair of thumbs.

NEFARIOUS ACTIVITY

Lottie’s Pub

Legend has it: The basement was a ’30s speakeasy filled with politicians and criminals (so hard to tell them apart), overseen by a tough bird named Lottie.
For channeling: A good dame who knows where the bodies are buried.